Why People Need Jobs

Daily I am amazed at the intelligence of ordinary people. I give interviews at work and I like to ask my own questions. Recently I was given an applicant and on the front page of his application he had two misspelled words. My spelling is not that great either but I make sure that on important papers such as an application I would at least spell my former company and my title correctly, he had misspelled Fry's 'Frie's' and his former position was receiving store manager, 'reseving stoor'. So I gave him a spelling test asking him to spell basic words such as; job, cashier, and target. It was quite amusing, after all this man had been able to obtain management positions and had some college education.
I have also had the pleasure of asking other applicants what their favorite book is, and I have come to the conclusion that people in this country, at least the general population, no longer read. I actually had someone in an interview tell me that she stopped reading in first grade. Isn't that when most children are initiated into the wonderful world of reading? How can you pass through school every year when you don't or can't read?

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I recently read an article, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/a/2007/10/24/notes102407.DTL&type=printable,that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle which describes the experiences of one teacher in Oakland and his impressions of the students in his classes over a period of thirty years. The article describes a general trend of students behaving more and more poorly as time passes.
Who is responsible for this trend? It could be the students and their lack of ambition, the parents and their lack of involvement with the school system, or it could be the teachers themselves, who maybe have lost sight of what it means to be a teacher and actually take responsibility for an education. It could be all three. As Americans have we really lost sight of what it means to get an education.

The Idiot That Takes Most of My Money II

I have a new apartment. My landlord is not the brightest. It is the first of the month and I realize that I do not know how to pay my rent, as my landlord has never told me. I would assume that he would like to get paid and would have told me, however, he must be independently wealthy. I talked to the other three tenants and they also are confused as to how to pay rent. I called my landlord on behalf of all four of the residents, and he said that he would show up later to collect payment.
Late is a good word to describe my landlord, very late might be better. At 1:47a.m. I heard a knock on my door. It was exactly 1:47a.m., and my landlord was at the door, he had awoken me from a very deep and pleasant slumber. I was annoyed. At 1:47a.m. my landlord had come to collect rent, and also wanted to check the new oven that he had just bought for my apartment. Rude is another good word to describe my landlord, very rude might be better. I left him in my kitchen to check the oven and went back to bed, next month he can come at a reasonable time or not at all.

Popsicle Guy Is An Idiot

At work I bump into an amazing number of idiots. Popsicle Guy wins in the category of most annoying and persistent idiot as well as a contender in the lowest IQ contest. One day while I was managing the cash registers a cashier called me over for help with a customer, Popsicle Guy. Popsicle Guy had shopped in the store for so long that his frozen treat of choice had melted. I, at once, apologized and got him a new box of popsicles fresh from the freezer.
I arrived back at the register, box of popsicles in hand, only to find that Popsicle Guy had lost his receipt. He explained to me that he wanted the receipt in case the popsicles were bad and needed to be returned. I asked him to check his pockets, his wallet, his bag of merchandise, all in an effort to help this man locate his missing receipt. I knew that this customer was going to be a challenge. After checking all possible locations for the missing receipt he demanded that I print him another one. Re-printing receipts is not possible with my store's software system. Popsicle Guy was displeased. For forty-five minutes Popsicle Guy argued with me over his receipt, then reached into his pocket and pulled out his receipt. Then he apologized to me for the misunderstanding, and asked for another box of popsicles because now the second box had melted.

The Idiot That Takes Most Of My Money

My landlord is good at making promises. He promised that everything in my new apartment worked perfectly and would be clean on move-in day. The previous tenants were very dirty and had ruined a lot of things in this apartment so this promise was necessary , without it, I would not have signed the lease. I did, however, sign the lease. On move-in day I received a phone call at 5:30a.m. It was my landlord. He kindly explained that the previous tenants were not packed and probably would not be so for another week. Kindly I explained to him that I had a signed contract saying that the apartment was mine as of the current date and that if he did not want me to move them out that perhaps, he should help them get the message. I arrived at my new apartment to find the previous tenants and my landlord furiously packing things into boxes. I proceeded to move my things into the apartment, purposefully getting in the way as much as possible.
Finally the old tenants were out. There were dirty dishes in left in my sink. There was an oxygen tank with the used breathing tubes in my bedroom. There was leftover food in the refrigerator. There was an old wet mop in the kitchen, and a mysterious white powder and muddy footprints everywhere. Needless to say my apartment was not clean. I called my landlord and told him that as he did not higher a professional to clean my apartment that he should pay me to clean the apartment for him. He refused, I cleaned the apartment.
Later in the week I decided to use my oven for the first time. It didn't work. So being the handyman I am, I decided to try and fix it. Upon pulling out the oven, I discovered rat poison and several dead mice. After I finished screaming I called my landlord and told him that I had an emergency and that he needed to come over right away. He came over, and cleaned up the dead mice and promised to buy me a new oven.
I have no new oven. My landlord is an idiot.

Could Someone Get Me A Pen??

I love Circuit City. I think that it serves as a great example of what not to do if you would ever like to be a successful retailer. To illuminate this point a little more, my latest outing there was dreadful. I have come to expect this from Circuit City, however, it never ceases to amaze me how aweful of an expierence one can have.
This particular occasion I was in need of two very basic items. I needed some ink for my H.P. printer and a copy of Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition. I could have picked up these items at another store, a Fry's perhaps or even Target. Unfortunately for me Circuit City was the closest option. First, I looked for Microsoft Office. I looked everywhere. Soon I was looking for a sales associate. The sales associate then explained to me that due to theft they no longer carried that item on the floor. I understand the need for security but you would think that there would be a sign to inform the customer of this situation. In any case I was now in search of my ink. Perhaps, if I had found the ink that i was in such a need for I would have printed out a letter to Circuit City instead of writing this blog. I could not find my ink. Several sales associates could not find my ink either.
Finally, I was ready to check out, it was here that I made another bad decision. I paid using my credit card, which, as we all know requires a signature on the receipt. The first pen I tried to use was broken, so was the second. Apparently Circuit City only owns two pens because fifteen minutes later I was still at the check out counter. Staring at my bag of merchandise, the unsigned receipt, and the two broken pens, I decided to make my move. I grabbed my purchase and left.
I ended up going to Target for my ink.