In order to maintain my sanity (and my paycheck) I’ve come to treat my time working at the Seattle’s Best Café inside Borders as a large social experiment. Based on the last few posts I’ve made about my experience thus far, it wasn’t a reach to take this attitude. It only meant that I observed all behavior through the lens of research rather than through the lens of “I hate my life”. Being a café worker making enough to cover my gas and lunch money is depressing. Being witness to all kinds of interesting social behavior is fascinating.
Observation #1:
People follow groups
People don’t get in line one at a time. There are a lot of people that spend hours in the café. They’ll buy drinks and snacks here and there throughout the day. But they won’t do it when there’s no line. Oh no. They’ll wait until they see others walking up to the line. Once there are two people in line, you can count on a third and fourth person stepping up. It’s as if the line creates a sense of urgency. The same thing happens at the checkout register downstairs. “We need to hurry. Others appear to be leaving.” It’s like the retail equipment of keeping up with the Jones’. “If he’s buying a coffee, I’m buying one now too.”
This works with the tip jar too. I haven’t done a control (because I don’t want to risk a day of crappy tips), but adding a dollar at the beginning of the day to the tip jar makes a huge difference. If I let people decide on their own what kind of tip day it’s going to be, I’ll see a handful of pennies and nickels. In fact, most people won’t even notice it’s there with a few coins. Dollar bills hanging out of a jar sends a pretty clear message.
Observation #2:
Large retailers aren’t bothering to adapt to changing technology
I can go to Amazon, read reviews, and make a purchase with all of my information already stored. One click and they’re shipping to my apartment. The Borders.com website doesn’t have reviews. It doesn’t offer similar recommendations. Borders only recently began offering free shipping to items that weren’t in stock in-store. About two years too late.
They also only recently started offering a Sony reader. Amazon has Kindle. Barnes & Noble finally got their own reader. Borders brought out the Sony reader just in time for the 2007 2009 holiday season. You seeing a trend here?
Now, there is the argument for the experience of the bookstore. You can count me in the group that says there is something special and fun about browsing a bookstore. Technology these days has made most people mindlessly nod their head in disagreement. But technology has made people connected in new ways. Want to share what you’re reading with others? There’s probably an app for that. So why don’t bookstores find a way to make bookstores an experience? Why not tap into that? It’s a sad day when retail bookstores are shut down because people would rather click a button than walk around and take in the smell of real books.
Observation #3
The few people that do actually go to a store to buy things aren’t tech savvy.
There’s a reason why they’re still going to the bookstore. These aren’t the browsers and book lovers that I just spoke about. No, these are the people that cringe when they hear e-mail and can’t find a way to make purchases online. Before I became an employee, I always preferred Borders to Barnes & Noble because they had computers that customers could use to search for items. Barnes & Noble has “employee only” computers. No, you can’t touch. At least you can help with your browsing at Border. Don’t remember the exact title? Type in some keywords. It even tells you which section it’s in and everything. Follow the map and you can’t go wrong. Or can you?
Things are organized into rationally categorized topics, but that doesn’t stop the angry computer illiterate customers. They don’t just ask for help, they’ll demand it.
“Excuse me, there is nobody here, can you help me find a DVD?”
“No, but I can call someone to help you.”
(exasperated)”Yes, please do that.”
I’m sorry, but I’ve never sought out help at a Best Buy to find a DVD. I’ve always though Drama/Action/Comedy/Horror were self-explanatory. I guess that’s just me.
It’s strange the things that make people angry. Some people act offended when I offer them a free Borders Rewards card. They can’t deal with the “spam”. I had a card before I became a barista because I always write out at a Borders café. I just did a quick scan of my inbox and found 10 coupons since the beginning of the year. These are all coupons – they are offers for discounts and notices of new items. I’m sorry, but if 10 emails of discounts from a store you buy from time to time in six weeks are too much for you, I question your familiarity with e-mail. It’s no different than Amazon, Bev-Mo, or Apple emails that take me half a second to delete unless something in the subject line catches my eye.
Worse are the people who go to exorbitant lengths to lie their way out of a card. Just say no, it’s not that difficult you passive-aggressive jerk (and yes, I’ve told someone they could’ve just said “no thanks” after being caught in a clear lie.).
But enough ranting. Those last few paragraphs strayed from my point. It’s all a social experiment. These behaviors and memorable lines will be invaluable to my writing for years to come. The more I let myself laugh about it, the less bitter it makes me. To close, two gems since the last time:
Old man – That drink the woman just picked up, it looks really good. What is that?
Me – That’s an iced coffee.
Old Man – I’ll take one of those.
Me – One iced coffee?
Old Man – Yes.
Five minutes later…
Old Man – I can’t drink this. Here, throw out the rest of it.
Me – Is there something wrong with it?
Old Man – It’s cold. I wanted a hot drink. I thought it was a hot drink.
At the register…
Me – Would you like a Borders Rewards card? It’s free.
Old Lady – A what? Sure.
Me (realizing this might be a bad idea since it requires an e-mail address or it’s useless) – You need an e-mail address to sign up. Do you have an e-mail address?
Old Lady – Yes, I’d like a card.
Me – Okay, what is your e-mail address?
Old Lady – 1622 North…
Me – No, your e-mail address.
Old Lady – Oh. 1622…
Me – No. Not your home address.
Old Lady – What?
Me – Your e-mail address.
Old Lady – (slower) 1622 S. Jones Street*
Me – I need your e-mail address.
Old Lady – E-mail? I don’t have e-mail, I’m too old for that.
*Changed the actual address to protect the confused.
