RE: Record section clerks at major chain bookstores...

You misspelled "warning."

Or the wonderful "Throbbing Gristle is another name for my penis" innuendos.

as far as im concerned, the clerks at B&N, etc are just trying to make up for the fact that the only reason they know anything about music is (sadly) because of Pitchfork. that, and theyre jealous that their Amoeba application has been rejected 5 times.

so...fuck you guys. I was trying to reach out to you motherfuckers and you shunned me. Never again. The only kids that are halfway decent are the ones lookking for paul wall cd's anyway. Not you indie rock assholes with flipflops looking for postal service records.

;)

Anyone copping a serious superiority complex induced attitude (especially over something as trivial as music) and who's making $7.50 an hour probably does need a tall glass of "shut the fuck up" and a chaser of humility.

hahaha

That's how I shall refer to him henceforth, obviously.

-- chrisl (chris...) (webmail), July 9th, 2005.

OTM! People who don't work high paying jobs don't deserve to be recognized for anything! How's the GOP working out for you, Chris?

-- chrisl (chris...) (webmail), July 10th, 2005.

You voted for Badnarik didn't you?

hpencil OTMFM upthread.

Every single Jedi is now an enemy of the Republic.

Really? Are you a hypnotized rabbit, too?

They're all hit and miss around here. The B&N closest to me has a killer DVD section, but the CD section blows hard. One 30 minutes away has Acid Mothers Temple albums stocked. All the Borders I go to typically have really scarce CD selection. Hence, my choice of shopping at neither (Phoenix and Brass City, yay).

"You work in a record store" is typically a good enough retort.

and these are some jobs I have worked other then musical jobs..
Dog shampooing, sales , horsemanure shoveling,
telemarketing...waitressing, companionaide,
receptionist..selling flowers on the street..
busing tables...babysitting..

serious mistake in thinking here. that makes the shareholders happy, it doesn't benefit the music seller at all. my hourly wage stays the same regardless of how well the store is doing, so i actually prefer it if fewer customers come into the store because it makes my job much easier. if my parent corporation ultimately fails, what do i care? i'll go work at another one, maybe the one that replaces this one.

i don't make smartassed comments to customers about their music choices because i'm not a jerk. anyway that's what the internet is for.

If people are still buying music in such quantities that the market being served requires a store that expressly sells CDs or specializes in such, instead of just needing a Wal-Mart. Being a part of a failing franchise (especially if there's a clear market for the goods being sold, and competitors are successful) doesn't look fantastic on a resume either should you decide that you want to jump to the competition.

(besides, why work at a record store? you can make twice or three times as much being a waitress or working in landscaping, and there's just as many open positions there. its not like they've stopped building Ruby Tuesdays)

I also knew a guy in college who aspired to live in his parents' basement and work at a video store. He was frustrated because the video store in his hometown was apparently overstaffed or something and he just worked at the grocery store. I think he failed out of school at least twice. When I knew him he was burning fansubbed anime he downloaded onto CDs and selling it on ebay.

oh, chrisl, don't you see? the 'little people' you refer to are the drunks with guns you fear...

and they can smell fear.
and $$$.

hstencil OTM.
as usual....

Maybe it's the contempt you have for people working "menial" jobs that amouns to class warfare (and the poor service you recieve--it certainly seems like the only people who consistently encounter such poor service are people with this attitude).

Let's at least have some common talking points (extremists aside please):

-If you work in retail, you should at least try to competently do your job. This includes not being a dick to the customer. If that's too tough, perhaps go into data entry or some other field where interpersonal contact is not an issue.

-Being a dick or being snobby in any way is not good.

-Being a dick or being snobby when you're the lowest rung on the totem pole of supply and demand is exceptionally bad. See above: customer service.

-If you suck at retail/don't like your job in retail, get another one. Pressing buttons on a register is not a field in which every position will ever be filled. Someone may actually want your job more than you and would likely do a better job than you, especially if you find the job to be beneath you. After all, any idiot can pile shirts on a table or make sure that CDs are standing straight up and in alphabetical order. Apart from not being comatose, having interpersonal skills and a small iota of work ethic are the only things that matter in low level retail.

I have no contempt for anyone working a menial job who doesn't have contempt for me. If you want to work at a record store and live with your mom, by all means, go right ahead. If you're comfortable with that level of success, congratulations. Just don't cop an attitude with me because you don't like my taste in music, clothes, food, etc. Is that hard to accept?

Uh...

Just don't cop an attitude with me because you don't like my taste in music, clothes, food, etc. Is that hard to accept?
THIS RARELY HAPPENS UNLESS YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE!

I don't know if that's necessarily true. Having worked in retail, yeah, there's a lot of people that can't be made happy. I understand that. There is no excuse for someone to sit there and talk shit about anyone's subjective taste at a record store when unprovoked. None. Zero. I worked at a record store once, and somehow, I was able to not make fun of ICP or Korn fans, even though I think both bands are totally awful. Its not hard.

>But the fact that you're so willing to write off people on "the lowest rung of the totem pole" and the assumption that anyone can just find another job, no problem, is really problematic.<

Look, the guy who's a midlevel executive at *insert production company* who thinks *insert artist here* sucks has no relationship with me at anytime. I don't know he exists, he has some faint idea people like me exist, and that's fine. The guy who I personally see in the store who goes "*insert artist here* is terrible" does have a relationship with me. I've never had it happen to me, but it obviously does, and there's clearly a lot of folks who work at record stores with this issue. FURTHERMORE, someone who's displaying serious egotism and has no reason to back said egotism, apart from the fact that they have a different subjective opinion than I or whoever they insult, is a complete fucking douchebag. I or anyone else doesn't need to be berated or insulted by someone working a job that virtually anyone else on the entire planet (including retards and small children) could do given 30 minutes of training, and probably do a better job of.

As for "not being able to find another job". I have lots of friends who have jobs they don't particularly like in telemarketing/phone work. Its not an easy job. A lot of folks that work there imbibe a variety of substances to deal with the high stress levels the job often creates. They do it because those jobs are always available, and because they pay a lot better (should you have some social skills) than retail. The same goes for people in landscaping. People who work loading trucks for UPS. People who wait tables. Those jobs have not dried up all over the country, just as jobs in retail never have. If you don't like your particular job in retail, I can guarantee that you can find a job paying about the same somewhere else (maybe at your local Mall, maybe at Wal-Mart, maybe at a supermarket, maybe at McDonalds, but somewhere) and assuming your work record isn't completely abyssmal, there's a good chance you can get it. Given the turnover in the industry, showing some initative and interest can probably get you a low level managerial position, should you so desire.

I agree! Which makes the clerks who act like assholes...well...ASSHOLES.

UNTIL THEN, THREE 1/2 STARS FOR YOUR THREAD -- LOWERED BECAUSE OF TYPICAL ILM PISSY CRYBABY-FEST.

ALL JUDGMENT WILL BE SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY IF THREAD IS RENAMED "T/S: SURFIN'STEVENS V. RAY STEVENS V. SHAKIN' STEVENS" BY ENLIGHTENED MODERATORS.

I am not even an economist or anything! If I can understand these concepts, so can you, clerk-hating people!

(xpost, obviously)

then there was the really cute 18 year old who works at the local newbury comics, who was all smiles when i gave her some cd's i was trying to sell and they couldn't take. she told me i made her day, secretly she made my penis move.

That's not lucky at all! There are great times to be had talking to people in record stores, and they're not all similar to cliched movie scenes!

to chrisl: Now, granted, I'm all for getting good service when I'm out and about; But this "social hierarchy" you seem to espouse belongs on golf courses and in smoky back rooms and not in a music forum. Just remember three things:
1) The clerk behind the counter might've been standing on his feet for 5 hours already and might have a reason to be cranky (especially after dealing with rude, dopey customers all day.); I worked retail back in the early 90s, and I do still remember how it becomes harder and harder to keep up the civil front after 6 hours.
2) The clerk might be making $7 bucks an hour, but he still might have a bigger dick, a better sex life than you. He might even have a better record collection than you.
3) Be happy that your getting sassed by a record store clerk and not a chef. The chef has the power and opportunity to (spit on|pee on|squirt windex on) your food. And if you come in through the doors of HIS FUCKING RESTARAUNT, he might feel a moral obligation to do something comical to your Chicken Marsala.

to the rest of the ILM forum: If you want to have some cheap fun... read chrisl's posts in a Ming the Merciless/Comic Book Supervillian voice. It really puts them into perpective.