I hate Christmas. It brings out the worst in people.
What have you guys got planned for the day?
On that note.... I was going to post this yesterday whilst it was still fresh in my memory, but I didn't get out of work till 12 midnight. Yesterday I was at work, I wasn't the manager on duty so I was just busying myself straightening, ringing out people, and just maintenance stuff like that. I'm over on the women's side of the store putting away some clothes that someone had tried on, and I look up to see this rather large women, who was being helped by one of our other associates, storming right towards me. She gets up to me points her finger in my face and says sternly:
"YOU'RE FUCKING GAY!"
And then walks right past me, with out turning around and out of the store. Now I've worked in retail for over 4 years, and my father has owned a retail store for the last 30 years. I have never seen anything like this. So, immediately I look around to see if my old college roommate (who works in the same mall) was around "punking" me. I turn around and yell at her "WHAT?!" in sheer disbelief of what happened, but no dice, she kept on truckin'. There were, however, 3 other associates around and a man leaning against the wall by the dressing rooms that saw it. I immediately turned to him, being that he was an independent party, and said "Did that just happen?". He looked and me and went, "Yeah... what the HELL was that?!".
I'm not gay. I wasn't helping this woman at all. I hadn't greeted her or acknowledged her existence in the store prior, hell... I was on the men's side until about 5 minutes before this happened, so I didn't even know she was there. She was being helped however by an associate that has a crush on me... so I thought she may have put her up to it. I asked her about it later however and she vehemently denied it.
It didn't bother me on a personal level that she called me gay. I'm a bloke and have bloke friends that I drink with, so when we go out... someone gets called "gay" several hundred times. What really started to piss me off, and I had to keep telling myself to stop thinking about it cause I would just get myself more mad, was that she could be so crude, derisive, and hateful to someone based only on their sexual preference - that she knew NOTHING about.
What if I was gay? How would I have felt then?... Maybe it was the tone of her voice or the look in her eye, but I could just tell there there was an underlying hatred for a gay person in her. She didn't mean "Oh you're dumb!" or "I'm very dissatisfied with the selection of clothing you're selling".... she meant "YOU'RE FUCKING GAY.... AND I HATE GAYS!". It makes me physically sick to think that there are people out there that would hate someone just because of sexual preference.
After this all happened, I still had about another 6 hours of work left. Every customer that came in and had a difficult return, or a problem with customer service, or a complaint, or a comment... was an absolute peach in my book. No one could have been as bad as that woman for the rest of the night.
I went on my break about 15 minutes after the scene. I had to leave the mall get a Christmas gift, but when I returned I decided to go into Macy's to see if I could find her (that's where I saw her walk into after leaving our store). No luck again. I kept replaying it in my head thinking:
"Fuck! I should have gone and berated the shit out of her....I should have asked what's wrong with gay people!?.... OH YEAH! WELL YOU'RE FUCKING STRAGIHT!...... I love you too mom!"
I can only hope that the "spirit" of the holidays may come back and I'll get an apology, but I doubt that will happen. However, I now know what that womans face looks like and what her voice sounds like. I spoke to the other managers and she is no longer welcome in our store.
Merry Christmas indeed.... Oh and
Austere, as for your question "What do I have planned for the day"?
Working, 3.00p - 12.00a
From what I've seen people in Ohio generally take pretty good care of their cars. We're just total idiots when we're driving them. Well, not all of us are...naturally. 
I guess the answer they're looking for is Saturn? It's the only American brand there. The title at the top of the page: "Car IQ by CarGurus" <= :lol: The irony...
. I'll get drunk on Bushmills and maintain a good level of functioning drunkenness - the kind where you're more articulate and funny but not swaying uncontrollably and slurring your speech - and then I'll light up my Cohiba and relaaax.
