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Jan 10, 2009 - 01:42 AM |
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Circuit City Liquidation and the Musings of Their Employee |
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I'm two parts bored and one part concerned, so I figured I may as well make a journal since it's what's all the cool people do.
The hubbub at work today was over the news that Circuit City is dangerously close to the liquidation of all its assets, and this left me wondering about my own state of affairs.
A brief history. I've been employed by Circuit City since June of last year. I had previous applied at Borders and Best Buy, eventually relying on a recommendation from my brother (a four-year employee at the time).
I work in the "Product Flow Team," which is a glorified term for the inventory/warehouse team who are now meant to spent most of their time on the store floor helping customers and cleaning up (rather than staying in the warehouse to monitor and organize the back). This came into being because of the layoff of the company's senior-most, in-store staff and the general reduction in total employment within the company.
Now, I like my job. It's not terribly absurd or degrading, nor is it very difficult. The pay is certainly nothing to be proud of, but I could technically make less. But I learned on the first day that the store I work at is in dismal shape. There is a fine layer of dust on virtually every product in the store, the floors are covered in countless scuffs that the shoddy cleaning crew never bothers with. The warehouse has bent and warped structures from repeated blows and collisions with the stockpicker, and the stockpicker... Jesus. The thing barely works, and it's scary as hell to elevate it above 20 feet (it starts to groan and it shakes, jerks and halts suddenly).
Customers often complain about the various problems in the storefront, but the majority tend to be pleased with the customer service. That surprised me a little bit, but I do notice most people here are on their best behavior with prospective buyers of various goods.
The people I work with vary from horrible to some of the most entertaining and enjoyable people I've ever met. There's John, the store director who's considered the gigantic asshole by most (I tend to get along with him fine), his uppity and anal-retentive operations manager, and their various cronies who kiss ass like nothing else. Not surprisingly, the people who get along with most everyone else are the grunt associates; the bottom rung of the store totem pole. Jeff, a Home Entertainment Specialist (ie, TV guy) is quite possible the only person to ever make John uncomfortable (he did this by suggesting John tattoo something on to Jeff's own ass). Ben, a sales associate, is an ex-Marine who at one point threatened to urinate on an extortionist customer.
"...Why peeing instead of, like, kicking his ass, Ben?"
"Because then when he was walking home in his white shirt, people would look at him and say... 'you got peed on!'"
There are the lazy people, the angry people, the hyper-motivated people, and me. The people who were fired and pretended they quit, the people who were fired and pleaded for their job back. The drama and gossip is some of the most ridiculous I've ever seen, so I try to keep to myself. Even then, I still get pulled into some of the rumors that go around.
I just try to do work... and shop. I do about half and half there, I swear. I get discounts on everything. This 46'' LCD HDTV I'm using as a monitor? 800 bucks, being 60% off through vendor accommodations. This brand new computer? 25% off, and that's even after the the 2-year accidental insurance plan I have for it. The brand new video card I put in? Half off. The HDMI for my 360? 60% off. The power center that strictly regulates electricity currents and safely shuts down any electronics when it detects a surge? 50% (anything with "MKII" in the name has to be fucking sweet, amirite). This Zune? 30%. Even my phone plan with Verizon-- 20% off my monthly bill and 25% off all accessories.
I don't think it's possible for a person to pat him or herself on the back harder than I am right now, I know. No worries, this bragging still comes at a pretty steep cost.
Of course, the idea of me being out of a job is a big concern. This job naturally helps to pay for university expenses, and the idea of being unemployed is as unappealing as it is impossible if I want to continue my education. Of course, I wasn't stupid. I saved money, and I have a few thousand put aside for a semester or two. But still... eh.
I think that sums up my opinion about all of this, I guess. Eh. That and go shop at Circuit City if you want me to keep my job or something. I try to be polite to customers, at least.
| Currently Playing: Ladytron - Tomorrow (yes, all their music sounds the same, I know) |
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