Taking it…

Don’t get me wrong. I still love my job. Or most of it anyway. But there are definitely some parts I’d rather not have to do. And people I really don’t want to deal with.
Some pet owners are just a completely different breed of people. They love their pets, provide only the best for them, but when it comes to someone, or something else interfering with them (say, a town licensing by-law for instance), they go nuts. Generally on the person trying to enforce the by-law.
Aka me.
And I have to take it, stand there and get yelled at, and all the while try to smile and be polite. Fine. But the next drunken (insert rude word here) who decides to try an take my picture for some unknown reason, while the cops, regular by-law officer and his wife are lying to each other, is seriously going to find out how un-polite I can be. I hate pictures in the best of times. Some stranger trying to take my picture without my permission to use for who knows what is so so so not okay with me.
But that adventure is over, and I seriously doubt I have to worry about running into either of them again. Plus even if I did he probably wouldn’t be sober enough, and she wouldn’t know me from Eve. I hope. Because meeting them at my weekend job (grocery store cashier) would be terribly terribly uncomfortable.
Whatever. Moving on. I’m being trained on parking enforcement, so pets are on hold for a while (small tear). It’s hot, hot work, but can be mildly entertaining. Like today for instance. I know guys have this weird connection with their cars. It’s a guy thing, which means it makes perfect non sense to me. Fine. So we’re marking tires (with chalk), and come upon a silver Toyota. It was fairly new looking, but nothing special. And it was running, with nobody inside, which is not only stupid but a piss-off. Just as we were about to mark the tire the guy comes running out, almost yelling “please don’t mark that car”. Apparently he thought we did, and so he stops (on the other side of the street) and hangs his head. Literally. I almost broke down laughing right there, it was just so ridiculous.
So my supervisor looks up and asks if he’s moving, to which he says yes, did you mark it? She says no, and we walk away, laughing to ourselves as the guys runs to his still-running car and drives across the road to a parking lot. Made my day for sure.
This is one job I am going to be terribly nervous doing on my own. I know people are going to get angry, and I know I’m going to be watched (you would not believe the number of people here who don’t have a life!). So messing up is bad, but I’m human and it’s going to happen/already has. But honestly, it’s so ridiculous the lengths people go to to get out of paying the consequences for breaking the law. Like, if you don’t want a parking ticket, park for the given time, and in the given spots. It’s actually not that hard. And it’s not our fault you can’t follow the rules, so don’t get mad at us. You’d probably complain if it was someone else doing the same thing and inconveniencing you, so stop being so hypocritical.
I will forever do my best to appreciate people with these types of jobs in the future. And also do my best to never be a crazy pet person. And since I’ve already had a parking ticket (in Toronto where they are three times as much as they are here) and took it rather well (as in I didn’t yell at the lady on the phone who told me that I’m supposed to know Toronto parking laws even if there aren’t signs), I’ve gotten off to a good start.
Myth of the century and beyond:
“The customer is always right.”
Clearly whoever came up with that has never worked in something even remotely customer service related. Customers almost never are.

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