Or, An Ode to Corporate Ignorance.
Back before Thanksgiving, I posted a brief rant about my Three Rules of Business. Today I discovered a fourth, and I’m ashamed that I’d missed it before.
After hiking today (see below), I was struck with the urge to do some shopping. I dropped by Barnes & Noble in Newington, NH with a specific book in mind. They didn’t have it in stock, but this post is not about them. While wandering the stacks, I had the urge to go next door to Best Buy and check out a Wii Fit. (I’ve been thinking about buying one for a while.)
As reported earlier, I’m a bit reluctant to leave valuables in my car these days. My camera falls into this category, and it was a gift from Mrs. Mack505. I really don’t want to lose it. It’s been slung around my neck all day, including my stroll into B&N.
The underpaid, undereducated employee at the Best Buy door stopped me, however. ”I’ll have to put a sticker on your camera.”
Like hell you will. It’s expensive, it’s mine, and I’ll not have you defacing it.
The rationale that Best Buy doesn’t sell this camera fell on deaf ears. ”We sell cameras. I’ll have to mark it to identify it as yours.”
Let’s see now. It’s a Nikon D70, which was discontinued 2 years ago. You don’t stock it now. It has a Quantaray 28-90mm zoom, which you don’t sell; Camera Armor by Made, which you don’t sell; and an Optech Reporter strap, which you don’t sell. It has over 6100 photos on the counter, including 12 shot this morning and still on the card. I’m pretty sure your cashiers could tell I didn’t steal it from you.
Doesn’t matter. ”We sell cameras. I’ll have to mark it to identify it as yours.”
So I took my impulses and walked right back out the door. Best Buy, you probably could’ve gotten $100 out of me this afternoon. Instead, thanks to the ignorance of your door guard, you got a negative blog post.
And thus, Rule #4: Treat me with respect.
