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ysobelleAs I've told some of you, we had an outrageously, defiantly, proudly and arrogantly ignorant girl at work. She told me she didn't watch the news, or read the papers. She neither knew nor cared the stock market-- and the world's economy-- had crashed.
"You know this affects you, right?" I asked, somewhat incredulous.
"Well, I knew they went down, but I thought, I don't know, they'd gone back up or something."
One evening, when a very nice Alaskan customer asked what kind of a city Philadelphia was to live in, she all but went into convulsions. "It's dangerous!"
I just stared. "I leave in freakin' Eastwick. What the hell are you talking about?"
"Philadelphia is the murder capital of the country!"
"No, really, it's not."
"Yes it IS!" she insisted.
"Z, it's not. I assure you."
"IT is! It's the murder capital of the US!"
The customer, by this time, was backing away slowly. I, in turn, was getting more and more annoyed by the second.
"It's not."
"It is!"
"Z, you don't read the newspapers or watch the news. How would you know?"
"I just know it! It is!"
"How would you know?"
"Then what is?"
"Either DC or Detroit. But it's not Philadelphia."
"I know it is."
"You've never watched a news show in your life."
"Ha! How do YOU know?"
"Because you told me so."
"Well...that was before I turned my life around and gave my life to G-d."
Obviously, G-d doesn't get CNN in her world.
By now severely annoyed, I opened up the store's browser, and hit Google. I looked up murder rates. It showed I was correct. She refused to believe me, because the stats were from 2004. Ready to snap, I looked up the most recent rates. I had to carefully explain to her that the 2007 stats were the latest available, since 2008 wasn't actually over yet. She did see one Google hit that said "Philadelphia's Murder Rate highest in 30 years." Right below that, it said highest in 20 years. She latched on for dear life, completely misunderstanding the quote, and insisted she was right. I almost hit her. I finally found a list. Philadelphia was number eight. Eight. Her response?
"Well...I don't see why you gotta be so mad about it."
Today, a customer came in and returned a pair of cufflinks she had bought from Z the night before. She explained that she wouldn't, on this trip, be seeing the person for whom she'd bought them, so no longer needed them. My district manager was there, looked at the receipt, and saw that it was a void receipt: no SKU, no total, no method of payment. The customer said she'd paid in cash. The sale had never been rung in, nor had the cash shown up in the register records.
Z came in at 2. When the DM confronted her, she had no decent explanation. She immediately offered to give the DM money if necessary. She even knew the correct amount.
She was out the door again, sans store key and airport badge, at 2.30.
Somehow, I will not miss her.
"You know this affects you, right?" I asked, somewhat incredulous.
"Well, I knew they went down, but I thought, I don't know, they'd gone back up or something."
One evening, when a very nice Alaskan customer asked what kind of a city Philadelphia was to live in, she all but went into convulsions. "It's dangerous!"
I just stared. "I leave in freakin' Eastwick. What the hell are you talking about?"
"Philadelphia is the murder capital of the country!"
"No, really, it's not."
"Yes it IS!" she insisted.
"Z, it's not. I assure you."
"IT is! It's the murder capital of the US!"
The customer, by this time, was backing away slowly. I, in turn, was getting more and more annoyed by the second.
"It's not."
"It is!"
"Z, you don't read the newspapers or watch the news. How would you know?"
"I just know it! It is!"
"How would you know?"
"Then what is?"
"Either DC or Detroit. But it's not Philadelphia."
"I know it is."
"You've never watched a news show in your life."
"Ha! How do YOU know?"
"Because you told me so."
"Well...that was before I turned my life around and gave my life to G-d."
Obviously, G-d doesn't get CNN in her world.
By now severely annoyed, I opened up the store's browser, and hit Google. I looked up murder rates. It showed I was correct. She refused to believe me, because the stats were from 2004. Ready to snap, I looked up the most recent rates. I had to carefully explain to her that the 2007 stats were the latest available, since 2008 wasn't actually over yet. She did see one Google hit that said "Philadelphia's Murder Rate highest in 30 years." Right below that, it said highest in 20 years. She latched on for dear life, completely misunderstanding the quote, and insisted she was right. I almost hit her. I finally found a list. Philadelphia was number eight. Eight. Her response?
"Well...I don't see why you gotta be so mad about it."
Today, a customer came in and returned a pair of cufflinks she had bought from Z the night before. She explained that she wouldn't, on this trip, be seeing the person for whom she'd bought them, so no longer needed them. My district manager was there, looked at the receipt, and saw that it was a void receipt: no SKU, no total, no method of payment. The customer said she'd paid in cash. The sale had never been rung in, nor had the cash shown up in the register records.
Z came in at 2. When the DM confronted her, she had no decent explanation. She immediately offered to give the DM money if necessary. She even knew the correct amount.
She was out the door again, sans store key and airport badge, at 2.30.
Somehow, I will not miss her.