Already Arrived

So. This morning I was kinda woken up by one of my fellow managers texting to say that once again, one of our locks on the cat cages...wasn't opening.

Which would be the second lock in a short period of time to just....quit on us. 

And while it's disappointing...I'm not that surprised? Like....I know they're old. I'm not certain that they've been replaced while I've been here. They may have once? But like...if the locks are all at least 5-12 years old... (if they were there before I started) it  wouldn't surprise me that they're beginning to wear out. I mean we open those cages at least twice a day every day. If not more often depending on how many times people want to look at the cats. So those locks do see a lot of wear. 

In any case.

We were already down one cat cage because we couldn't find a way to order the same type of lock to fit our keys from our store supplies. 

But being down 2 cages? 

That's not good. And like, we can't keep cats in those cages if they're not secure. Because anyone could just open them up and take the cats.

So I hoped online to Amazon to look up locks to see if there were any bundle packs of the same lock that would open with the same set of keys.

Which I found! Woot!

So after checking in with the Head Manager and getting permission. I ordered the locks.

And surprisingly, when I checked out...I was told I would get the locks later today. O_o 

Which. So weird.

Like I've had next day shipping before. But I tend to expect things I order to take a couple of days to reach me. 

So to be told that I'd be receiving these locks the same day? So. Strange.

And they actually arrived!!

Lol which meant that I was able to drop the locks by work (and get paid back for buying them) this evening after I had ordered them this morning.

So. Cool!

Lol I'm glad we were able to find a quick fix. Hopefully these new locks last a good long time. 

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Busy Busy

 I always think that holidays are going to be busy in the store.

Since people tend to do all their shopping on their days off. Or else they come to the stores in hopes of finding good sales going on for the holidays. 

Oftentimes I forget though, especially with the warmer weather, that people tend to go on vacation on holidays. It doesn't always feel like it at work. But some holidays are actually more quiet than expected. 

But that means....if people vanished on vaca for the holiday....that they'll need to do all their shopping when they get back into town.

Which means that a day or two after the holiday....tends to be pretty busy too. 

That was the case today.

Which was frustrating.

Because we ended up being short staffed. 

A lot of it was because corporate keeps cutting our hours so we can't staff as many people at once.

But today, today it was because one of our scheduled workers hadn't realized that they had a shift today. *exhales* And when we finally reached them to see if they were still coming in...they admitted they weren't in town. *double exhales* 

Which sucked. Because I couldn't get anyone else to come in until later. Towards the end of the work day. 

And like...until 530ish I had coverage. In that I had another manager with me, a cashier, and a petcare person.

But I really wished we had that fifth person. Because I ended up having to back up cashier every 5 minutes it felt like. Like I don't know what was going on with the cashier and/or the customers but it felt like whenever I would get off register because the line was finally gone....five minutes later the cashier would be calling for back up once more because the line had gotten long. 

So. Very. Frustrating. 

I do not like being on register. And it adds more stress to me trying to cover the floor and cashiering at the same time. 

Thankfully our Dog Trainer was able to help be on register for a couple of hours due to classes not showing up. And I was able to get another cashier in for the last hour just in time for a rush. 

But ugh.

I hate busy days. 

And today was one of the busiest days we've had in a while. With the deposit being nearly twice that of yesterday's.

So. Crazy.

But we survived...somehow. 

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Cart Cart Go Away

 So our competitor store recently moved locations.

To be closer to my store.

Like literally they're now only one block away from us. Like you go from one stop light to the next stoplight and you'll be able to reach their store. 

Which, I'm supposing they moved locations to be more on the main roadway between the two universities in our area. 

And like, we figured that we'd have a bit more trouble with customers. In that they'd confuse our location with their location and come to either pick up orders or their grooming appointments and discover that they'd gone to the wrong store. 

We even had the local police confuse our store with their store when an officer dropped by stating that they'd receive a 911 call from our store....only when I was shown the address the call came from....had to tell the officer that they needed to go to the other pet store just up the road as the address they showed me wasn't for our store. 

So yah.

We were expecting some confusion.

What we weren't expecting....was the carts.

Someone....someone has been leaving the competitor's carts in our parking lot.

First it was just one.

But today a Second one showed up.

And like. It showed up in one of the stalls.

And we'd tried to keep it as far away from our doors as possible. 

And hoped that it would find it's way back to the competitor's lot. 

As none of us really wanted to walk the cart or drive said cart back to the other store.

....I do think one of our workers did take the cart back.

Only for it to reappear a few days later.

*exhales*

And the most annoying thing?

It kept appearing inside the store. >_< 

Like we would never purposely bring it inside our doors.

And yet we'd see customers walking around inside with it.

It would appear in the vestibule and be with our other carts.

Like this morning, we opened our doors and there was no competitor cart in the store and then like 15 minutes later it magically appeared inside.

And it's sooooo frustrating.

Because I know that customers can't tell us apart. We have customers confuse our two petstores all the time.

But like...if the cart is a completely different color from the rest of the carts and has a different NAME than the rest of the carts you'd think you'd realize it didn't belong there.

Of course customers can't read. 

But yah.

Yesterday I ended up moving the competitor's cart over to the side of the store far away from any normal path a customer would take into the store. Decreasing the chances of it coming back to our doors.

And THAT's when the second cart appeared. Ugh.

And the first cart apparently somehow ended up in the street because a customer came in and was like "One of your carts is in the middle of the road" *rolls eyes*

It was the competitor's cart in a bike lane. Not ours.

And the second cart was hanging with all our other carts.... so I moved that cart over to the grassy area as well and pulled the first cart back onto the grass as well.

But I have to just wonder why they're appearing here.

Like I want to think it's just someone borrowing the cart and leaving it in our lot.

Like one of our own shopping carts ended up 2 blocks away once so it's not implausible.

But I halfway wonder if it's some worker from the competitor store.

Purposely leaving carts in our lot to kinda 'advertise' their business.

Which. Rude.

I'm halway tempted to take one of our carts and leave it in their lot to return the favor. To just be petty like that.

But yah. I don't get why they'd do it on purpose.....

Though maybe their store is struggling and they're trying to get business? 

Who knows.

Still. I hope we don't end up with all their carts at our store. 

Though if we do maybe they'll come and actually get them.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Wish I Did More

It's something I've come to accept at work...that I can't help every customer who comes in.

For one. I'm only one person. I can't personally greet everyone in the store.

For two. I only have so much knowledge. And if I don't know the answers to customer's questions it's hard to help them find the answers. Often I still try. Try by extrapolating based on other experiences I've had and such.

For three. We don't always carry the product that customers want. Whether if it's as simple as being out of stock, or more slightly complicated in it being a competitor's brand, online only, or a TV special...we don't always have what customers want and they don't always want to try a similar product.

And then there's four.

And that's like....the customers who are in distress that you really wish you could help in some way but just can't.

Today while I experienced all of these....it was number four that hit me harder today.

Because I was on register, covering a quick bathroom break for our cashier, when an older woman came up to the register to check out.

And upon asking her "How are you today?"

She promptly burst into tears.

And like...my heart reached out for her.

Because through her crying she told me that she'd lost her daughter last weekend to a car crash. And that she's just trying to find a litter box small enough to fit in her car as she's going to go pick up the daughter's cat.

And like....it was hard. So hard to see her falling to pieces. Especially when I was trapped at the register and couldn't really help her find the 'right' solution without getting others to help. And it's...it's hard. I totally understand the pain of losing someone unexpectedly. And it has to be so much harder to lose a child. Like a parent never expects to have their child go first. So I could see she was falling apart.

I desperately wanted to give her a hug, but at the same time I wasn't sure that was appropriate to do with her being a customer and me being a worker. I still wish I did though. She probably really could have used it.

However, I did give her a discount on her product. Just so it wouldn't cost her as much to buy the litter box. She probably didn't even realize I did it as I didn't mention it to her. But I hoped it helped...a little bit. 

*exhales*

I feel for her. So much. I wish I could have helped her more. 

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

You Didn't Actually Need A Manager

 It's always amusing...in a frustrating fashion, when people demand to talk to a manager....when their questions or needs could have been answered by almost anyone else.

Especially when it comes in regards to animal care questions. Like I have this entire petcare department where our job is to tell you all about the pets and their care. You don't need a manager to tell you that. Most managers never worked in petcare at all. Their knowledge is lacking.

So the fact that a person demanded a manager today....to talk about parakeets.

Is frustrating.

Like lucky them I'm a manager who actually has experience in Petcare. Because I can guarantee if it was any other manager who'd come up they would have called me over anyways to answer all the questions. *rolls eyes*

In any case.

This particular customer was looking to get some parakeets. Though he started out the conversation with "Hey, your competitor sells their parakeets for $40 ($5 less than us) and if we bought 2 of them we could get 2 for $60. Do you have any deals like that?

Nope. 

It's rare for us to do that sort of sale for animals. 

Like fish? Sure. We do sales all the time like that "Buy 4 get 15% off" "Buy 1 get one 50% off" We do those sales for fish all the time.

But the other creatures in the store? Not so much. Like yes, they do go on sale. But not in a "buy more for less" sort of way. 

Probably to discourage customers from hoarding animals or putting too many together in too small of a space.

In any case. 

Dude wanted to know if I could basically "do one better" than the other place.

And like... if it was product I could price match our prices with their prices. That's something we do.

But animals? No. We don't price match those. They're set at the prices they're set at. And the only reason why you'd get a 'deal' on them would be if we had some special needs animals that need to be adopted out instead of sold.

In any case.

The dude was fishing to try and see if I would give him a better deal than the other place as he claimed that they were cheaper and had stuff for less etc.

Again. Good for them. I was like "If you want to save money there that's a good idea." as I could honestly care less where the customer gets stuff. I don't get paid commission for selling things. I get paid by the hour. So whether or not a customer buys product doesn't affect my pay rate. (Though apparently it does affect how many hours we're given in the store which is so stupid) 

However.

At the end of the day. The customer did end up buying a parakeet from us. Mostly because I said "We do clip the wings for free here. I'm not sure if the other place does." And then I also showed him "hey our food is buy one get one 50% off" "Hey our bird toys are buy 3 get the 4th free" so I showed him deals in the area that enticed him enough to actually buy from us.

So yay success story!!

But honestly...the dude didn't need a manager specifically to guide him by the hand to show him all the things. *shakes head* Any of my petcare associates could have done the same thing with basically the same results. 

I just...I don't understand those people. 

Like I suppose I do in a way that they want to get someone who's 'in charge' and 'knows their stuff' and they don't want to have to deal with 'clueless newbies' but like the managers have a ton of other tasks they need to do that don't involve holding customers by the hand and guiding them around the store when any other worker could have done the same.  *shakes heads*

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

We're Only Human

 It's rather frustrating when people assume the worst.

Like I get why they do it. But it's frustrating when it happens and like the reality....isn't that. 

My Head Manager showed me a video the other day, where some people were dumpster diving behind one of our sister stores in another area of the country. And these divers discovered a box full of Bettas....that were alive. Said betas were shown still in blue water...meaning that they hadn't even made it onto the floor of the store yet. Because we change out the water so that it's no longer blue but clear so people can actually see the color of the bettas.

In any case.

Said video has apparently gone 'viral' to the point where higher ups have had to send out messages on what us managers need to tell people if they bring it up.

Because people are assuming the worst of our stores. That we're purposely throwing away animals in the trash that are perfectly healthy. 

And that's....not true.

Like, if this particular video isn't a hoax, then yes...it is true that bettas were found in a dumpster. But it's not like they were purposely put there. 

More than likely it was a complete accident. Someone not paying attention assumed it was an empty box. Someone dropped the ball. Got distracted at the wrong moment. 

In any case. 

An accident.

Because like...the slogan for the company for the past little bit has been "We'll do ANYTHING for Pets." And like within the company they've cracked down on policies and updated procedures. Ensuring that we're doing all we can to make sure that the animals are in the best conditions possible while in the store. Not overcrowded. In clean cages. Fed a variety diet of food. They've also gotten stricter on policies involving taking animals to the vet....but also more lenient on costs. It used to be that we had to get corporate approval to treat animals if the cost was over a certain amount of money. Now though? It's a "If the vet says to do it, then do it." sort of policy. Money doesn't matter. 

So like. The fact that people are just...out there saying that we "don't care for the animals" is sooooo irritating. Like we're doing all we can to make sure animals find their forever homes and are well cared for.

Does stuff slip through the cracks? For sure. Do we not notice an animal feeling sick right away? Yes. We're only human.

But we do what we can to treat as soon as we realize something is wrong.

So to have people coming out of the woodwork stating that our stores are tossing healthy animals in the trash on purpose?

Ugh. So. Very Irritating. 

NO. 

NO.

That is NOT SOMETHING WE DO.

If an animal is sick we take them to the vet. If an animal is healthy it goes to the floor. If an animal dies we have proper procedures to take care of such animals.

BUT.

That doesn't mean mistakes don't happen. After all we're only human. People aren't always observant. Don't always pay attention. Get distracted at the wrong moment.

Like I've accidentally thrown a hamster in the trash while doing bedding changes because I thought there was only one in there instead of two. (Yes I noticed and rescued the hamster) 

A coworker almost threw a tortoise in the trash because they thought the bag in the box was empty, and I only realized when I checked the paperwork and saw we were supposed to get one in but there wasn't one in the cage. Rescued it in time.

We had a conure discovered in one of our shipping boxes waiting to be taken out because we only were expecting one in the store and it stayed quiet and didn't move until HOURS later. 

Like yes. Even my store has had close calls with nearly throwing animals away.

But it's just from human error. It's not like we're purposely trying to throw them away. Accidents happen.

And I wish people would realize that and give us some slack. We do what we can for the animals to ensure that they're healthy and going to good homes.

All my coworkers love animals.

We wouldn't want to throw one in the trash.

And it's just hurtful that people think we're the type of store that would.

*exhales* 

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Unwell

 So, I've been recovering from somehow getting sick.

As this past weekend I ended up with a sore throat that turned into a stuffy/runny nose and has now progressed into a cough every now and then that's trying to clear out my lungs apparently. 

In any case.

Got sick.

Which is miserable because I got sick right on the weekend. The ONE WEEKEND that I had FULLY OFF.

Like BOTH Saturday AND Sunday off.

Do you know how rare that is for me? SO RARE.

And I was so excited to spend that time DOING THINGS.

And instead I spent like the entire time in bed sleeping because I did not feel great.

*exhales*

It also made Monday and Tuesday difficult. Because like a weekend of rest did wonders for me.

But having to work??

Ugh.

Such an energy drain.

I've basically spent the last three days in bed again as well. Coming straight home from work to crash and try and regain that energy back for the next day.

Which yesterday....I had a closing shift.

And thankfully, I was feeling better. To the point where I wasn't constantly needing mints to keep my throat from burning nor constantly blowing my nose (though that part got worse the later in the day it went) 

However

My body decided to throw another whammy at me.

And gave me the typical Nuclear Migraine I tend to get twice a month.

*exhales*

I'd been hoping to avoid it this time around...you know on account of the head cold. I was hoping that could be the 'head pain' of the month and just skip the nuclear migraine. 

No dice.

No. I'm pretty sure I could have avoided it because I was actually feeling pretty good yesterday.

Until the Stress set in.

As you see.

Usually when I close, I have a midday manager who's in the store until 7pm.

Which means I usually only have to be on my own for a couple of hours after that point until we close. Which I'm fine being on my own for a couple of hours. I've done this manager stuff long enough to be okay with being the one in charge.

But yesterday I discovered that my mid manager....was off at 530 instead.

Not ideal. As I would need to get my cashier, my petcare, and my own lunch out of the way before they left for the day.

And usually 530 is like the middle of us running lunches. Not the end.

And it's not ideal at all when your closing cashier and petcare are in at 2 and 3pm. It's too soon for them to take a lunch 1-2 hours later.

To make matters worse.

My mid manager got back from their lunch a little bit after I came in for work....and were immediately complaining that they weren't feeling good. That they had a migraine. That they wanted to leave early.

Like as soon as I took a lunch early. 

Which normally I take a lunch around 430pm when I come in at 2 because I try and get my lunch out of the way to give time for my closing crew to have later lunches.

But my mid manager was fading fast.

So I ended up taking my lunch around 4 instead and they ended up leaving just after 430.

Which the only reason why this worked at all was because one of my coworkers in petcare...accidentally came in when they weren't scheduled and convinced my Head Manager to let them stay and work for a couple of hours. So I used them in order to give my other closing petcare and cashier their lunches a little later in the day.

In any case.

The unexpectedness of my mid manager leaving me at 430 and their just....bad energy in general...and the stress of being in charge on my own for 5 hours instead of 2 hours.....

Triggered a migraine of my own. *exhales*

I tried to avoid it. Tried to take meds and drink caffeine and do all the things to keep it at bay.

But by the end of the night....I was in agony. Barely functioning. 

And at the end of the tunnel.

Just as we were getting ready to set the alarms and leave for the night....

I ended up misjudging the distance of the desk with my soda and dropped it on the floor....spilling it everywhere. 

*exhales* 

So that was a fun quick clean up to attempt while your head is pounding.

I warned the managers that the floors would probably be sticky.

And they were by the time they came in this morning.

But it was an easy enough fix with a mop.

I just didn't have the energy to fix it last night.

And it's just....been a miserable day. The migraine kept me up all night. I barely got a couple of hours of sleep in a row before being woken up due to the pain. *exhales*

Thankfully the migraine has faded as the day has progressed.....

But it's soooo irritating that my last 3 days I've had off of work....I've spent basically sick in bed.

I'd actually like to go and do things without feeling miserable and ENJOY may day off.

It doesn't help that I exploded another bottle of soda at home today either. Didn't drop it. Just opened it too quickly and SPLOOSH it sprayed everywhere because it was apparently shaken up a bit. *exhales*

Yah. 

It's been a rough week. 

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Grudge Holder

 Customers are so weird. Especially the Super Karens.

So.

A little while ago. 

... Like maybe it's been a couple of weeks? I'm not sure. In any case. In the recent pass.

My Friend Manager was working when they answered a phone call where a customer was wanting to know information about....flea and tick stuff...I believe. Wanting to know pricing and such between the brands.

And while my friend was talking to this customer....they realized the customer wasn't responding and noticed that the call had 'ended' 

Unsure if the customer had hung up or if the call had dropped...my friend manager went on their way doing other tasks.

Only to have that same customer call back demanding to speak to a manager.

Why?

Because my friend had "Hung up on her." and "Talked over her." and was basically "Extremely Rude."

When my friend is like the sweetest person ever. 

And this Super Karen would not hear it when my friend was like "I'm sorry, the call dropped, I did not hang up on you on purpose." 

No. Super Karen wanted to talk to a manager. To the Head Manager.

Which Head Manager wasn't in at the time. 

But. The very next day. Super Karen called. and Went...well Super Karen on the Head Manager. Complaining about my Friend Manager and how rude they were and like...would not let my Head Manager get a word in edgewise. They refused to be understanding refused to listen to Head Manager and I'm pretty sure demanded to talk to corporate at some point.

In any case.

Water under the bridge right?

Customer called. Complained. Got it all out of their system and we're good right?

Wrong.

Apparently Super Karen is a Supreme Grudge Holder.

As this morning. Like first thing in the morning. My friend manager was on the register as the cashier for the day.

And like 5 customers in....my friend comes over the radio and is like "Can I get someone up here to be the cashier?" 

Why?

Because the customer wanted a different cashier.

Like all my friend had said to this customer today was "Hi, How Are You Today?"

But when I came up to take over the transaction.

This woman was like "After seeing her in person I can understand why she was the way she was over the phone."  

Which was an immediate lightbulb moment for me of: Wait. Are YOU the super Karen from the other day?! 

Like gurl.

How petty are you?

My friend had NO IDEA who you were when you refused to be helped by them. 

They had NO WAY of connecting you on the phone to you in person.

They would have NEVER KNOWN you were the same person if you had just sucked it up and let my friend help you.

But Nooooo You had to cause a scene. Demand to be helped by someone else because you saw the name tag and recognized my friend as the person who 'hung up on you' the other week. 

*shakes head*

It's just....so stupid.

Like why? Why hold such a grudge over a simple misunderstanding?

I don't understand.

It's also *eye roll* worthy because after I was done helping the customer she was like "I'm taking my business to Petco." 

Like okay GOOD. GO AWAY. 

I don't understand why people think that's a threat.

Us workers honestly do. not. care. where you shop. Most of us will be happy to recommend other places for you to shop in order to help you find what you need if we don't have it in stock.

So saying you're not coming back? GOOD. We don't want to deal with your toxic self anyways. 

*exhales*

Yah. I don't understand people. Especially the Karens.

Until you next find these words:
I'll be watching the leaves. 
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Where's the Pool?

 I arrived at work today to find everyone sitting outside the building.

Why?

Because my fellow managers ended up calling the fire department to come check out an odd smell in one of our offices...and after looking around they recommended that everyone evacuate the building until the local energy company could come check it out and make sure it wasn't a natural gas leak or something.

Which was interesting.

Because yesterday afternoon. After my Head Manager had left for the day.

I noticed that the main office had this sort of ....Chlorine smell. Like walking into the room smelt like walking into a pool area. It was strong. Rather heady. And it wasn't a place I wanted to stick around for long in.

Which because it smelt like bleach....I was like "Was someone cleaning in here?"

But none of the managers of the day had mentioned cleaning the office. None of the groomers had been cleaning things. None of the staff in the nearby Vet had been cleaning things.

And like the smell was only found in that one office. The rooms all around them? Did not smell of this chlorine/bleach smell.

I placed a fan in the room to try and air it out.

As unfortunately this particular office has to remain locked during store hours if someone is not within and also has to be locked after store hours in order for the alarm system to work.

I had hoped that leaving the fan going all night would have aired out the place.

But no dice. 

Both Stocking Managers reported the smell being too strong. To the point where they were feeling lightheaded.

Which is why they called the fire department this morning to come check it out.

Said fire department was like "Huh our systems are showing you have low oxygen in the entire building. Wait for the Energy people to come."

Only ... time passed....and the energy people didn't call.

When one of the vet people called the energy people to see when they'd be coming by the energy people were like ??? "We weren't told to come out?" 

As apparently the fire department was like "Oh hey, this one store may have an issue." But they didn't say "Come and check it out." 

Ugh. 

In any case.

After the energy people came and couldn't find any 'low oxygen' areas.

We finally discovered that the source of the chlorine smell.....was a really strong Mold Killer bottle that was in one of the filing cabinets in the office. Apparently it hadn't been closed properly and when my Head Manager was opening and shutting and opening and shutting and opening and shutting those drawers...it got knocked over and started spilling everywhere.

Hence why the smell only occurred later off in the day.

So yah.

Fun exciting start to the morning.

At least we found the source of the smell though. So yay! 

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi