Customers...

[Random_Spock]

I like to walk into used bookstores, and just sniff the air. The smell of old paper, worn covers, dusty book jackets, it's a wonderful aroma. I love my Kindle, and would be lost without it, but I simply adore physical books. I sometimes fancy that, perhaps when I'm in my twilight years, I might own a tiny bookshop filled to the walls with used books of every kind, and I can be the little old bookseller who still sells hard copy books to people willing to read them.

Definitely. There's no replacing it. Same with the smell of a mall. Just went to one that I've gone to since I was a kid. Memories. Found out that a store I loved is not carrying bumper stickers anymore. They even carried blank ones that you could make your own from. It sucks that they aren't now. It was fun seeing what they got in.

Cool.

 

[Finn]

I like to walk into used bookstores, and just sniff the air. The smell of old paper, worn covers, dusty book jackets, it's a wonderful aroma. I love my Kindle, and would be lost without it, but I simply adore physical books. I sometimes fancy that, perhaps when I'm in my twilight years, I might own a tiny bookshop filled to the walls with used books of every kind, and I can be the little old bookseller who still sells hard copy books to people willing to read them.

If you are ever in Boston, check out Brattle Book shop if you are truly into used book stores. It's on West St. Between Tremont (along Boston Common) and Washington near the Government Crossing station. It's a neat place.

 

[Doom Shepherd]

Sounds like the "clearinghouse" for clearances isn't as efficient or successful as it ought to be. I wonder why?


Well ... that pretty much answers my question above. This isn't how education is supposed to work.

Part of the duty of teaching future educators is to help them learn personal and professional responsibility. If they are currently lacking it, for whatever reason, this kind of response and attitude isn't likely to teach it, much less create an intrinsic motivation to become a responsible professional.

Be glad I don't teach. I know _I_ am. (I actually took some Education courses in college, and went in for student teaching, and while working with elementary school kids was AWESOME, and we loved each other, working with the high-schoolers was awful and I knew it wasn't for me. I don't have the patience.)

All the money, resources and time in the world can't teach a potato to do long division.

Note: All the above "responses" you refer to are internal to me only. Even when our (allegedly adult) students can't summon up the mental faculties to follow instructions that were written so that an 8-year-old could - and did - follow them, I never tell them so to their faces. It's not their fault their parents raised them to be that way.

 

[trekkiedane]

This wonderful thread reads as something tumblr quoted on imgur

Love it

I like to walk into used bookstores, and just sniff the air. The smell of old paper, worn covers, dusty book jackets, it's a wonderful aroma. I love my Kindle, and would be lost without it, but I simply adore physical books. I sometimes fancy that, perhaps when I'm in my twilight years, I might own a tiny bookshop filled to the walls with used books of every kind, and I can be the little old bookseller who still sells hard copy books to people willing to read them.

Me too! - In a decade or two let's do it, and share an inventory of 'international bestsellers'...

 

[Jedi_Master]

I like to walk into used bookstores, and just sniff the air. The smell of old paper, worn covers, dusty book jackets, it's a wonderful aroma. I love my Kindle, and would be lost without it, but I simply adore physical books. I sometimes fancy that, perhaps when I'm in my twilight years, I might own a tiny bookshop filled to the walls with used books of every kind, and I can be the little old bookseller who still sells hard copy books to people willing to read them.

I can totally see you doing that.

I agree on the love of paper books. It just doesn't feel the same reading on an electronic device.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Here's one from our DVD rental section:

There was a guy registering with us. He got a customer's card (those are free) and had to choose a four digit pin number so that, if he lost the card, nobody else could rent on his account. The card actually isn't that important, we have several customers who've lost their cards, and we can find their accounts by name, but they always have to enter the pin number.

Okay, that guy did all that. Rented something, went, brought in back on time, all well and good. He rents once or twice more, no problem.

But then, one night, and it's still the same week that he registered, he came into our store completely wasted. I didn't say anything when he was browsing the shelves, because he might have gotten upset if I wouldn't rent him something on account of him being drunk (and therefore, actually, not legally competent), and he was a registered customer, and if he rented something it would cost ten Euros at most.

Finally, the guy came to the counter, wanted to rent something. He gave me his customer's card, I scanned the barcode on it to get to his account, and asked him to enter his pin. At this, he looked at me with this drunkenly confused look, and said: "But I just gave you my card."

It took me a beat, then I told him that he needed to enter his pin number, that the card was only to find his account, his pin was the only way to unlock it so that I could rent the DVDs to him.

He did not understand. "Why don't you let me rent those DVDs? I gave you my card."

I tried to explain it to him more slowly and in even simpler terms. At this point, he was in tears, and he asked me why I was mean to him. I tried to explain again, and at the same time explain that I wasn't mean to him, but that the computer wouldn't unlock his account without his pin. "So put in the pin then," he told me. I said I didn't know the pin, only he knew the pin. Then he teared up and called me mean again. After about another five minutes of this, he left crying. He's never come back to the store again.

 

[trekkiedane]

Aww, poor guy.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

I like to walk into used bookstores, and just sniff the air. The smell of old paper, worn covers, dusty book jackets, it's a wonderful aroma. I love my Kindle, and would be lost without it, but I simply adore physical books. I sometimes fancy that, perhaps when I'm in my twilight years, I might own a tiny bookshop filled to the walls with used books of every kind, and I can be the little old bookseller who still sells hard copy books to people willing to read them.

I used to work in a place similar to that. Though, the "used" books were mostly old and rare, first-edition, first-printings of classics like Where The Wild Things Are and the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Customers there were almost always very cool. They wanted to come in and talk about books, get recommendations, and so on. Plus I had the fortune of meeting a lot of authors and illustrators.

 

[LordMudd]

We have a deli here my wife and I do like to eat from, but almost half of the time they get our order wrong. This has been going on for years. The worst example was when I ordered 3 peanut butter cookies. That was the entire order! They got the entire order wrong. I did not get a single peanut butter cookie. How do you screw up an order for 3 cookies?


CCC.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

We have a deli here my wife and I do like to eat from, but almost half of the time they get our order wrong. This has been going on for years. The worst example was when I ordered 3 peanut butter cookies. That was the entire order! They got the entire order wrong. I did not get a single peanut butter cookie. How do you screw up an order for 3 cookies?


CCC.

And yet, you do like to from that deli. Aren't you the complicated ones.

 

[Amaris]

I used to work in a place similar to that. Though, the "used" books were mostly old and rare, first-edition, first-printings of classics like Where The Wild Things Are and the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Customers there were almost always very cool. They wanted to come in and talk about books, get recommendations, and so on. Plus I had the fortune of meeting a lot of authors and illustrators.

Lucky!

 

[LordMudd]

And yet, you do like to from that deli. Aren't you the complicated ones.

Well they quit carrying the PB cookies so we haven't been back. Biggest baked potato's you ever saw though.


CCC.

 

[Bagofmostlywatr]

I think my personal best was stopping a customer entering the shop, having them try to barge past me, grabbing hold of them and pointing out that the fire alarm was going off and there was smoke coming out of the roof.

His answer was "but I just want some cigarettes"

I directed him to the newsagent over the road, the fire brigade arrived, I went to tell them what was happening. When I turned around, he was standing at the door trying to work out why it wasn't opening.

 

[MacLeod]

I think my personal best was stopping a customer entering the shop, having them try to barge past me, grabbing hold of them and pointing out that the fire alarm was going off and there was smoke coming out of the roof.

His answer was "but I just want some cigarettes"

I directed him to the newsagent over the road, the fire brigade arrived, I went to tell them what was happening. When I turned around, he was standing at the door trying to work out why it wasn't opening.

That reminds of this old classic.

they come into the store and wait for it











"Ask if you are still open?"

 

[Bagofmostlywatr]

Used to get the opposite quite often. Standing outside with the lights off, the burglar alarm buzzing and my key in the switch, winding the shutter down....

"Are you still open?"

"Yeah, but I've just got to nip home. Are you OK to wait, I'll only be about 8 hours"

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Yeah, closing time customers.

Until some time ago, we were open until midnight (closing time has since been shifted to 11.00 pm).

One night, I'm about to shut the door when a teenager comes running towards me.

I tell him that we're closing.

He says that now, after midnight, it's his 18th birthday, so now he could legally come into our shop.

I say, "Happy Birthday, you'll be welcome at 9.00 am when we open again.

 

[sojourner]

I would have replied back "Well, now, after midnight, we're closed. Come back in nine hours and I can legally let you in."

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Last winter there was a massive snowstorm in my city and it knocked out power to my store, so we had to close down (which we almost never do, except on Christmas). We had HUGE signs near both doors that said we were closed. And yet we still had people coming up and trying to knock or force their way in.

I was tempted to go out and say to them "Yes, it said we're open 24 hours, but not in a row" but I decided against it.

 

[jaz'a]

I work for an insurance company. The number of people who tell you their policy number then ask a question such as "what would happen if I say x happened, when y really happened?" is rather astounding. Then they ask "so, have you recorded this on my policy". Yes, dumb ass. You just told me you plan on committing insurance fraud after you told me your name. Against my company. In 5 years I've only had 1 person not give me their name or policy number first. Every single other person did.

I guess those who are smart enough to not give their name first are also smart enough to know that insurance companies don't like it and the consequences if caught don't work in your favour.

 

[Shikarnov]

Every one of my customers hires me to solve some communications problem for them. Advertisements that don't generate a return. Websites that don't convert prospects. Brands that nobody knows. Etc...

My usual process is to have a "Discovery" meeting that lasts for at least one full day, generate a report confirming that I understand their challenges, and making strategic recommendations. The clients all sign off on this report, agreeing that we're all on the same page about the past and what needs to happen in the future.

And then every single tactic I create they tell me is being done wrong. Because they're the experts, didn't you know? The logo needs to be bigger, smaller, more to the left. The imagery is wrong. They're not getting their money's worth because I haven't filled every millimeter of white space with text. Every tiny detail about every one of their products/services needs to be in each and every piece, regardless of size. And so on...

I used to try explaining their folly, but I've learned since that clients don't care. They're more interested in being right and playing at art direction than in solving their problems. Every time I explain, they get pissed off, more and more each time.

So, the end of the year comes and we review the progress. The website is FUBAR. Every ad tanked. Collateral is useless campfire kindling that gets them nowhere and nothing. We identify the same problems, agree on the same solutions, and then they sign a new agreement and we start over again.