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This is hopefully the last time I work on Black Friday

November 30, 2010 in Random Musings, Rants, Work with 0 Comments

In my last post I mentioned how I have been working in retail for six years and how I started in November a week and a half before the biggest shopping bonanza, the Black Friday. I admit that I was a bit terrified at working Black Friday, specially OPENING on Black Friday at the MPU department running people’s purchased merchandise to their cars and loading it up for them. I worked Black Friday at MPU in 2004 and 2005, and during those two years I witnessed many nasty and inconsiderate people and those two experiences dictated how I would see the Holiday season for years to come: with bitterness and anxiety.

I am going to admit to some bitter truths on my part: I don’t really hate retail during the holidays. I’m just highly annoyed with it since it takes away from the spirit of the season and makes people act all frantic. Plus, too many Christmas carols.

I know! I constantly complain about working in retail and about rude customers so I must really loathe it, no? Well, not really. I don’t like working in retail and want to move far from it as fast as I can because working in retail is not for me and I am not utilizing my talents to their full potential working for $10.25 an hour. Rude customers affect you at that moment and after a few moments of venting and re-telling the story to friends and co-workers they become just that: a story to laugh and shake your head at because you’re probably never going to see these people ever again and if you do they won’t remember you or what made them snap at you.

You would think that because of the stress of holiday shopping that I would have loads of stories about bad customer experiences during the holiday shopping season. Sadly, I don’t. It’s the one saving grace of the 4th retail quarter; no bad customer experiences. I think the long hours, crazy schedule, and just out right zaniness of management makes up for the fact I haven’t had a customer blow up on me because I ran out of a certain item or because we don’t carry a certain thing while another retailer does. I just see a lot of busy people who like to make a mess and that I have to stay past my scheduled time in order to clean it up.

I remember a few years back, my friend Becky and I ventured to International Mall to browse around and to play with the Macs at the Apple store when we saw this sign at Nordstrom’s about how they would not put up holiday decorations until after Thanksgiving unlike other retailers who start in late September early October, almost three months before Christmas Day. I remember we did a small cheer at their noble effort to not alienate more people at the commercialization of the holiday. Yes we did note the irony of a retailer not wanting to promote more commercialization of Christmas.

That’s the part that I will not miss about working retail during the holidays: just how hectic the company is about making it feel like holidays and just being outright too demanding and focused on schedules to get things ready so that we are at our full shopabbility when the doors open at 4 a.m. on the Day After Thanksgiving. Sad thing is, that no matter how much a retailer plans they have no idea what a shopper is going to go for year after year. I know we have made displays and created an experience that says “SHOP ME! I HAVE GREAT BUYS” and it goes untouched during most of the day while something else that we didn’t order much of is sold out in a few hours and you’re scrambling to make customers happy.

Shoppers are crazy, folks.

My lest favorite part of the holiday retail season is the constant bombardment of Christmas carols. You see, I like Christmas carols. I think they’re fun and cheery, and make you feel good inside. I don’t particularly care for the remakes of traditional Christmas carols by contemporary artists or that they create their own Christmas carols. They mostly suck and drive me up a wall. Starting in October my store mixes their regular store music with Christmas carols. You get two regular songs per Christmas carol in order to get you used to the full onslaught of Holiday music that you’re going to receive. Usually this happens the day after Halloween, and on Black Friday the store’s music switches too only Christmas carols.

It has made me loathe Christmas carols. I don’t want to loathe Christmas carols, but I do. I don’t want to listen to them at all nowadays because I get bombarded with them at work and to add insult to injury my parents play Christmas carols at home ALL THE DAMN TIME. I can’t get away from them! They’re everywhere!

I want this to be my last Black Friday that I ever have to work again in retail. I am about done with it all despite being a pro at it. I don’t want to wake up at 3 am to be at work at 4 am for a shift that won’t end until at least 5 pm, then be right back in at work at 5 am the next day and the day after that or to even work on Thanksgiving like I did this year. I want to be able to relax and have the opportunity to go on a holiday for the Holidays to see my step brothers and their families, or maybe just spend Christmas and Thanksgiving somewhere out of state. I can’t do that while working retail; we aren’t allowed time off from November until the first of the year.

I’m crossing my fingers and wishing that this is the last time I do any of this. I’m not even going to shop on Black Friday after I get out of retail. Its crazy! I don’t need the stress and hassle of it all to save a few dollars here and there. Plus, sales are better at other times of the year, you just have to be a savvy shopper to recognize them.


Thoughts on the Corboba House Mosque: Build it!

August 17, 2010 in Law, Personal, Politics, Random Musings, Rants with 2 Comments

Usually my life is pretty simple and to the point: cat videos, tacos, baseball and catching up on what is the haps with my peeps. But lately I have been troubled by all sorts of political questions that have been plaguing but more specifically I just can’t get over the controversy and how the nation’s panties have been bunched up in a knot over the site in which the Cordoba House Mosque is to be built on. 1

First, let me clear my mind on the whole Mosque controversy. I support it. I would visit it 2 and if I had the financial means I would even contribute to the project. I am sure that this blog post might come back and haunt me if I ever want to run for some sort of high political office, but I am a man who must stick to my principles and that means even defending the most unpopular opinions of our time; hell I fully agree with the WBC in their right to protest the funerals of dead soldiers.

Adlai Stevenson once said “The tragedy of our day is the climate of fear in which we live, and fear breeds repression. Too often sinister threats to the Bill of Rights, to the freedom of the mind, are concealed under the patriotic cloak of anti-communism.” We can substitute anti-communism with anti-terrorism and the horrible stigma that we as a nation have branded onto the good and kind Muslims that live in this country and for who the mosque in Manhattan is being built for. What we have done is judged an entire religious group for the actions of a few crazed lunatics. Doesn’t this go against the very ideal of religious tolerance which is a pillar that this country has been founded on? Or does religious tolerance and freedom only apply to those who believe that Jesus is our Lord and Savior?

We can’t let our fears and prejudices dictate our public and moral policy anymore. We must conquer them in order for us to continue to be a great nation because if we do not we will continue to be a nation that is polarized that cares more about wedge issues and what should or should not be moral 3 than what actually matters: the betterment of life for all.

I was reading a blog post not too long ago about the Mosque controversy and what they wrote was just brilliant, specially this tidbit:

No matter how you personally feel about Muslims and mosques, you have to recognize that this is a one-way trip, a simple, irreversible binary choice. As there can be no real doubt that the Imam and his congregation have every right to build their mosque where they wish, it comes down to something more nuanced, and much more pernicious. Do you want people, either by dint of their popular majority or their frantic shrieking and hand-waving to have the power to over-rule the basic rights and freedoms granted to all Americans? Do you understand that if it’s just Muslims today, it will be Jews tomorrow and atheists after that and in the end, the battle for the [smoldering] rubble of the American experiment will be fought between Catholics and Protestants, with the victors laying claim to just another totalitarian theocracy? 4

We are threading on dangerous ground if we let the majority get its way. We have to remember that this nation is built on fighting for the minority, the small voice, the little guy not the other way around or else voices like that of this jackass would be the norm and everyone would be listening to him.  Islam is not terrorism. We are not at war with a religion. We are at war with a group of individuals who twist and bastardize a religious text in order to coerce weak minded young men into believing their cause. We are acting like children who are afraid of the dark and who are afraid of getting rid of their nightlight.

Wake up America. Doing what is right is not easy; its never easy. They are not being insensitive by building a mosque two blocks from the old WTC 7. The Muslims who will make use of the Mosque didn’t personally fly the planes into the Twin Towers. They’re not preaching jihad on us and calling us infidels. They are innocent. They have nothing to do insurgent/terrorists/islamofascists whatever label we have decided to call them now.

Let it go, America. Just let it go. We will be a better and more mature nation because of it. If I may, I will quote Adlai Stevenson once again: “Ignorance is stubborn and prejudice is hard.”

Notes:

  1. I refuse to call it the “Ground Zero” Mosque since its not actually being built in Ground Zero; its two blocks away from where the  WTC 7 stood. ↩
  2. can non-Muslims visit the mosque? ↩
  3. I’m talking about gay marriage and abortion, the two biggest issues that should remain out of the ballot. Why do you ask? I have a hard time trying to subject someone else to my own sense of morality. I firmly believe that each of us has a core set of morals that we all live for that makes us a functioning member of society and that allows us to actually come together and form a community. Morals vary from person to person, from community to community and from nation to nation. I will not touch this subject anymore since I fear hijacking my own post and footnotes with how I think these two issues are a distraction and makes us lose focus on what is truly important. ↩
  4. From It’s Not About THEM, It’s About US. ↩

Rant: I don’t care about Steven Slater

August 10, 2010 in Random Musings, Rants, Work with 0 Comments

It seems that the two biggest news stories for today are the death of former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens 1 and that of Steven Slater, the JetBlue flight attendant who snapped at a rude passenger then used the airplane’s intercom and cursed her out and proclaimed he was done. Then he proceeded to grab a beer and exit the plane using the emergency slide.

Now he is considered a cult her0. I don’t think what he did is much to be celebrated to be quite honest with you nor am I justifying the horrible attitude of the female flight attendant who was the catalyst that caused him to snap. I work in retail and I have encountered many rude customers and I have also encountered many who are just wonderful, but you never lash out at them. I repeat: YOU NEVER LASH OUT.

I’ve never been a fan of the statement that the customer is always right, because you’re not. You have responsibilities as a representative of your company and rights, and one of those rights is being treated with respect. Now I understand that we all have been at one point or another been treated harshly by management or by customers and wanted to lose our cool, but you haven’t. Really what does losing your cool have to do with anything? Let me tell you about some of the things that I have dealt with being in retail: I have been yelled at, threatened with legal action, mocked for my age, cursed at, and even spit on. Every one of those offenses I have remained cool and collected. That is all one can do when in retail really. It does nothing for me to get angry and fire back at the customer because in the grand scheme it really does not matter at all.

So while you’re currently trending on Twitter and are a cult hero for many disgruntled employees, how you handled your situation has made you look like a bigger jackass than the impatient woman that hit you with her suitcase and told you to “f*ck off”.

Steven Slater: Cult Jackass.

Notes:

  1. While I did not agree with Ted Steven’s politics and generally found him to be a frustrating individual with his bullheaded attitude, I put my politics aside when it comes to matters of death no matter if its a result of natural causes or by freak accidents like a plane crash. Whatever your thoughts on him personally, you can’t deny that he was one of the Senates most famous Senators. Whether you liked him or not he did many great things for his state. ↩

Snyder vs. Phelps and the First Amendment

July 15, 2010 in Law, Politics, Random Musings, Rants with 3 Comments

The Westboro Baptist Church is a well known independent Baptist church and hate group that infamously pickets funerals of the LGBT community and of soldiers who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan. They have been around since 1955, but it was not until 1998 that they entered the national spotlight when they picketed the funeral of Matthew Sheppard who was brutally slain for being gay. The WBC firmly believes that every tragedy in the world is a direct cause of homosexuality.

It is clear, the WBC is composed of the most delusional individuals to ever grace this planet. They despicable, vile, evil, horrendous, pathetic, and I can’t even come up with any more adjectives to describe how un-human they are. Given that, I do not in any way support their views and opinions. They are truly horrific in how they conduct themselves by trying to spread this horrific message of hate and its exactly why I find myself at odds with my views on their upcoming SCOTUS case in Snyder vs. Phelps and how I am agreeing and support the fact that they have a right to conduct themselves as they have because the First Amendment protects offensive speech and that they complied with all applicable laws of staying several hundred feet away from the funeral of fallen Marine Matthews Snyder. Their protest, no matter whether we agree or disagree with its message, falls under First Amendment protected speech.

SCOTUSWiki has all the documentation that you need on this case, from briefs to news reports so I won’t bother to go into full details of the case, but just mention some snippets. Sadly, my favorite brief is not included since it was just filed not too long ago by a group of First Amendment professors but you can find it here and here.

In this brief the argument is as follows:

First, the Supreme Court has long protected offensive speech because it contributes to discourse on issues of public interest and because efforts to censor it often result from antipathy towards the speaker’s message.  Second, the Court has never found a captive audience in a public forum based purely on the content of speech.  Abhorrence for the expression in the Snyder case does not justify creating a new dignity-based privacy interest that would allow censorship of unwanted or offensive speech.  Third, the First Amendment does not allow punishment of speech solely because of its emotional impact on the listener.  For this reason, the Court typically requires external indicia or harm before finding speech unprotected.  The Court should not permit evasion of these objective requirements by allowing tort liability under theories of invasion of privacy  or intentional infliction of emotional distress in the Snyder case.  Permitting tort liability for offensive speech would chill public discourse by allowing massive damage awards based on subjective criteria.  Categorizing the peaceful funeral protest in Snyder as unprotected speech contradicts the Court’s existing jurisprudence and undermines the very purpose of the First Amendment.

I find myself at a dilemma when it comes to this case. I abhor anti-homosexual speech. I am a firm believer in equality for all and what the WBC does is pure evil in my eyes. Yet, I can’t just censor their speech because I happen to disagree with it no matter how vile it might be; it goes against the principles and beauty of the First Amendment.

Mike Godwin once said “The First Amendment was designed to protect offensive speech, because nobody ever tries to ban the other kind”. The unpopular opinions need protection just as much as the popular opinions. We supposedly live in America the land of the free and of opportunity, not the land of you can only believe in what I believe and damn your own beliefs. So as much as sympathize with Mr. Snyder and find the WBC revolting, I hope that The Court rules in their favor. I don’t ever want to live in a world where no one defends my unpopular beliefs just because someone else doesn’t like it. It was even the subject of a Futurama episode! The WBC protest is one thing, but The Court ruling in Snyder’s favor could set a really dangerous precedent, not to mention a violation of stare decisis and would add more tarnish to Chief Justice Roberts’ Court. I can imagine really ludicrous examples of banning protest, but I’ll just wait for the oral arguments in the next term.

Its going to be a really interesting case to see argued. Will people abandon logic and throw out prior legal precedent and rule in favor of Mr. Snyder or will we, no matter how much we may detest them, side with Mr. Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church?

Rant: Only idiots win the lottery

July 13, 2010 in Just for Fun, Random Musings, Rants with 2 Comments

The biggest Powerball payout was $365 million dollars with a single ticket shared by eight different people from Nebraska. They elected to take their winnings in cash which roughly came out to $177 million dollars before taxes.

I bet a good number of them have wasted their winnings. Maybe I’m wrong, but I have read too much about how people who never really have any money go really wild and burn out their money and end up worse off then they were before. Do a Google search for stories on lottery winners who have lost their money. Here, I’ve done the work for you: click here for sad stories about lottery winners losing it all!

You win the lottery and every and their mother is out looking for a handout; people who are in real need and people who are looking to take advantage of you make up the majority of these folks. Let’s not forget about family members who you never get along or talk to wanting a piece of your cash pie just because you’re somehow related to them and blood is thicker than water, blah, blah, blah. Family can be so frustrating.

Anyways, a while back I was reading an AMA (Ask me Anything) on Reddit about a guy who won $30 million dollars back in 2001 and how he has spent the last five years traveling the world.  Really good read if you happen to read this blog. A lot of what he does is really neat and seems like he might be one of the handful of smart individuals who have won the lottery and have handled it correctly.

So what would I do with if I do one day win the lottery big –like Powerball $300 million big? Well, I am glad you asked because this is a recurring conversation between my best friend and I, especially since he just got a fairly new BMW.  First, I’d follow some of the guidelines prescribed by this MSN Money article: it runs down the basics on how to handle the euphoria, how to contact a lawyer and an accountant, what to do about work, etc, etc. First, since we have the Powerball in my state I’d contact my lawyer and with his/her help create a special bank account that will receive my winning money and then create some rules as to how to handle my money, where to invest it, how much I will have in my personal checking account, etc, etc. So after the 28% that the Federal government takes I’d have about $122 million left over to play around with. Lots of moolah. Time to do some good, but first some fixing of my family’s life!

After that is all settled then I will be ready to start spending my money. First, like the phenomenal and caring son that I am I will make sure to make sure that my parents are well taken care of. I’d buy them new cars (they sort of kind of need it), wipe their debt and send them on a nice vacation. They’ve always wanted to see Ireland so I’d take them there. I’d give them as much money as they wanted. I know my parents and they’d probably won’t ask for a lot, and I’d give them three or four times the amount they ask for anyways. I know that if I offered to buy them a new house the first thing my Dad would say would be ‘Why? So that your mother can buy more shit for her school? We have two storage areas and a living room full of her stuff already! We don’t need a bigger place”. So that takes care of one item. But since my Dad is getting up there in years I will make sure that everything is taken care of for my mom in case that she needs anything. Knowing them they won’t quit their jobs since they are that stubborn. Well, my Dad might as he should. He can spend most of his time cooking. Yes, that’s good.

Next I’d turn to my younger brother. So whatever I give my parents, my brother gets half of that. I’d buy him a new car and get him a financial advisor so that he won’t blow all the money in one shot. Next, I’d turn to my step-brother’s and their families. Yup, each of them would get the same amount as my brother. They’d be set. Knowing how they are, they will probably not accept it or try to decline it, but damn it I am insistent and they better take it. My family in Mexico can split $5 million between all of them. That is a lot of money for them.

My friends, well I’d take care of their debt first and foremost. Joe and I have this pack that if one of us wins a substantial amount of money we’d give each other $1 or $2 million depending on the amount. Let’s just say $2 million for him. For my other really good friends however long I’ve been really, really good friends with you then I’d multiply that by 10K and that is what you will get from me. That is in addition to wiping out their debt mind you. I’d figure that the group of ten people that I am really close to would be really, really happy with that setup. I’m estimating that I’d be down to around $85 million dollars.

Now that I have taken care of other people its time to take care of myself. First and foremost I am buying myself some sort of house. Nothing too extravagant or big. I am just a single person after all, but I will make sure its a pretty decent neighborhood. Next, I am purchasing myself a new car. I am in desperate need of one. Nothing too fancy mind you, more than likely a decent BMW 3-Series or X5. Hm, I also like the Ford Fusion Hybrid. I just need something newer damn it. I’m also getting new wardrobe so I will be making a day trek to Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.  Then I’d go and purchasing various items for my house, finally going crazy and buying all the items from my Amazon wishlist. I have a feeling I should make a ridiculous purchase but I can’t think of anything. The guy from that Reddit article bought the animatronic head of the T-Rex from Jurassic Park. I have a feeling I should get something similar to that but I can’t think of what to purchase actually. More than likely I’ll bid on some item for charity, like the guy who won a prequel to Harry Potter for almost 50K. Hm, I wonder when Jeff Tweedy is going to auction himself off for another Living Room concert. I’d bid outrageous amounts of money for that!

After that then I am going to be giving out charitable donations to various charities around the Tampa Bay area and some national organizations. I’d also become one of the key financial contributors to WUSF, WMNF, WEDU and NPR. A lot of money would be given out this way. I’m thinking $10 million dollars in donations.

Then I’d do the typical rich person things: I’d travel and see the world, eat in expensive restaurants, go to fancy smancy charitable auctions, etc. One thing I’d do at least once a week is when I go to a restaurant make sure that I pay for everyone’s meal. I always wanted to do that.

If I ever get married and have kids though I’d make sure to keep it pretty hidden. I don’t want them to know that I have this incredibly amount of money. I don’t want them to grow up spoiled. Its probably the reason why I’d probably continue going to school and getting a job somewhere or investing in small businesses in the area. That sounds really good though.

Its too bad that I probably will never win the lottery though. I’m too sensible. Oh, and I don’t play it. :P

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