May 20, 2010


 
 Prickly Pear flower.

 One of the things that mystifies me about working in retail is the reluctance of management to confront abusive customers.  Sometimes the fear of losing out on a sale trumps common   sense and common decency.

My buddy, The Seafood King tells me that any profitable sale is a good sale.  I disagree, but then I'm not a business owner.  

We have a regular customer at the hardware store named Mr. Clancy.  Clancy has shopped in the store for many years and for all those years he has subjected the staff to his abuse.

Clancy refuses to speak to most of the men, ignoring some and being openly rude to others.  He prefers the women, but they don't prefer him.  He is a lecherous old creep.

Tuesday morning I was helping a woman in a motorized wheelchair, and had gone into the ack to get something for her. While I was gone Clancy came over and told her that she had no reason to bring her dog into the store.   Like it was any of his business.

She tried to tell him that it was a service dog and that according to the ADA she is allowed to take the dog into stores with her.

Clancy was undeterred and shifted his complaint to the fact that the dog lacked a doggy vest identifying it as a service dog.

ADA or not, about half our regulars brings dogs into the store anyway.  No one cares.

Except Clancy, who lives to be a jackass.  It takes a special kind of bully to pick on a woman in a wheelchair. 

My instinct was to tell him to get out and stay out, but I'm not allowed to do that.  So, I called over the radio and asked the assistant manager to toss his sorry ass out of the store.

The manager came and asked Clancy what he was doing and he beat feet.  He lurked around the front of the store evidently trying to get in the last word, but when the assistant manager came up to apologize to the customer on behalf of the store, Clancy left.

I'm told that the next time he comes in he will be asked to leave, but I will believe it when I see it.












Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky

11 comments:

Megan said...

Hey, that's the second prickly pear I've seen on the blogs tonight. Lovely.

In re Mr. Clancy - when I run across someone like that, it makes me sad. What a lonely life he must lead.

Kurt said...

Clancy may need to see a specialist.

The Bug said...

What a behind. Sheesh. Hopefully they hold the line & keep him out.

Wanderer said...

I agree with Megan. Sad. A lot of sad people in the world.

Barbara said...

Clancy should be ashamed of himself. God help him if he ever becomes disabled!

Coffee Messiah said...

There's a million and one of stories like these in the naked city.

I have a few hundred from my stint at the paper in sf.

It mystifies..........

nice photo btw Cheers!

Reya Mellicker said...

Well, you may not be a business owner, but you are one hell of a great human being, Merle.

I think everyone should have to work in the service industry for a year or two - as a waiter or in retail, something like that, in order to see what it's like to be on the receiving end.

Betty said...

It's not confined to retail, I'm afraid!
Your prickly pear is beautiful

dennis said...

Dennis likes flowers and dislikes mean people. Actually Dennis fears mean people.

Steve Reed said...

Sounds like Clancy comes from the "I'm-right-at-all-costs" school of thought.

Bella Rum said...

That prickly pear isn't the only prickly thing in this post, and I bet Mr. Clancy isn't half as pretty.