sucks...

So tonight I had to skip my bible study so that I could help out with "rollout". Some rollout...we don't even get the product until thursday because of the holiday. I get there and not much is going on, and not much has really been planned. I spend the better part of an hour trying to ascertain what is going on and what I should get to first. This turns out to be the source of much frustration during my night. Finally I just start doing one of the things on the list of things-to-do, even though we're not sure yet what is a priority. Between 7 and 9 my tasking is interrupted twice by customers who need "special assistance".

Let me clarify something...our policy at the good old crew is to NOT prosecute, accuse, make implications, or in any other way deter shoplifters. We are to provide "excellent customer service" to said shoplifters as they rip us off royally.

The first interruption involved 4 suspicious ladies (suspicious = carrying multiple, large, empty shopping bags usually from christmastime or 5 years ago or something, moving in packs, picking off associates one by one as a distraction, and picking up merchandise without looking at it, carrying it around and repeating.) Despite our "excellent customer service" and practically following them around the store cleaning up the messes they left behind them, they trickled out one by one to the sound of store alarms while we stood there, mouths agape. They are so freaking sneaky...we don't even know what they took.

The second interruption happened around 8:50pm when two different suspicious ladies were roaming around the store. One was abound with, I'm not kidding you, 10 large shopping bags. This one I recognized from other encounters. After opening a fitting room for this lady, again providing excellent customer service, running back and forth to find sizes, offering to "clear out" anything that wasn't working, etc. she finished up at 9:15, coming out of the room on her cell phone, handing me a wad of clothes that undoubtedly contained the ripped off tags of some poor piece of clothing. She went up to the cashwrap to purchase two items totalling about $30 and casually left the store with her friend. I searched the fitting room and wad of clothes and found two sensor tags stuck to the bottom of the stool and one tag in the wad. She walked out with two pair of suit pants ($98 each) and a sweater ($32).

Now, you tell me if this is right?? I have to stand by and smile and run my ass off for people who I know have stolen from us before and are going to steal from us again?? No! It's not freaking right! It sucks...we can't even call mall security to do a walk through because the shoplifters might get agitated. You think I care if some moron starts yelling about how they feel persecuted and they'll never come back to this store? Good...don't come back! I don't need the stress...freaking...ANGER!!