For everyone who has never worked in retail...

Here is a list of the typical things a good dependable hourly retail worker has to do in any given week (sometimes all in one day!) (this list is not all inclusive):

Helping customers, cash register, return desk, customer issues, big ticket, unloading and loading trucks, keeping an eye out for shoplifters, straightening the shelves when they get messy, watching people's kids (because God knows many parents don't watch their own kids while in a store), taking calls from customers, taking calls from other stores, looking up to see if an item is in stock, marking clearance items, rearranging clearance on the clearance rack, setting up the new merchandise according to the company standards, going back to that new display five minutes later and finding it in shambles, helping helpless people find an item that was right in front of their face the whole time, being told what a worthless slob you are because you work in retail, daily inventory, making everything look perfect for a visit from the big dogs, checking perishable items for sell-by date, throwing away all expired items, vacuuming the floor, taking out the trash, cleaning out the backroom, printing and setting up sale signs, checking emails from corporate several times a day, dodging bullets from armed robbers, calling 911 when a customer manages to hurt themselves, talking to the cops, helping people carry their stuff to the parking lot, helping break into the car for the woman who left her keys and her two year old child locked in there, cleaning up food and drinks and urine and feces and puke from the aisles, plunging the toilet that keeps getting clogged, replenishing the TP and paper towels in the bathrooms, recovering what is left of stolen items, gathering the carts scattered all over the parking lot, sending and receiving mail, sending large boxes of merchandise via UPS or Fedex Ground, counting out the money in the registers during the change of shift, closing all the registers down, cashing everything out, making sure there were no discrepancies, dropping off the deposit, make sure everyone gets a lunch break, and more.

If you think there is one employee for each of these jobs, or even one employee for TEN of these jobs, you are kidding yourself. When I worked at Toys R Us, I did all of these things -- sometimes all in one day, definitely within 2 or 3 days -- and more. My job description was Sales Associate for the Clothing Department. The most I ever made was $9.50/hour, and I was one of the highest paid people in the store outside of management. I also was trying to muddle my way through 15-18 credit hours per week at school, about 10 hours of homework every week (and that is if there were no tests coming up or papers due), and make sure my house didn't become a pig-sty, and take care of my dogs. Oh, and sleep, sometimes. FORGET a social life.

Now, an average sized retail store might have 10 people scheduled for any given shift (on a good day), 2 or 3 of those people will call out (on a good day), 2 or 3 of the others will come in up to an hour late (on a good day). 90% of the employees are part time (very few retail stores have full time workers outside of management), these things must all be done in 30 hours or less per week per employee, and overtime is NOT allowed under almost any circumstances. I was allowed overtime TWICE in FIVE years at Toys R Us -- and that was only because the CEO was making a visit to our store and everything had to be absolutely pristine!

Each store is granted a certain number of hours to divide among every employee in the store. When the payroll cost goes up and the sales go down, the store is given even LESS hours to divide among the employees and the SAME amount of work has to be done. When a store consistently goes over the allotted hours, the manager will be written up. When the manager gets written up there is hell to pay for all the hourly employees.

And it is virtually the same way in any retail store; TRU, Target, WalMart, K-Mart, CompUSA, Circuit City, Best Buy, PetSmart, etc.

Do you STILL think it's a good idea to "leave a cart behind"?

backfire bigtime. It will only reinforce store workers' idea that the public are pigs, since they are constantly picking up after them to begin with. I don't think tired retail workers are going to associate these abandoned carts with some political protest. It is a total bonehead idea.

Cleaning up those carts will only add one more thing that has to be done. The employees will HATE anyone who does this, with a passion.

The kind of thing you would expect from some trust fund liberal at an Ivy League school, a kid with no concept of how the real world works, but doing such a thing makes him "feel" like a real crusader for working people.

Anyone who does this is accomplishing nothing except making the lives of retail workers more difficult. Corporate WalMart would not give a rat's ass about this leave a cart bull.

This won't change anything at Wal-Mart, it will only make them whip their laborers harder for not getting their normal jobs done. One of the worst "activist" ideas ever.

I usually say "Limosine Liberal" but that tended to piss people off for some reason, like maybe they WISH they had a Limosine? I dunno. Maybe Latte Liberals become Limosine Liberals after they leave school and get the Directorship of some NFPO?

That thread was the DUMBEST thing I read yesterday.
I used to work retail, and I can tell you that if that happened to ME, I would have been really PO'd at the people doing it, and my boss would have been PO'd at ME if I didn't get it all re-stowed and looking spiffy.

Really stupid. About as stupid as splashing red paint on cars in the drive-through at the Eee-Vul Arches....

on people wearing fur coats. And about as effective at getting people on our side, as well.

I think it's a great idea to give the worker something mindless to do while making business more expensive to do. And I will leave literature in the cart for them to read as well. The characterization above makes it seem even more like a good idea since that's the kind of language I'd expect from O'Liely or someone of that ilk. Thanks for the motivation ;)

Between work (and extra work), children, bills, etc...the only purpose your "literature" will serve is as a calling card to identify who they should be angry with.

Seriously, this effort is completely misguided.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

And leave a $5 tip behind with the note.

So I would kindly ask that unless you have something new to add that you stay out of this thread. Your purpose in all this is nothing more than to rile everyone up and cause a disruption. You are incapable of seeing anyone's side here but your own. You haven't even tried to come up with some sort of viable solution or comprimise.

If you want to leave a cart, then stop telling everyone you're going to do it and go do it! You're the one that has to live with yourself. But when it backfires on you, don't expect me to stand by you and back you up.

Everyone has to agree with you... or else?

:shrug:

I don't care if you like my opinion or not. It's as valid as your 35 rebuttals or "atta boys".

I'm shocked that someone at DU would call for an end to dialog because they don't like my opinion? Is your opinion the only one that counts on this post just because you started it??

I am now convinced that my argument is making sense in some fashion and you are trying to quash my view. Well, until Bushiter encamps me, I will express my opinion freely and supply counter-arguments as I see fit. It's what I love about DU - the debate - and I'll be damned if I'll succumb to "stay out of this thread". :kick:

to everyone who posts in a thread that I start. Why do you insist on telling me the same thing over and over again?

Do you think Walmart is going to pay extra, when it can just demand that workers work faster to accomodate jerks? If they can't manage to help customers, clean, fold, and all of the activities that are part of their job - AND put away the things that you intentionally leave behind - they'll just be fired.

They aren't getting paid more. Walmart isn't losing money.

:sarcasm:

who think that there is a point to be made here that doesn't support the "don't do that, even though I have no better idea" crowd. Even you don't think the idea is practical, but at least you allow for others who take the opposite view...

I've barely been able to say a word in this thread without a snarky followup from you.

as it were...

Yes. I've worked retail, and owned my own business. I've got a son who was a manager in retail. I know how it works. But, until employees get mad enough at corporate for blaming THEM for things the customers do, they will never stand up and say 'enough'.

That's the power of unions. People can boycott places like WalMart all they want, it's not going to make much difference. But if they have no employees they lose ALL their customers, not just a few. They might be able to close one store in Canada, but they can't close ALL their stores everywhere. Or if they did, it would mean that many more small stores needed to take up the slack and lots of jobs opening up in those businesses.

Take a look some time at union history and what sparked the union movement 100 years ago. Until people decided that being treated as human was important to them, nothing happened. Today, we're right back at the beginning and until the employees decide that being human is important to them, the companies will continue to treat them like slaves.

Will it hurt to make the stand? Of course it will. I grew up in a time and place where you got your driver's license and then your union card and it was hard to tell which was more exciting. I know the clench in the stomach from the idea of a strike but I also know that I didn't have to worry about whether a parent would be fired on a whim. I now work for a union and I know what it takes to even get people thinking about joining together for the good of all and what it takes is a good hard dose of righteous anger.

It will only lower the moral even more than it ever was before. At WalMart, people who encourage unionization get fired.

please see my posts in this thread:

#109 and #120
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5337560

reiterated here:

#2 and #10
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5341340&mesg_id=5341452

is a bad idea. I actually like the idea of doing it in conjuntion with an all employee walk-out so the managers are the ones forced to deal with it. I see that you actually want to come up with ideas on how to make all this work, and that is great. But, the point of my post is to open the eyes of all those who think they can just drop a cart full of junk in an aisle and that that alone will spark change.

i have more to say on this, but i'm on my way to my corporate restaurant job... Monday it's the Corporate Retail Camera store job... with no unions in sight...

work toward a living wage!

And if we, so help us god, install a democracy in Iraq, this is what they have to look forward to.

Office Space, eh? I'm honored, because I love that movie.

:D

fill me in? I've missed "leave a cart behind."

But I managed a small retail store for 5 years and everything you say is absolutely true. In my store we also made the goods we sold (custom picture frames), which made the time to devote to other tasks even shorter.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5330026

Several others have since popped up.

And thank you. :)

I've been away for a few days. Can't afford to do that at DU!

Bad idea. As others have said, it won't have any impact on management/policy. Will only overwork the already overburdened.

for the schmuck that already has enough to do. And is doing it for low wages to start out with.

I worked high-end retail. I had to scramble for customers to make my quota. I had to be janitor when I wasn't hustling. I had to keep my eye on sometimes three departments, and I had to fold, fold, fold, fold, pick up off the floor, and fold all the time. And then move the merchandise to the sale displays. Then troll the place for shoplifters. And we were told we could never sit down. Jeez, all this and having to put up with people with bad attitudes who thought you were some kind of low rent life-form just waiting for them to come along and abuse you. Seriously, I got so sick of the human race working that job. And that's when it dawned on my how tough life must be for a waitress/waiter. (But I digress.) Anyway, for God's sake people shouldn't be making life miserable for someone who's life is probably bad enough already. Like I said, I worked HIGH-END retail and it was a slave labor job. I can't imagine Walmart (God save us all) or Target, etc.

Oh. My. God.

:cry:

And thanks for the support. :)

hard time and I get upset and embarrassed. They hold them responsible for everything from the food not being right (like the poor server cooked the stuff) to having to wait a few minutes while the place is packed.

Now don't get me wrong, I've had some bad servers. One time the food (shrimp) was obviously spoiled or cooked in old grease or something and when the server was informed she said "and what do you expect me to do about it?". But that is not the rule, it is the exception. And you know what, later I got to thinking that maybe she had had a really BAAAADDDDDDDD night dealing with assholes and monsters who think that they are entitled to slave labor for their 15% (which I notice that they usually don't get).

My daughter is a waitress in an exclusive restaurant here in the Old Market in Omaha. And she has told me stories, sometimes they're hilarious but generally they make me ashamed of my sex. Women can be such bitches (yes I used that word, intentionally too) to people who have to wait on them. They're the worst in retail as well. I know this from personal experience and I know a lot of women and men in who are servers in different forms (retail, food industry, hairdressers mainly) and every last one of them will tell you the same thing. Men will generally let it go. Not a woman. And they can get so over-the-top.

P.S. - I am a woman. I know from where I speak.

When I waited tables I generally had a more difficult time with women than with men.

But then again, I was one myself. I think that makes a difference. I usually convince my husband to leave 20-25 percent, rather than 15. 15 just doesn't cut it anymore.

There's a little breakfast place down the street, and the gals make good money there. Most of them have a relationship with customers (not that kind of relationship) and most of the retirees and working guys will leave them a dollar tip for a cup of coffee they drank at the counter. (The owner of the place, too, is a good Joe -- he used to give free lunches to an elderly lady who lived in an apartment down the street. Everybody was under orders never to charge her. And yet she only ordered soup, usually -- didn't want to take advantage.)

I don't know about you, but I find that blue collar guys tend to be more generous with tips.

because blue collar guys know what it's like to be a working schlub.

I don't know about you, but I find that blue collar guys tend to be more generous with tips.

Women were generally pretty awful, unless they had done the job before.

Fortunately I have never had to work in food service, but I have done my time at gas stations. Generally "customers" are flaming assholes, and I have to admit there were those time I would go out of my way to make their lives as miserable as I could get away with.

For almost 15 years now I have worked in jobs that do not require any public contact. I still thank the FSM every morning for that.

BTW, I'm not sure if it matters, but when I eat at a restaurant, and pay with a credit card, I aways try to leave the tip in cash hoping the server can just drop it in her pocket.

.

When I was a server, it didn't really matter in the end whether a tip was left in cash or on the CC. But some places may be different.

Please correct me if I'm wrong but, I always leave a cash tip because I always thought they could only tax them on 8% of the total receipt instead of a higher tip. I always leave 20% in cash so if they only assume I left 8%, they don't get as screwed. I was told this by a waitress a long time ago when they decided (WRONGLY) to tax tips.

Is this thinking wrong? I also agree that you only hurt the people lower on the ladder by leaving a cart behind. I worked retail and it's practically slave labor.

But I tried to claim all of my tips. Maybe not smart but my conscience won't let me do otherwise.

At least that is how it seems.

But somehow, working in Adult, we get most of the same shit, but for the most part the customers treat you as a human being. I guess it is hard to be smug and self-important when walking up to the register with an 18" double dong.

My biggest gripes are the young bucks who come in and try to act all macho in the store, and the guys that come straight from their job at the mud quarry and leave tracks all around the store.

I always thought it would be a lot of fun to work in an adult store. :D As a female, I usually get strange looks from dudes when I'm in one of those stores.

What good is it suppose to do?

I know at "some" Wal*Mart stores that if when you first walk in, and if you have brought a cart in with you, they give you a ticket for a 5% discount on your purchase. Other stores have "Buggy Boys," but they are constantly being paged to help in shipping, helping customers load their purchases, getting things down from the top shelfs for customers, etc.

My son and daughter-in-law worked for Wal*Mart full-time while they were in college as well. They were never allowed over 39 hours and if they accidentally went over the 39 hour, Wal*Mart would not pay them for any hours over 39 . . .it was just their loss.

Even though they both worked they were still eligible for food stakm an

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5330026

Retail is a horrible thankless job, and the only jobs I can think of as worse is garbage collecting and sewage tunnel person (anything to do with sewage -- ew!).

That is if everyone stuck with it. This could get the attention of the corporate gurus AND avoid making life more difficult for the workers.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5336395&mesg_id=5336395

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

but there are much better and much more effective ways of hurting Big Business, without making life more difficult for the little guy.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Or starting riots. Most of us can understand the plight those people in France have been going through, but many only see them as criminals, and in the end I think the rioting is only hurting their cause.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

setting things on fire will only harm the cause. It will only turn people against us who might otherwise stand with us.

I'm assuming it happened in an accident or something, but I would kind-of be rooting on the fire if it were a humvee (obviously assuming nobody was hurt in the accident)...

I worked at a place where I was not allowed to leave the cash register and yet I had to make sure everything was kept straightened in two aisles several feet away. And rearrange one of the extra parts bins behind the counter where I couldn't see the register.

I got paid less than $5/hr.

And at my $3/hr fast food with a humungous salad bar job, the poor sap who got stuck with salad bar duty couldn't leave until every single crock was rotated and perfectly pristine, with Manager inspecting it before you could go. Most days, several customers would trash it before you could get Manager's attention, so you'd have to fill 20+ crocks yet again, and often you wound up staying until the close or the next shift came in.

Can you say "OT"? I knew you could. At least we got paid, but you could never make plans because you had no idea when you'd get the hell out of there.

NO ONE ever wanted to work salad bar, and if you expressed this preference, you would be assigned it every day for a month. However, somehow, not one single male employee was ever assigned this position. I kept track.

I never worked at a place with a salad bar, but I can understand where you're coming from.

And yeah, you gotta be in about 6 places at once.

I have this whacked out idea that if we unionize retail like we once unionized factory work we again would have a middle class. Of course the factories are gone now but I'd rather get union wages and benefits dealing with customers than working on an assambly line.

Not only that, I believe that in a nation as rich as we are, there should be a minimum standard of living for all. Anything less is barbaric.

by calling it a "political action."

The stuff in the store does not belong to you until you buy it.

Leave other people's property alone.

Redstone

You are quite a gentleman. :D

I've even left a cart due to the lines 20 people long when I only had 5 items or so. That was before I started boycotting WalMart. Now since I cannot buy their stuff, I will fill my cart with merchandise and my conscience will kick in and tell me that I cannot buy from people who support lying mass-murdering war criminals and abuse their employees. I will then leave anti-WalMart and pro-union literature in the cart and leave to clear my conscience. I'm feeling better already :D

Yes, please make someone elses life harder to clear your own conscience. Okay. :eyes:

Argue 'till your blue in the face, my experience working in retail was different than yours I guess. I like low-stress restocking. And seeing anti-WalMart pro-union literature may be refreshing to some. I think it's a fabulous idea...

that the intentional destruction of property has everwon anyone to a point of view.

The answer is simple: If you don't own it, leave it alone...:)

So, now we are criminalizing shopping?

In fact, that's the only part of my retail job that was relatively relaxing for me. It's mindless and you don't have to listen to people bitching about this or that.

Remember, you can't do more than one thing at a time while working. I think I'm gonna leave a cart behind - and I'm going to stock it with anti-WalMart and pro-union literature as well. I'm thinking this is a great idea - thanks...

but on top of everything else I listed and then some, it is extremely stressful. You will accomplish nothing except to make someone's life more difficult.

It's not possible. I'm going to give them some good mindless restocking to do - I always liked doing that when I worked in retail. Plus, I wonder what they'll do when they keep seeing carts with this pro-union, anti-WalMart literature in them? :D

You won't help anyone this way.

The majority of people who work there are RW knuckleheads in my neck o' the woods. They need a little waking up anyway :D

they'll just mutter "fucking asshole" to themselves as they throw your papers in the trash and trudge off with a sigh to put the stuff back on the shelves.

Some political action, there.

Redstone

politics. You can sluff off the effect if you like, but it's not violent and it has an effect of awareness that little else I've seen proposed. I really, really like this idea. And the more arguements I read about why it's not a good idea, the more I like it. Politics is never pretty and never falls into someones idea of a good idea until the results are in. I will say it again, it's better than any other ideas I've seen recently (I already boycott WalMart) - basically NONE. And anyone can do this - I can't say how great of an idea this is...

Work to keep them out of your town. I've done both.

But vandalism is vandalism, no matter how you try to make excuses.

I give up. I guess some people don't get the idea of respect for other people's property.

How would YOU like it if you owned a grocery store and right-wingers did the "cart prank" to you?

Redstone

WalMart supports fascist Bushco. They gave $5000 to Tom DeLay AFTER he was indicted on money laundering charges.

They overwhelmingly give money to Repukes.

They are violently anti-union and give such bad pay/health coverage that employees have to take money from the public dole.

They are the leader in "race to the bottom" Chinese/American relationship exploitation. Their products are cheap for a reason (they're not actually cheap though if you shop around, but anyway).

They have driven out the smaller stores that offered a local flavor to your shopping experience - don't like what WalMart is offering now in your neighborhood - too fucking bad.

I will do anything in my power to make it difficult for this company to do business in the USA.

that the people that work there are Republicans. A lot of people work at WalMart because it's the only place they can find a job due to where they live, their abilities, etc. They are single mothers and senior citizens trying to keep food on their tables, they are people who no longer qualify for unemployment but can't find work in their field, they are the disabled, they are people for goodness sake! They are trying to pay bills, feed their families and afford health care that they are not provided. A $20 co-payment at a doctors office can mean skipping a meal or not having gas enough to even get to work.

This will not hurt the corporation. They will not have to pay overtime to have these items restocked because most of the stores are open 24 hours. Even if it takes different people across shifts to put it all back, it will be restocked without overtime pay for the employee. The corporation has all the time and labor at their fingertips that they need. Trust me, they won't sweat it a bit. But the employee already struggling will see this as now being squeezed from both sides. They won't cheer or support you.

As anyone who has been recommending this can see from reading all the threads here on this subject, you won't have the major participation you anticipated. Most of us are totally against this idea because of the people it will really hurt.

I like the idea flvegan came up with for sending in your receipts to HQ on a continual basis. We are already hitting them hard in their pocketbook by not shopping there. Sending in the receipts is wiping their noses in it with the hard evidence that they are losing money and that, yes! we are willing to pay more to their competitors to avoid supporting their unfair practices. This is constructive, not destructive protest.

gets an already stressed worker to explode. I've seen it happen. I remember one night when I was working, it had been extremely busy with bitchy customers and the store was a mess and took forever to clean up, and suddenly we had to collect a bunch of carts out in the parking lot, some across the street. On top of that it was raining heavily by that time. I seriously almost lost it as did some of my co-workers.

Now the worst thing people do, as has been talked about, is when they just leave a cart full of crap and we have to restock it. That is honestly the worst, most irritating thing a customer does. Some of the stuff sometimes is little crap we didn't even know we had so it takes forever to find where it goes in a large store. I once spent half an hour restocking a cart because I didn't know where a good portion of the stuff went and I could usually tell a customer exactly to the segment and shelf of the aisle where something was. Sometimes they put clearance stuff in there, but took off the clearance labels. ARGHHHH!! Then I had to make clearance labels as well and then find where in the clearance sections the crap went. Leaving a cart full of merchandise behind is a sick and twisted thing to do. The grunts who have had a tough day have to deal with it and sometimes the managers blame the grunts for the customer not buying the crap.

One night, during the Christmas season when the store was open until midnight, it had taken us until 2am to clean up the store. I was so stressed out and exhausted, and I only wanted to go home. Then, I found a cart filled with junk that had been left in an aisle. I took the cart, pushed it as hard as I could into one of the registers, and walked out. No manager ever said a word to me about it, because they knew how fucked up the environment was in that store.

was going to come back the next day and buy it. I even made up a name and time they would come back and I wasn't working the next day anyway. I feel bad about doing that since people the next day had to put it back, but I was so exhausted. I had worked 8 and a half hours that day and I was beat.

It can also be the best when there are good customers. However, I'd say anywhere between 10% and 20% of customers on a given day just are looking to start a bitchfest and 5-10% are just pure rotten greedy bastards who leave stuff from one aisle mixed in with stuff from another aisle and even behind goods in an aisle, just drop things on the ground right in front of the retail workers, go to the register and then decide they didn't need half that crap so it has to be returned, outright try to rip off the store by trying to exploit the return policies, lie and cheat with coupons and claiming to have given a larger bill(that one really pisses me off because they are accusing me of being incompetent at best and a liar at worst), demanding an extremely high level of service for a very minor thing, bitching when they claim it takes a long time for the employees to get something for them etc...

Retail is a thankless job because of all the shitbags out there that like to make other people's lives miserable. I'm glad I don't work in retail anymore. I served my time.

:)

I worked at a CVS for a while. They had a series of shelves for the drink 'cooler' - a fridge just outside the door to the back stocking area. I was tasked with making it more efficient. I grabbed a chair and looked at it for a while, meanwhile the Assistant manager was going back and forth yelling at me for not doing anything, but I was planning. More yelling, more planning, we were both stubborn, but she was dumb.

I ended up putting everything that was already on the shelves in less than half the space they took up previously. She walked by and shrugged at it. I said "I guess you don't play much chess, either". I think that went right over her stupid head, too.

It ended up being a situation where NOBODY but me was allowed to touch those shelves. Stupid petty, little-minded-political-bullshit rules the day! :eyes:

Yes, these people vote.

*shudder*

:sarcasm:

Get my drunk enough on a Saturday night in New York state, where they have beer on sale at Wal*Mart, but won't sell it to you, and you might just have a singular riot on your hands :D

"Leave your cart behind" or molotov cocktails. :eyes: Way to see things in black and white.

Then again, I'm surprised no one has mentioned messing with the car batter displays and the jumper cables right next to them. Hell that's practically a ready made bomb right there. :sarcasm:

cops to chase you. That way we all make the top cops understand that regular patrol cops should get paid more" movement.

Join me!

:sarcasm:

Or are you just going to continue to try and belittle me because I have given my opinion? Perhaps you're one of those who thinks that retail workers are worthless scum who deserve to be treated like shit because they have a lesser position in life than you do?

What I don't understand is why people keep shoving it down our throats. Point is made, move on. My sarcastic remarks are to try to show the silliness of the discussion.

Missed.

especilly since you know nothing about me. If you think this is a silly conversation, here's an idea, hide the thread! :wow:

I think it's a valid conversation, but you disagree with me - then told me not to post in this thread anymore? Huh?

but you are all over this thread jumping all over everything I say to everyone. Way to pile on. Talk about insulting other dems... :eyes:

I mean, the easiest way to fire somebody up on a political forum is to tell them they are wrong but/and their opinion is not wanted anyway and to go away and not post here anymore. What did you expect? :shrug:

OK?

Redstone

It's funny when people get so riled up they attack even those who attempt to agree with them. Randi Rhodes does this soemtimes - kinda sucks...

but you're just trying to piss me off.

You're the one who attacked me and told me not to post in this thread any more. I'm just disagreeing with you. Sorry that you came to a political forum, picked a fight with everyone here and are now annoyed that you got the expected response :D

I'm a little worked up over this topic. Sorry.

as am I :grouphug:

Some dumbasses here actually wanted to boycott Florida orange juice because of the damn election! To punish the co-op of farmers that grow oranges in a maroon state that voted for Gore...because that would punish Jeb somehow!


We could also march through the red states and punch everyone in the face. That would teach Bush a lesson. :just kidding:

Very sad.

I worked retail until I graduated from college. And I have had a few part time retail gigs since then. No way would any store I worked for pay me overtime to restock shelves. When I worked in a small card shop, we had to clean the store every night. And yes, restock anything the full time day people had no time to do. And that store was often much busier at night when the part timers worked.

I have a friend who works retail part time now. She called me last night to cancel a breakfast date we had this morning. She was supposed to be off today but was called in to work to help clean the store - at 7 am. They aren't paying her overtime, but letting her go home two hours early tomorrow.

I really don't.

the "leave a cart" approach to Democrat's historically strong support for unions and the working class. Not that Wal-Mart would ever allow a union.

And I would support any way of getting a union into WalMart that makes sense. But "leave a cart" does not make sense. Not only that, but it only hurts the worker, and convinces them that the union people are the ones who are the enemy.

I saw your other thread. Sometimes that happens with people who have a low post count. I didn't see any freeperish remarks in your posts, and those who accused you of that were only jumping to conclusions without doing further research into your other posts. I wouldn't let them bother you. Some here believe that unless one is as far left as possible then one is RW -- their views are just as black and white and as rigid as a freeper's.

It's very much appreciated.

Then people wouldn't be such assholes.

Everyone should have to put in their time as a waiter or till monkey. (no offense - I called myself that when I was in retail!)

I will make sure my kids do. For many months, so they get well sick of it!

Give everyone a little perspective. Too bad we can't do that.

It's bad enough the way some people behave in a store. Let's not condome bad manners that will only make clerks jobs harder.

:D

back in the seventies, I worked at JC Penneys as a clerk-my duties were to ring up sales and assist customers--that was it. in the nineties, as a part time employee at Mervyn's, I had to assist customers, ring up sales, unload the freight trucks, restock the back, and restock the store. So instead of having separate departments for specific functions, now retail has their employees doing everything!!!!

to time a "sales leader" where you directed other employees around the store to help customers, a restocker, a and a truck unloader.

The core dependable workers do it all while the not so dependable people come and go every few weeks or months. The corporations have decided I guess it's cheaper for a few people to do everything.

and it fucking blew. The worst part was not the job itself, it was the the fucking assholes who would tell me that I have an "easy job" that only pays $5.15 and hour and isn't "real work". :grr: Those types of motherfuckers never worked for anything in their whole life.

I seriously wondered how people find time to protest the war....now I know. *sigh* I also know now why the College Republicans AND the College Democrats came from wealthy families.

The idiotic idea of leaving carts behind is the same type of logic that says sanctions punish Saddam Hussein. :puke:

Some dems don't have a problem using RW tactics as long as it serves their purposes.

:thumbsup:

as long as there is Wal Mart, a HUGE number of Murkan workers (Wal Mart, other retail workers, manufacturing workers and transportation workers) are screwed.

I just feel that there are many ways to hurt WalMart without hurting the worker. I feel that this idea will hardly get WalMart's attention. They won't lose money, they'll just force their existing workers to move faster and work harder. And if they don't get it done, a write up or a termination.

and will either have to change their working conditions or go out of business.

I took in 10-20 resumes and applications every day at TRU. A lot of people are looking for whatever work they can find.

It is my contention that the two most difficult types of jobs on a person's psyche are retail associate and restaurant server.

The people in the above positions work very hard, often sacrificing break times due to "rush" times. They are expected to put on a and wear a smile from the time the pull into the parking lot until the time they leave the parking lot. Never mind that some of the customers are downright rude, and meanspirited. These workers are expected to shove aside any negative emotions they have, in the interests of "good customer service". There are the few customers, no matter what the worker does, that will NEVER be pleased, either with the level of service, or the merchandise. This worker is still compelled by management to smile sweetly and bend over backwards to serve said customers.

Talk about being caught in the middle. Customers yell at you, managers yell at you, there do not seem to be enough hours in the day to get it all done, then you wake up the next morning and do it all again.

Please, do not do the "Cart Protest". These people are stretched enough as it is.

I think that will always be with me.

You have to "sell" the store's credit cards in addition to all of the other duties you have listed. You are given a daily quota of perhaps 5 credit card applications a day. Too many days of not meeting your quota, and you get called on the carpet. You might even lose your job if it happens often enough.

They do monthly print-outs of the sales you ring up. Your raises are dependent on you going over your monthly sales goals. You'd better sell that $5000 worth of bras! :) This is not for the commission based sales work. This is low-paying, hourly sales clerk jobs.

You also have to keep a constant look-out for shoplifters. God forbid if one them gets caught in your department.

Retail sales is a tough, tough job. I respect all of the people who are out there serving our needs, particularly during the Christmas season.

I refuse to go to WalMart.

How would restocking--at the end of the day and/or on unpaid overtime---make an employees have good thoughts about the Suburban Radical who had nothing better to do than spend an hour in WalMart & then leave a political message. Anyone with that much spare time should get a job at WalMart & try to start a Union.