LIFE IN RETAIL

I am sure all of you who are priveliged to work in retail have alot of stories to tell.

For me, living in a small town, alot of things have changed.  The people have changed, the friendly elderly customers whom you knew on a first name basis and remained very loyal to their local business, and never asked for discount have now departed and have been replaced with rude, intimidating, ruthless customers, who even though they produce a below cost price from a major supplier, some half an hour drive away, add the little "feel good" saying "we like to shop local", which is suppose to make all the difference, even though we can sometimes make next to zero profit and is cheaper than our employee price.

One of my fellow workers initiated a Top 10 list, which was a non written list of all the most painful customers. One customer, as soon as he made a step into the store demanded attention and proceded to butt in, whether you were already helping somebody else or not and was always in a hurry. He had one of our junior staff in tears and when the boss mentioned this to him, he was shocked and full of apology! He remains one of our Top 10.

One of my areas of sales is vacuum bags. Well I need to be like the contestant on "Australia's Got Talent", Anthony Laye, as they arrive in with no idea of brand, model etc and I am suppose to come up with the correct bags. Well today I had a male come in, who supposedly  knew the brand but that was all, he proceded to ask alot of questions and after trying to tell him countless times that in order to give him the correct bags, I needed more information but no after wasting at least 10 minutes of my valueable time, he chose a bag!  Not long after he phoned through and yes you guessed it, entirely different brand of vac and yes wrong bags!!!

Then there is the choosing of a kettle or toaster, well some customers including the male species proceed to lift every kettle lid and push down every toaster lever and then spend many minutes choosing. How hard is it to decide on a kettle or toaster, I ask myself that question over and over, I guess there is more choice these days but come on it can't be that hard!

Then there is the sales invoice, which we tell our customers to keep for warranty purposes. No, that is too hard, it is much easier to phone us and again waste time to look up the date of purchase etc.

But amongst all the bad customers, there are still alot of nice ones but sadly they are in fewer numbers.   

No, life in retail is not like it used to be and I am sure you fellow "retailers" have alot of stories to tell.

THE VOICE

Well 'The Voice' was highly publicised by Channel 9 many weeks before it's big arrival and I guess those of us who didn't know or understand the concept of the show were eager to find out.  From the moment the first contestant  stepped onto the stage, there was the feeling of excitement and anticipation. Right from the press of the button and the swinging chairs, the expressions on the faces of the judges - I was hooked and so were many million people. What amazed me was the extraordinary talent, where did they all come from, there has been talent shows before in Australia, but these were all the cream of the crop. But from the first words uttered from her mouth, I was memorised by Karise's haunting sound and I proudly announced on Facebook - Karise is THE VOICE.  It was a voice like I had never heard before and her pairing with Seal was the icing on the cake - they were made for each other, and in Karise's words "he is a top quality dude".

The coaches were an unlikely mix but they came together as a team and made the show into such an amazing winner. Keith Urban with his laid back style won many fans,  including me and Joel I grew to love, his funny expressions and encouraging words (just one thing Joel get rid of the straws) and Seal with his words of wisdom, his painted fingernails and short/long pants. Delta, despite many critics is lovely and has such a warm heart and is a great talent. Mark Holden's dribble about the judge's comments being "nauseating" and they were a "complete waste of air time" bring back memories of his days as a judge on Australian Idol and how his comments and stupid sayings made me cringe, jealousy is a curse Mark!

Some of the highlights for me were the duets between the contestant and their mentor, unbelievable stuff.
When all the coaches came together in song, was another winner, but then the whole show was a winner and I  for one cannot wait to see it again, hopefully with the same judges and who knows what talent is out there.

Karise's journey has just begun and so has the THE VOICE. Thank you Channel 9 for bringing such enjoyment to so many people.

Please let me know your feelings about the show.

TATOOING

Of course we all have different likes and dislikes and it seems we either love or loathe the art of tattooing your body.

It wasn't long ago that people were paying big dollars to get their tatoo removed by laser, as they realised that in a moment of madness they had a permanent marking that they now wanted to be rid of.

Now, it seems to be the 'in thing' to have tattoos adorning all parts of the body and what was predominantly a male regime is now just as popular with females.

It is also more predomenant in certain sports, Rugby League players and some AFL display full arms of tattoos, not quite as prevelant in tennis and cricket, although the captain of the Australian team is now displaying a few. I watched the Ironman series on the weekend and admired the beautiful, fit, tanned bodies of these athletes and only one displayed tattoos. How refreshing to see such healthy bodies with glowing clear skin!

Also, does it affect you securing a job - would you,, as an employer, choose a person covered in tattoos over a clean skin, especially when you are in an occupation dealing with the public. And to what lengths does a person go in covering their tatts in order to secure a job, only to display them after obtaining the position.

This all brings me to the recent story of bad boy, turned good, Mark Wahlberg, who having turned 40 years and happily married with 4 children is having his tattoos removed to show his children the downside of tattooing and to hopefully deter them from making the same mistake.

How many other parents will decide in later life that they need to set a good example to their children and have their tatts removed, or will they encourage them to do as they have done!

I, personally have a distaste for tattoos, but that is my opinion - tell me yours!!