by Matt | Jul 10, 2001 | Imported Entry
2nd worst day at work ever! Seriously. Lemme explain. I’ll leave out a few details due to the fact that the store may fall under legal action and I don’t want to get screwed. Also note, my opinions are mine and mine alone, not those of Electronics Boutique, so don’t bother getting pissed at them. Ok, roughly around 5ish, two teenage boys purchase a copy of the Diablo 2 expansion pack (referred to now as D2, for typing sake). I remember these kids since I was the one at the register. They leave and apparently go to Best Buy. At Best Buy, their bag containing D2 is stolen. They put it down and someone walked off with it. Instead of informing Best Buy or Mall Security, they come back to EB and tell me. They ask if anyone has returned a copy of D2 in the past few minutes (which no one has). I suggest they contact Best Buy security as well as the Mall Security since there’s nothing I can really do for them. They leave and do so. A few minutes later, one of the other associates takes back an unopened copy of D2 from a customer claiming they didn’t like it. No questions asked, this happens all the time so the associate doesn’t think anything of it, not knowing of the current situation. The kids return as the ladies who brought back the game are leaving. I notice that a copy was just returned and mention it to the kids and point in the direction the ladies walked in. They kids wonder off, try to find security, find none (big surprise) and we don’t see them for a while. They then return around 8 and purchase another copy of D2, having failed to apprehend the culprits. I consider the case closed. True, it sucks, I wouldn’t want it to happen to me, but what could have been done? As we’re closing, a pissed off father calls the store to yell and scream that his kids were ripped off and alleging that we had something to do with it. He plans to press charges and is very upset. We tell him that the manager will be in tomorrow and that he will receive a call back then. Now, at this point I have to ask myself a few questions. First, what really happened. Looking only at myself and my store I see that two things occurred: 1. A copy of D2 was bought. A normal thing. 2. A copy of D2 was returned, also a normal thing. Electronically this makes sense. It could merely be coincidence that someone brought back a copy of the game. It happens all the time, who am I to judge this person who’s returning a game? Should I suspect them of wrong doing and deny them the basic privileges granted by the store? No, in all fairness I can’t. I can’t say if that’s a stolen copy of a game or not and I have no right to judge. Also, did it really happen? The kids never brought back THEIR receipt. True, I remember them buying the game, but who’s to say that they didn’t go put it in the car? I can’t judge them either. I have to remain impartial. Also, I was never contacted by Mall Security, Best Buy Security or anyone other than those kids (until the father called). Lastly, why would the father be blaming EB or myself except out of misdirected anger? I was not present at the time of the robbery (if there was one) nor at the time of exchange (if it wasn’t legit). I was doing my job in both cases. In my own opinion, once an item is paid for and leaves the store, it is the sole property of the new owner. I should not be responsibly for carelessness one someones part simply because they shopped at my store. Now, I feel truely bad for those kids. They lost $34.99. To a kid, thats a lot of money. But shouldn’t Best Buy be slightly more to blame than me. Considering they do have a “security staff” as well as operating security cameras. It should also be mentioned that it could be viewed as the kids fault, for leaving their bag unattended in the middle of a busy store. For them I’m sure it’s a life lesson, they should be more careful. Finally, let me say this: Karma will catch up with someone in this one. Whether it be the kids for not really having a game stolen and trying to get me to give them a free one, or the people who stole their game, or the father for over-reacting or possibly even me for somehow not doing all I could. I hope its not me, I certainly felt bad for the boys and offered a course of action they should follow, but I don’t know what else I could have done. Time will tell. At any rate, I’ve been far too philosophical for one evening, I think it’s time for bed. A good idea since I’m heading back to the store in the morning. I agreed to help out with Grand Turismo 3 launch day so I’ll be working until after lunch time. It’ll also give me a chance to let Brent and Eric know about what happened last night. Boys, I’m assuming you all want to see Final Fantasy tomorrow night? Gimme a call after 6, I should be home by then. Later.
Current mood: Confused about peoples anger. 
by Matt | Jul 10, 2001 | Imported Entry
Just got word from Nick that he set up a journal of his own while he’s up in Alaska. Very cool indeed. Now we can all find out what he’s up to in his great Alaskian adventure. You can check that out Here. Oh, and Nick, if you’re reading this, remember you can use HTML tags in your posts as well, they get translated into whatever they need to be, like the link I just made. Anyway, today’s a work day, I’m going in a noon and stick around till close (yuck). I’m not really feeling that great, I’ve felt sick since I went to bed last night. I really don’t feel like going but I know I have to (since I’m closing). I’d probably feel more motivated to go if I’d actually see a pay check before x-mas. They’re one of those companies that hold your first paycheck for you, and since I get a paid bi-weekly, I don’t see a check until after 4 weeks. Very sucky. But I can manage I suppose. Oh, last night I also joined W.A.N (Webmasters Against Netscape). I don’t really hate Netscape the product or Netscape the company, I just don’t like Netscape’s rendering engine. In all my years of being a webmaster/designer, I can honestly say its a giant pain in the ass to design pages around NS’s horrible engine. Everything thing you do, from java-script to table tags to getting images to align with each other, is nearly impossible with NS. Now, I really do dislike Microsoft as a company, I think they’ve made only a few products I’d stand behind. (optical mice, sidewinder, etc) But I do think that they’ve made a better browser with IE6. And since there wasn’t any smart-tags in 6-beta and they’ll no longer be in the final build, I’ve got no problem using it. Trust me, if they was a decent alternative to both IE and NS, I’d be using it. Thats it from me, I’m off to work. Later.
Current Mood: Tired and working. 
by Matt | Jul 9, 2001 | Imported Entry
Welp, this is a little late in coming but my boy Chris just posted his top ten lists (movies and music wise). Check’em out if you get bored. Hmm, maybe that’s inspiration enough to do my own. (not to copy you or anything… hehe) Anyway, of for some more web browsing. Check ya. Later.
by Matt | Jul 9, 2001 | Imported Entry
I’ve found the greatest techno cd of the year. Lemme give you the set up. I had taken the time to weed out all my old cds in hopes of getting a few bucks for them at Newbury Comics. I headed into Nashua and handed them over to see what I could get for them. While I was waiting for the grand total (which was going to be about $30) I wondered around looking for new cds to buy. I asked one of the associates if the new Darren Emerson was in yet. Unfortunatly it wasn’t, but as I was turning around he started putting a new cd out on the shelf. I asked him what it was and he said it was the new Darude album and that it had come in that morning. Now, I had used a track from Darude (“feel the beat”) in my first mix this spring and was seriously considering using another of their tracks in my next mix (which is almost done btw). So, I snagged a copy, figuring it wouldn’t be too bad and might tide me over till Darren Emerson came in. I also snagged a copy of Seb Fontaine – Resident @ Cream, which is also good, but that’s only a side note. So, after finishing up a Newbury’s I jumped in the car and headed home. I stuck in Darude as I was rounding the bend onto rt3. The first track “SandStorm” was the one I was going to use in my upcoming mix, but here it was, in all it’s unmixed, original glory. After that came “Burning” and “Feel the Beat” which I had previously used. What followed quickly made my jaw drop. 11 tracks of beautiful, mind melting, deep progressive trance, the likes of which I haven’t felt in years. The last time I was this impressed with an album was 4 years ago with Propellerhead and their first cd. Chris, I know you’re looking for that next big leap in music, well, here it is. I was seriously considering pulling the car over and dancing right there on the side of the road. This disk is freakin’ amazing. It is easily within my top 5 cds of all time and I’ve only just started listening to it. If you like techno in the least, you NEED this disk. Go get it now. I’m not joking, what are you doing still in front of your computer? Ladies and Gentlemen, the best thing to happen to techno since the British… Darude, “Before the Storm”. I’ve got to go listen again. Later.
Current mood: In trance heaven! 
by Matt | Jul 8, 2001 | Imported Entry
Well, I’m bored out of my skull. This afternoon, I took stock of my CD collection, weeded out the ones I never listen to and plan on going down to Newbury Comics tomorrow and trading them all in. There’s so many CDs I want, it makes sense to get rid of what I don’t use in order to help pay for them. I’ve got about 30 I don’t really want anymore so I hope I can at least get a buck or two for them. Even that will get me at least one CD. Kind of a sucky ratio though, but I’m assuming I can get more than a buck for a CD. Other than that I did a lot of sleeping today. I guess I’m still tired from the other night. Anyway, I didn’t get done what I wanted to. Maybe tomorrow. Then again, if tomorrow has better wheather, I’m going to go take pictures. We’ll see. Later.
Current Mood: Still Bored 
Recent Comments