I hate working holidays.
One of the 'joys' of a retail job, I suppose. Dealing with people as they try to make the most of their 'holidays' their own days off away from work.
Holidays tend to be busy for us. Lots of customers. Lots of demands. It's not fun.
Especially with a migraine.
Which I'm not quite surprised I ended up with one today.
I haven't been looking forward to working today at all.
Since I would be there the entire day. Coming in an hour after we opened, and staying until after close to make sure the store is in order.
Which bright side to it being a holiday...we closed early today. So I wasn't there until after dark today.
But the knowledge that I would be spending 8 hours working with customers and dealing with them...yah...didn't look forward to it.
In any case.
The day itself wasn't too crazy compared to other holidays.
Like we were busy. But not crazy busy. We had a couple of rushes but nothing out of the ordinary.
Of course...this is like my first time working a closing shift for a holiday as a manager.
So I wasn't quite sure what to expect with everything.
Like I'd heard the stories from other managers. Of customers refusing to leave the store when we closed. Of people trying to come in after we closed. Things like that.
Surprisingly enough....closing went well enough for us tonight.
We had the customers out basically as soon as we closed.
But that didn't mean that customers didn't trying to come back in.
Like I got three phone calls in the last five minutes we were opened, asking when we closed.
And I was like "In five minutes." "In two minutes." "right now."
And then after we closed I got two more phone calls. "When do you close?"
"Five minutes ago. Eight minutes ago."
Since the registers were still open I didn't mind answering those phone calls.
But after that point? Nope.
I stopped answering the phone. We'd closed. Therefore I didn't need to answer said phone.
Like you people had ALL day to come into the store. Why is it that you only think to do so AFTER we close? Whatever the reason, they could wait until tomorrow to come in.
But like....my coworker turned away 4 people in the parking lot as they were gathering carts in for the night.
A woman actually managed to slip inside and tried to start shopping only to have my other coworker inside turn her away because I'd already closed down the registers. There would be no ringing up customers with them closed.
A customer came like 20 minutes after we closed and used our app to announce that they were here for a curbside pick up.
Which. We're closed. No way I'm taking anything out to you when we're already done for the night.
That customer and at least three others proceeded to call the phones to try and get us to pick up.
We didn't answer. We were closed. We just let them ring.
One old guy came up to the doors and rang our doorbell like three times, holding down the button for various lengths to try and get us to come to him.
Nope. We're closed.
Like half an hour after we were closed I had everything locked down and loaded. We were all ready to go home. Which was great as I'd been worried we'd be stuck there until far later because of customer craziness.
Yah....we could have been out of the building like 35 minutes after we closed. Which would have been great as my migraine I woke up with this morning was spiking and I just wanted to go home.
There was only one....well...major snag.
On the hour exactly when we closed a family walked into the Vet Clinic that's located in our building. -They have their own separate door...why said door wasn't locked I have no idea.
But the vet had closed like...an hour earlier...so there shouldn't have been anyone coming in.
But there was.
This family came right at my store's closing time.....to say goodbye to their 14 year old kitty and have him put down because his kidney disease had gotten far too advanced.
I didn't think much of it at first. I figured the vet could handle the customers and they would be on their way.
After all, I still had a good half hour after we closed at least to get everything in order and registers properly shut down.
So I didn't mind them being in the store as it looked like they were going to stay in the vet part of the store.
However.... I finished my tasks....half an hour after we closed...and the family was still there in one of the waiting rooms. Crying. Still saying their goodbyes to their kitty.
Which...I get...letting go of a beloved family pet...especially after 14 years....it's hard. It's not easy.
But....saying goodbye for over thirty minutes? That part I didn't understand. Sure. It was a large family. Like at least 10 people had shown up to do farewells.
Plus...I had this migraine. My sympathy levels were waning fast because my head was pounding like a stake was being drilled into my head. I was quickly reaching the point where I could throw up if I breathed wrong.
But I couldn't leave.
In any other case, if I'd had another manager on duty...if I hadn't been a manager....I could have left my coworkers to handle everything and gone home.
But as the closing manager...I couldn't leave until I was certain that everyone else in the building was gone.
Because I needed to arm our security system. And I couldn't exactly set it when there were still people inside.
So I had to wait it out.
And one of my coworkers also had to wait it out. As there always needs to be at least two of us in the building...and it's unclear if the vet personnel count as a 'second' person since they don't work for us and are their own separate business within the store.
So the two of us had to wait...because I was proactive and got all the tasks done early. So we would be ready to go home on time for once. You know...half an hour after we closed.
But again...the mourning family was still there.
Trying to be as....considerate as I could be....I flagged down one of the vet staff and asked them how much longer they were going to be because we were ready to go.
"Tenish minutes." Was the guesstimate. The receptionist was checking out the family now. They were saying their final final goodbyes. They were about to start the euthanasia.
*exhales*
The family didn't leave until an HOUR after we closed.
A FREAKING HOUR.
If it were any other night I might have been more sympathetic.
But it was a holiday. We closed EARLY. I wanted to go home.
*exhales*
I get loosing a pet is hard. I do. I've had to say my own goodbyes to my own beloved pets.
But with a pounding migraine.....I just wanted to curl up in a ball and die.
We could have been out of the building half an hour after we closed.
But instead we left an HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES after we closed.
*exhales* To say I'm irritated....is an understatement. Definitely not the day to have to deal with delays.
Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!
-Sarnic Dirchi
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