Bluesman Mike Lindner Wrote:I always tell my staff, "Have a pen on you--we need one in our work." And the Valued Customers ask every day for a pen and a piece of paper. I just get tired of it. "You need a pen, do yez? From where I stand, you don't look like you could write an IOU. So why not fuck off and make your way to Borders. You'll find your kind there."
Let's see... When I go Barnes & Noble, which I probably do about once a week or so, I don't actually think about carrying a pen and/or a piece of paper with me. If I was travelling there from the office, I might have one on me anyway, but I don't actually go to an office, anymore -- and I don't dress up to go to work because I just kick my legs up on my desk (which has dozens of pens) and turn on the computer. Voila! I'm at work.
So when I go to Barnes & Noble, I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt. During the winter, I'm wearing jeans and a shirt.
I probably don't look like I could write an IOU.
I could stop in at Staples just before stopping at Barnes & Noble to pick up some pens (it's just a few doors down), but... ...it wouldn't even occur to me that I might need a pen or something to write on.
Of course, I can't figure out exactly what I would need to write down while I'm at Barnes & Nobles. Hell, they don't even have computers that customers can use to locate a type of book that you just can't find without bugging the "Valued Salesperson" (like Borders does)...
But it would be nice if, when I asked for a pen while speaking to the Valued Salesperson at Barnes & Noble (if I ever do), I didn't now have this image of the Barnes & Noble Valued Salesperson's secret quiet bubbling steaming resentment irrevocably stuck in my head.