I wasn't the one having "one of those days" at work today. That fell to Jamie, our General Merchandise manager.
What with the 50th anniversary of Barbie, Mattel has issued a 50th Anniversary Barbie, sort of the modern Barbie wearing a skimpy bathing suit very similar to the original, and with the original's hooker make-up painted on her face.
We received a very limited number of the dolls, somthing like two dozen, three dozen at the most. And Corporate had decided to sell the dolls at the original price of three dollars. Limit one per customer.
There was only one way to prevent someone insisting on buying all the dolls, and that was to keep them all in the back. The customer would have to go to the Customer Service Desk, and ask for one of the dolls. Ed, our CS rep today, would pick up the phone and page Jamie, saying the simple code "Jamie, One!" Jamie would get one of the dolls, and bring it to the customer.
First come, first served. Right?
Well, Jamie was flooded with phone calls all day. No, we can't hold one at the desk for you, it's first come, first served. Yes, ma'am, I understand you have three granddaughters, but our limit is one per customer.
I suggested he tell those grandmothers that they'd just have to decide which granddaughter they loved most, but that the limit was still one per customer. The way he rolled his eyes clearly said "Oh, if I only could get away with that!"
The good news was that we were sold out by noon. All gone, too bad, buh-bye. And our sister stores in Long Neck and Millsborough were sold out, too.
"They've got the dolls at WalMart and K-Mart. They're selling them for $12 each." Boy, did that comment get some dirty looks.
Like I said, Jamie was having one of those "one of those days" days. He was so glad when his shift ended.
