Jim, I was a kick boxer in my younger days.
I was no longer dealing with the clerk. I left the counter, and
went directly to the manager that covers the exit doors, politely
requested a manager to speak to, and was waiting in the
area we were directed to. That is how my wife was sitting down.
It was an area designed for customers that had to wait for
something. We were seaking to no one but ourselves when the
store employees showed up, and we never did say a single
word to any of them. I addressed myself strictly to the manager
when he arrived, and then to the other employees that took
the order after the manager ok'ed it. If peoples looks disturb
you, then I would suggest that dealing with the public is not
the best job area for your career. Yes, I look like I rode in an
a bike. That does not give a person the right to ignore the
wods coming out of my mouth or my present behavior in deciding
if I am a threat to anyone or anything.
Jim, I grew up in a rural setting, that has now become the
hottest subdivision area around St. Louis these days. All in all,
I grew up in a very peaceful environment, with the one exception
that country rules were still in effect. If you ran your mouth,
you just might be called to back it up. It was a quieter, more
simple and slow existance than today. You did not throw beer
bottles or cans on your neighbors lawn. If the house lights were
off, you left your car lights on, honked, and went straight to the
front door. You did not wander around. Your behavior towards
others was on your own head, and you did not raise your voice
or become insulting until the situation required it. If you did
disrespect someone, and got your head knocked for doing so,
the most likely result was going to be an adult asking you if
you learned anything. If two grown men wanted to settle
something, and both desided on their own to step to the
street, even the police would not interfere unless it got out of
hand. There was no third man in. It was a much different world
than todays, where if two children get into a fight at school,
they both have to be arrested and charged. Now, with all this
supposed protection, the kids hide their conflicts at school,
wait till later, collect friends and weapons, and children die
because of the simple fact that they can not be kids at school.
Bob I understand what your saying. I guess what I was trying to say
is a lot of these store managers, and security really aren't
prepared or trained to deal in situations like this. Often just an
appearence of some one can be intimidating. You may have made the
clerk feel very uncomfortable, even scared. He felt safer having
others near him, even if it was false hope as in your case : )
I've seen customers physically hurt employess. Some times it would
take about 6 or 8 of us to hold some one down until a cop came. It
only takes a second to get your face smashed, that may be why the
clerk got help when talking to you. I'm sure he was well aware you
could snap him in two. You may or may not have been a threat. Sores
also have to look after their own too. As for the Kmart thing,
that's just another example of acting before thinking. I've seen
that happen a lot too. It sounds like you live in a city where
these types of inncidents are common. Remember, theres always two
sides to a story. I know it seems unfair to sterotype people. But
in the store I worked at it had the highest amount of inncidents.
When I worked at another store we had in the suburbs, it was a
totally different atmosphere. I'm not a very big guy, nor is my
presence intimidating, but when ever I'm confronted by the police,
they take no chances, and treat me as if I was the hulk out on a
shooting spree. Now the cops are more trained to handle situations
that may result in violence. Store clerks, managers, and store
security are not. Though some seem to think they are.
Don't get me wrong. I know there are a lot of snotty little jerks
who work in stores and act like they can do something. I know a lot
of customers get treated unfairly. But consider what the stores
have to work with. Young minimum wage workers, and know it all
managers, and wanna be Dirty Harry security. Add the elements of
anger and fear, and well, you know the rest.
BTW, did you wrestle?
Jim K
