Last Minute Buyers

I'm hoping that this isn't going to be a trend this week.
But the odds aren't exactly in my favor considering that both yesterday and today I had a rush of people needing help in my department right when I'm trying to close it down for the day.

*exhales*

Today seemed to be even crazier.
Which is odd for a Tuesday.
Like. 
Tuesdays are supposed to be the dead days.
And yet we had quite a rush of people during the 5pm hour.
Which halfway makes sense since a lot of people get off work then.
So I could see them needing to drop by real quick after work to pick up things.

And knowing how crazy yesterday was, I did most of the closing tasks early.
Basically as soon as that 5pm rush vanished.
Because if it was going to be crazy like yesterday, then a bunch of people would need help between 7-730 when the department closes at 730.

I was right.

And like.
Overall it could have been fine trying to help like six people by myself.
If they had had simple requests.

But nooooo.
Like half the customers i helped had to be complicated.
Where they didn't just want fish.
They wanted fish and a hamster.
Or fish and a bird.
Or fish, a bird, and a tortoise.

Which meant that I had to do a bunch of running back and forth and keeping track of which customers had come in which order so that I could help them.

And it's like. ticking down to 730.
And people are still coming.

Where one dude is like "Hey, I need you to test my water." but I'm still helping a different customer, but then I have to hunt down the water test guy just as another customer is like "I need a mouse" and I have to be like "one sec, I need to find the guy who needs his water tested."
but nooo.
It wasn't just a water test.
No the dude was expecting me to like help him basically set up his entire tank.
In the last four minutes before I was supposed to be clocking out.
And I still had three other people, including the mouse dude, to help.

But he was like "I don't know the size of my tank, but it's big. And I don't know what fish I want, but I want them to go well together. Do any of them need heat? Oh I don't have a heater.'
Well no heater means goldfish.
Which thankfully the dude picked out the fish he wanted really quick there.
But as I was bagging them up he was like "Oh, do I need air in my tank?"
To which I was like "do you have a filter?"
"I have a waterfall type thing?"
"That's a filter."
"Great, I need the cartridges for it."
Which gah. DUDE. I have FOUR other people now I need to help and you asking me a bunch of questions you should have known the answer to is NOT HELPING things. I have like two minutes to help people and it feels like you're purposely making a two minute interaction into a fifteen minute thing and I do. not. have. time. for that.
And he didn't even know what kind of filter he had for his tank.
Which meant I had to guide him to our filter section where he hemmed and hawed over which one he might have until he pointed to one and I could be like "Cool. It's this cartridge you need. Any more questions? No. Good. Have a good night." and rush over to try and help another customer.

It was sooooo frustrating.
People being super needy.
Right at 730.
And I need to be going.

But the people have been waiting for help for too long because the one customer had to take forever and it's just me in my department until another coworker could break away from backing up on the register to come help me finish helping the last of the customers over at the fish wall.
But of course it wasn't just fish that those last people wanted.
No it was fish and birds.
And then as I was turning out the lights a person was like "I want this guinea pig!"

Like it's 739 people.
The signs clearly say we close my department at 730.
Just.
GAH.

i'm tempted tomorrow to say that the department closes at 7pm just to give myself a half hour grace time to properly close things down.

Because having to deal with an onslaught of last minute shoppers is not fun.

Especially on a Tuesday.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi