Sunday, April 10, 2005

I did go to City Club last night, though much later than I expected to. There was a lot of construction going on in Detroit, so I was slightly worried that I wouldn't make it, but I pulled through just fine. The parking structure that I usually park in was closed so I had to park in an empty lot, much like I used to do when I first discovered City Club 10 years ago; I was a little worried about my car, but just like in the old days, it was fine. I danced alot, though I thought the music was kind of lame, and people that I usually see there, were not there; Joe wasn't working at the door, and I saw maybe 7 people I knew; Dolly was there, and we talked for quite a while; I love her. Matt's back in town from Pittsburg, and I wouldn't mind seeing him, for a chat. We dated for about 1 minute. Brian C. was there as well (who I dated for about 2 mins) and he was 'rolling' on XTC; charming.

I did more laundry today; I jacked off; I showered...I love clean sheets. In less than 5 weeks Star Trek & Star Wars will end (for now). JLU begins again in April, with a series of episodes that sound as if they are going to rock my socks. Alias has new episodes through the end of the season (sometime in May I think).

I've been buying a lot of gay themed movies in the last year. I never really cared that much about them in the past; I just liked a movie because it was good - not for the subject matter per say, but I think because of our country's lean towards conservatism, I almost feel like many people in power are trying to blot out the existance of gay people, and this is my way of kind of proving that we exist. Wacky huh? Crazy...probably. But I have a kick ass queer film library to show for it. They aren't just queer titles either; any movie with a gay character, or reference; basically anything that is inclusive is open for business on my shelf. Thank Joss I set up that Queer themed film database though; it's been more helpful to me, than the people I intended it for. ;-0)

So, about 'bundle sales' at Hollywood Video; as employees, it's part of our job to sell 'bundles', which are mainly a packaged deal in which a customer rents 2 new releases, and gets 1 candy item, a soda, and 2 bags of microwave popcorn for $9.99, which is a fairly good deal, assuming you want all of that stuff. I have a hard time upselling this stuff (usually candy) because it really is stuff that people don't need, and usually don't want. I was told in one meeting that in any retail service I'd be asked to do the same thing, which isn't true at all; I've worked in retail for years and years, and this is the first job where I've ever had to do this sort of thing, and it's hard for me, because it seems tacky, and it doesn't really seem to be about what the customers want, but what the company would like them to want, which, while maybe good business sense, seems to be poor customer service. Customers respect me because of my knowledge of film; people actually ask for me when I'm not there, and coworkers send people with questions in my direction; I don't know everything about every genre, but I know quite a bit, and I love that part of my job. My job, doesn't seem like a job - I go to the movie store; I help people find something they are likely to enjoy; I answer questions, and give background info, I do projects for my manager (who rocks by the way), and my coworkers are all kinds of cool.

The bundle selling problem has suddenly escalated; if the bundle sales in our store doesn't increase, all of my supervisors will be written up!?! I do sell bundles; it's not like I tell people to not buy them. Some people will rent 2 new releases, get a candy item, and not get the bundle deal when asked, even though they'll save .30 on their drink and get the 2 popcorns for free, and there's nothing I can do about that; it's the customer's choice, not mine. It seems unfair to punish people for this; especially if they're on track as far as bundle sales are concerned. It seems like, if anything, I should be in trouble - and if I was in trouble - or fired - I think that my customers would be outraged to know the reason why. The whole situation disgusts me, and people I've worked with for nearly 3 years are suddenly talking about leaving, which I don't want - and I don't want to lose this job; it's usuallly quite fun, and relaxing.

Oh, and another thing. When I went into work the other day, a movie that I was the last to rent, months ago, was discovered missing from it's case, and of course they came to me, because that makes the most sense, but I didn't have the disc, which is fine. But this is the 3rd time this has happened, sort of. I can't remember what the first movie was, but it was exactly the same thing, where I'd been the last person to rent the movie and the disc was gone - and then there was a movie I rented, which disappeared from the store, and that one was really good; I bought it the next week in fact for my gay film collection ("Rites of Passage"), and now this 3rd disc is missing, but there's no reason for me to steal discs from the store - for one thing, I like to display my movies and I'd need the case for that; another thing is that if I wasn't going to display the movie, I could just rip it to my computer, and no one would know - it would just be stupid of me to rent a movie and then steal it, there would be evidence linking it back to me, when in my job I could just open the case, take the disc, and put the case back; or I could rent it to some random person, and that would also solve the problem - so obviously it isn't me doing this, and while I don't think that anyone really believes that it's me, I think that it's possible that someone is targeting me for this theft, which is annoying.

roar.

I watched the 2nd episode of the L Word season 2 the other day, and I'm loving it. ;-0) And I so need to get ready for work.

   posted by Bald Jason at 05:19 PM
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