work was also interesting. for the first time, the management refused to give me an answer on policy. they made me do it. its a step i know they trust me to make. but its still a weird feeling to do it. some guy had a box of pens, in packaging we dont sell.... who knows how long.... no receipt... and the kicker is he tells me; "i dunno that i even bought them here, but id like to return them" i guess 2 of the dozen pens dont work... he lost one... and didn't want to try the other 9 or whatever. the clear answer to this is... tough shit dirt bag. the staples answer is, lets see what we cant do. my sales manager came up; handed me the store key set, and said "scott, you know the policies, take care of the customer, you dont need me for that anymore" so... i walk back over to the customer.... look at the pens in my hand, look him in the eye, and fully intended on telling him to shove it. but the keys in my left hand made me think. so i told him, "let me see what i can do. i tell you what, if this is a product i still carry, ill offer you store credit for the price it rings at now, and you can use that immediately against another box of pens youd like to pick out, does this work for you?" ... silence. then he smiles. ' are you serious young man? ' "mmhmm...." ' hell, you dont have to do that; but i thank you very much for doing it' so he prances around finds some pens he wants, and Staples eats it on the 7.95 box of pens, from 4 years ago. he owes me 3 dollars difference on that, and buys a second box at full price. leaves grinning ear to ear. and im not sure thats a good thing.

i dunno. pleasing the customer is what my 2nd directive is according to the keyholder/management garbage they made me do for the company. safety of assets, customers, and employees is 1st. but.... really... he came in just to see if we do it... no one else in town would do something like that, and im fairly certain we never carried that pen or that packaging for it.... but i did it. and my sales manager told me thats the right thing for us to do, as much as we might hate doing that. Russ, the GM from Dubuque talked to me a week ago, and gave me some good advice on it that ive thought about since then... he told me; "think about how that return, or that claim is going to affect the company Scott" some customer had brought in an open copy of Windows, which im adamant against doing ANY kind of credit on... "sure, Staples bends over and takes it for that, 95 dollars at a time, but my paycheck is still coming, yours is still coming, and were still making alot of money for the people in suits, so; if you look at it as, how is that going to hurt Staples, not just taking it back, but how much would it hurt us if we DONT take it back, you understand why we end up breaking with the rule for the customers benefit." and from Russ, this is just an off the cuff thing. but hes right. for that company atleast. i still dont sit right having to damage off 95 dollars in stolen product everytime some chinese person or student brings back a copy of Windows with no cd key on it... and i never will. nor do i understand the nerve of customers to bring in product they know they probably didnt buy from us, used, lost part of, and expect to get something out of it. but we do it. i did it because its not my company. i just know, that they want it run that way.

Current Musical Selection: Megadeth - Die Dead Enough

i was listening to some tapped radio interview with dave mustaine tonight. its hard to hear it really. one of the most startling things to me was his mentioning, several times, that the new megadeth album was meant to be his solo cd [obviously it is.... NO members from the band appear on it other than him]; yet that he has thoughts of being done with it after this. appearantly this last cd was done to fullfill contract obligations to Capitol Records. which, again i dont doubt. in fact. id side with the record company on this one. his 'injury' sounded like a lame excuse to break up the band since it sounds like he wanted out. the interview had several snippets about how hard [heh.. remember this is the egomaniac that only does things his way] to get the rest of 'the band' to play parts and produce the right kind of album the last 2 records out... its funny, since he ommitts the odd So Far So What? record, leaving off with Cryptic Writings and Risk. which..... byyyyy the way. many fans loved parts of Cryptic Writings, and most of Risk does sound like a cd for a record company to fill single based air play with. yet, Mustaine made some comment about how this new cd is how the last several should have sounded. i laughed out loud. listening to lots of this newest cd.... i hear alot of the shit that was Risk, and parts that became Cryptic Writings... nothing really on this cd sounds a hell of alot like Rust In Peace, Killing Is My Business, Youthanasia, etc, etc, etc. id also never listened to Mustaine talk at length. i have to say, hes quite conceited. hes a match for the boys from Metallica.... which he also seems to bring up in every printed interview in the last 20 years ive ever read. *shakes head* money does that. he took several cheap shots at the band members hes since parted ways with. no wonder some of them are suing him. its still a good cd. just listening to it after i heard what he had to say makes me like it a bit less... or atleast in my mind, i like it a bit less that i paid the full amount for it. not as hard a i kick myself for buying that last Metallica cd.... but nonetheless... its just funny how hearing the source, behind the music, definitely changes one's opinion, if even but subtly, about the music.