Today I met a different girl at Tori Richards.
She kind of gave me a stinky eye until the first girl who helped me approached. Fortunately, they giftwrapped my present and we were on our way out. Khara kind of scolded me for going back to get my stuff wrapped. I told her I had to go back 3 different times, it was the least they could do.
Today I met a dad who does go carts with his daughter.
Nothing super extraordinary, except they do it 13 times a year. I also met this couple who needed a new computer. They were super nice, and the husband used to work for a bank. He could tell I was up-selling him but let me do it.
They all ended up buying stuff from me. It reminds me I still got it.
Today I met a lady at Tori Richards.
I was looking for the Ocean shirt, which is apparently one of their signature shirts. They didn't have it in stock so they had to order it for me. Honestly, the experience there was so nice, and the girl was so helpful! I guess it makes up for the bad experience I had at Abercrombie the other day.
She took my information and let me know she'd call when it comes in.
Today I met my parents' personal stylist.
She's at Nordstrom, and she has great taste. She did a good job of picking out stuff for my Seattle trip, and honestly, I bought most of what she suggested. I love it!
We talked about a couple of things, including her two boys, and how kids nowadays want work life balance. She goes golfing for fun, has a hair dresser, and her husband recently retired. She likes her job at Nordstrom so she doesn't want to quit.
She's a cool lady!
Today I met the key guy at Lowe's.
I locked myself out of my room so I had to get a spare. The guy helping us told me that the machine does it all for him so he doesn't need to work as hard at it.
One of the keys I needed copied was on a monkey, so the guy shared with me a story. His sister and her family went to France. The place that they stayed had a monkey attached to their key too, so they took pictures of it everywhere they went in France.
I told him that I hope they still had the pictures since those are a great memory, he said they do.
Today I met Tam's friend's family.
It was their kid's first birthday, and you could just see how much these people loved their grandkid. I couldn't really understand them since they were speaking Chinese, but they way they doted on her was enough.
It's nice to watch the pockets of love in people's lives.
Today I met the Governor.
He seemed nice, and super into what we do at the store. I talked to him about coding and stuff. Though, I feel like I saw a kindred spirit. I don't always do well at public events, and either he was very stiff or he is the same way.
I've always found entertainment in watching someone watching me watching them. Though, I don't think he was watching me. I just was watching him. I couldn't imagine living under scrutiny every day from thousands of people in something as messy as politics.
Today I met a cheeky British guy.
He needed help with his resume, stating that he always had an assistant who would type stuff up for him. I asked him what he did, and he basically used to set up subsidiaries in Japan for American-based sporting goods companies. He speaks Japanese. I mean, I almost thought he was full of shit but he talked about his Linkedin. I looked him up, not full of shit.
He had a ton of stories and told me about how he met the CEO of GoDaddy. The guy was "crusty" and when he had heard that one of his employees collapsed because she had low blood sugar after running... He said, "Maybe she should pick up smoking. That'll fix her."
He told me his kids go to boarding schools but grew up too privileged and spoiled, but did say that he thought I would get along with his daughter. He didn't understand why Americans were so eager to heap praise or seek it from strangers. He didn't give a shit.
Anyway, I was watching him type terribly.
"Did you want me to help you type?"
"No it's ok."
A few seconds passed.
"Ok, can you type for me?"
"I was wondering how long it would take for you to ask."
He laughed. He said I could be an honorary Brit, I'll take the compliment. It's not often I get to be a clever shit.
Today I met a guy shopping on a budget.
He wasn't really looking for a computer, but the one he was looking at happened to be on sale for a deep discount. I knew he was on a budget because he went to the back to see if he could afford it. When he came back, he was ready to purchase.
We made some conversation and I found out he was a student, so I knew that he would qualify for a discount. He asked me why I gave him a discount, and I told him it's because he's a student.
Honestly, he was really nice. I felt bad for him. Goes to show you that when you're not a dick, people will go out of their way to help you out.
Today... I met. Well. Nobody.
I don't remember what I did today honestly. Haha. I know I worked. I will say that sometimes you encounter ugly sides of people that you wish you didn't see, even though you've always suspected was there.
Today I spoke with a woman I've met before.
She was interviewing me for something super exciting that will be my next project! I won't say until it happens, but anyway. When we first met, she asked me if I smiled a lot normally. I said yes, I smile about most things. She then told me it was kind of creepy and I smiled like a Stepford Wife.
Haha, yeah I kinda do.
Today I met an older man on vacation.
His computer broke and was looking to replace it. I learned that he used to work for Hawaii Health Systems and now is retired. He was super apologetic that he didn't understand anything, but I told him it was ok. I'm sure he was apologizing because he once was young working with computers too and had struggled with older people not understanding.
As I think I've said before, I have the softest spot for old people. I think some people are quick to discard what they believe to be old and useless. That's not true. Anyway, he was great. I enjoyed talking to him.
Today I met a mortgage coach.
The guy came in with his wife knowing what they wanted to buy. Eventually, with some suggestions from me, he purchased one of my favorite products.
While talking though, we both talked about how building the relationship is more important than the actual numbers behind the sale. People want to buy from people they like and we both understood that.
I think that's why he made his purchase from me. Getting to know people helps. People like to feel like they're valuable, and most people have a pretty good story too.
Today I met some of the sales reps at Abercrombie and Fitch.
Man, they were annoying. I came in to do a return and the girl had to call her manager over. There were two different managers who helped me, and they gave me different information on how to transact my online return.
1. First manager told me that because I paid with Paypal,I had to return it in mail. But they could do it and give me a bag. They gave me a bag, and this manager left.
I asked the cashier, "Do I pack it and give it to you or what?"
"Oh. No. You have to ship it out."
"Ok... Well where do I ship it out from?"
"Your house."
"Ok. So UPS? FedEx? USPS?"
"Oh... Uh... Let me ask my manager."
2. Calls over a second manager. She doesn't know either. Tells me that because I paid with Paypal, I can't return it in store.
Tell them to get their acts together and give me better and more consistent information before I walk out the doors. Probably unlikely to shop there again.
Today I met my hair stylist.
We've known each other for a few years now, but people change over time. I think today, we talked about a bunch of different things, but mostly the games I'm playing on my phone. If you're wondering, it's Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and it was Puzzle Fighter that day.
We also talked about his relationship with a girl he met online. I could tell he was sad about it because he didn't see a way they could work out. They're doing long distance, and neither of them wants to move. That's tough, and sad.
I wished him well when we parted.
Today I met a guard in a guard shack.
I'm the worst and have a hard time understanding accents. It took us 10 minutes to figure out I wanted the guest parking spot. Uhhh. My bad guy.
Today I met a someone's longtime friend.
Sometimes, the best way to gauge someone's closeness to them is watching how everyone responds to them. I'm naturally curious about people so I'll continue to ask questions until I'm satisfied with the answers. Unfortunately, that makes me blind to the fact that some people are full of crap.
Haha, thankfully I was told later: He's the friend who's been there in good and bad times, but he's probably the one who put us in the bad spots to begin with.
Today I met an ultrasound technician.
I had to go get something in my armpit checked out. Overall, she was pretty friendly. I asked her why they turn off the lights in ultrasounds, and she said it's mostly because it's easier to see the monitor. Also, some people just feel awkward with the lights on and someone looking at them.
Makes sense, but I've always wondered. Also, I didn't shave my armpit so I didn't want anyone to see that anyway.
Today... I met someone pretty young.
Young enough to forget their social security card on the first day of their job... But not young enough for this to have been their first job... So that's cool.
Today I met a fairly insecure tool.
He came in asking for advice for his girlfriend's business, and demanded to speak to someone more knowledgable. I took over for my new hire, and we continued the conversation.
"Are you familiar with HIPAA?"
"Yes, my parents run a carehome."
"Well I work at HMSA."
It was the snottiest and most condescending tone of voice. No one has talked to me like that in a while. Ok geez, you don't really have to walk around with a chip in your shoulder but that's cool. Anyway, the conversation moved along and he insisted he had a bad experience with some of my coworkers before. His manner didn't improve either, finding ways to undermine my knowledge or demean me in face of the competition.
"I could email you if you want. My name is Maxx."
"Is your name really Maxx?"
Uh. Shit really? It's on my nametag.
"Yeah, why? Is there a problem?"
"Oh uh. No no. I just haven't seen that name before."
"Well, it's the one my parents gave me."
"Were they just trying to be unique?"
"Does it matter?"
"Oh no... I just was wondering."
It was entertaining to see someone's manner shrivel up in the face of confrontation. He eventually left, but seriously what a jerk.