| Wednesday,
August 10, 2005
Polish and corrections took longer than I thought. Now I am taking
Sable to the dog wash. I also have to pick up sugar, as the humming
birds and orioles have exhausted a 5 pound bag in the last couple of
days.
When I get back I will spend the afternoon cleaning up mail, doing a
couple of essays for this site and posting a huge backup of mail, and
generally cleaning up around here.
As to the need for cleanup, here is the Great Hall in the aftermath of
the column:
Sable seems resigned to it all...
Back in a couple of hours at most.
=====
Well I am back, having encountered one of the reasons that affirmative
action in positions dealing with the public is probably not a very good
idea. I have in mind the "supervisor" at Vons (Laurel Canyon and Ventura),
who was supposed to be at checkout line 5, but was in fact doing some kind
of transaction on aisle 6 (where the clerk is a lady we have known for years
and who was clearly embarrassed by all this); especially since they had just
announced "no waiting" on Aisles 5 and 6. They announced no waiting on 5 &
6. I went to 6, only to see there was a customer using the card swipe
device. So I went to 5.
Aisle 5 had no clerk, because the customer at 6 was the clerk from 5. I
waited a while, and then began loading my groceries back into the cart
preparatory to finding a checkout that didn't have another clerk as
customer. I was urged to wait. Just a moment.
After about 5 minutes with both 5 and 6 occupied -- 6 occupied by the
person who should have been at 5 -- the aisle 6 customer came to do my
checkout (mostly bags of sugar and a lot of coffee cream; orioles and
humming birds go through sugar something fierce). The bagger had long since
left off waiting for her to finish her business with Aisle 6 and return to
5, so this middle aged female with the word "supervisor" on her badge bagged
my purchases -- and left them there by the bag dispenser, not bothering even
to move them down to the end of the counter where I could get at them.
So I had to reach over the signing stand and bag dispenser, awkward at best,
and get my bags of sugar and half gallon of coffee cream and put it in the
cart.
The supervisor could not be bothered to put the bags in the cart or even
to put them on the conveyor to take them where I could reach them. But she
did ask me to contribute to some charity or another. I have no idea what the
charity is. I often buy one of those "donate a meal" sticker things they
sell at supermarkets, but this wasn't that, and I fear my valuation of the
charity was much influenced by the fact that this supervisor did not mind
keeping me waiting while she transacted her own business, thus taking two
checkout aisles (of 3 in service) out of service for several minutes. I said
"No thank you, I just want to get out of here." That of course
solicited one of those passive aggressive remarks about having a nice day in
a tone of voice that indicates they'd rather be damning your eyes.
Well, the remedy is Gelson's, a higher priced supermarket a bit further
away where they are all very pleasant, there is always both a clerk and a
bagger, and when they wish you a nice day it sounds as if they mean it.
In fairness to Vons, we have always found both the management people and
the clerical staff pleasant in the past, and the baggers (convenience
clerks) tend to be very nice people with minor handicaps that don't at all
prevent their doing their jobs with a smile and a pleasant attitude. This is
the worst experience I have had in this market in some years, and I suppose
I ought to be charitable. And enough of this. I am tempted to erase all this
as mean spirited, but there is a point: if you must promote people because
they will sue you if you don't, you might think of promoting them to jobs
where they won't lose you customers. Perhaps this woman had some qualities
to earn the post of supervisor, but I guarantee you that after my experience
I would not promote her in the clerical checkout chain of command. I know at
least 4 people who work in that store who are competent and pleasant. I have
never seen this "supervisor" before.
=================
DO NOT be drinking coffee or anything else when you visit
http://www.nytimes.com/video/html/2005/06/29
/technology/highbandwidth/windowsmedia/2005
0629_GUEST_VIDEO.html
and do not try to claim I didn't warn you.
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