Mean People Suck!

So, after about five to six weeks at Barnes & Noble, I have already given them my notice (two more weeks). I don’t think I’ve ever had such an easy job that I’ve loathed so much. As I’ve mentioned before, the job is super easy, rather laid-back, and the hours are flexible. Yet, I found that every day I was dreading the shift at about the same level I dread a female pelvic exam. It’s awful, but you gotta do it, so get it over with! I’ve enjoyed and taken advantage of the 30% discount, but after NYC’s brutal 8%+ sales tax, the fringe benefit doesn’t feel so generous.

One of my biggest problems working there, besides the fact that the pay is shameful and it puts me into a state of perpetual fatigue, is the kind of people they hire. I always thought the kind of people drawn to a bookstore would be cool, well-read, interesting people. Wrong.

There are some fairly interesting people at the information desk at the main floor. They remind me of a small group of ex-hippies, (hippies typically being a group I have NEVER been found of), though I would think working at B&N would be considered selling out for them.

The majority of the rest of them though are young, young YOUNG people who think they are incredibly cool. I never thought a bookstore could be cliqueish, but OH yes it can! There are all these teenagers --> twentysomethings who know where all the books ARE, but they don’t actually KNOW the books themselves. Sometimes I feel bad that I’m not familiar with ALL the various travel guides in the travel section, because inevitably, a customer will ask you which one is best. I give my honest opinion, (i.e., “Lonely Planet is totally overrated and I think most of them suck”), but I can’t imagine talking to one of these 17 year olds who bitch and moan and don’t even seem to realize that books are kind of a wonderful thing.

There’s one of those young girls who works often with me during my shifts and she reminds me of a type of girl I once hated in middle and high school. This is a very dangerous girl. Popular, mostly though because she is mean, loud, judgmental, and conspiratorial. Because people fear her, they therefore desperately seek her approval and cling to her. It makes me want to throw up and I find myself becoming “busy” during these times, away from their little group.

Then there’s the Gorgeous Couple. A very young, very beautiful, very much “in love” couple. I believe they met on the job here at B&N and somehow managed to get all their schedules to coincide. So, as I’m busily putting books away and helping customers, I occasionally pass them, rooted somewhere between the “Weddings” and “Writing” sections, gazing into each other’s eyes.

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The other problem I have with this young and slothful group, is there total lack of customer service skills. Admittedly, I believe strongly in this “customer service culture” which is so strong and healthy in the U.S. I guess it comes from spending time abroad where you really notice a difference and learn to appreciate the sing-songy, “May I help you?” of American sales people instead of the occasionally hostile or indifferent attitudes in other countries. I guess NYers kind of take something away from that culture. The longer I live here, the more depressed I get as that old stereotype of them might be true: NYers are fucking mean.

My roommate (originally from the Midwest, living here for about five years+) and I were talking about this at length on Saturday night, and his comment was that NYers aren’t rude, per se, but inconsiderate. “There’s a difference!” he said, “I don’t think they mean to be rude or maybe even aren’t aware they are. But people here are always tired and rushing around and it’s crowded….” Etc. But he did find their behavior pretty terrible.

The other day before I started my shift at B&N I strolled into the music department to ask about putting the new Solas cd on hold for myself so I could buy it on payday. I approached the young, hip, male music manager and the hot female co-worker with flowing blonde hair, the two of them deep into a pre-mating ritual of chat-ya-up! They both turned to me slowly, him looking surly at being interrupted, her giving me one of those awful, smug looks you get from women who are always competing with you on a physical level. Slowly, he answered my question with obvious reluctance. I walked away feeling a little shocked and honestly, a little hurt. I had seen him in the store a few times but never talked to him, and thought he was kind of a cute guy (so much for that). Also, I figured because I was a fellow employee, I’d get treated with some degree of friendliness and familiarity. Perhaps I am too sensitive for NYC. I fear that, like Bangkok, it will continue to harden me and make me quick to “protect myself” or “stand up for myself” which really translates to “lashing back” and “aggression” toward others.

I see it every day. People are arguing, fighting, and it’s obvious that sometimes it’s a person they know, and sometimes it’s a stranger. I think I’ve already relayed the time the woman on the subway lashed out at me for brushing against her bag as I was sitting down, and how I, pissed off at how people just constantly treat each other like dog shit, gave it right back to her. This is the problem. Anger begets anger. Aggression begets aggression. You don’t want to be the world’s doormat, so you let them know to leave you the FUCK alone! And in the end, I am afraid I will lose that piece of myself, maybe a little too sensitive for this town, but a part of me nonetheless that I cherish. Kind of makes me feel more human and less hopeless.

I guess I’m not totally immune though, the other day as I was approaching a subway entrance, I must have come upon the tail end of a typical confrontation, for as a man was descending into the station, a huffy woman shouted out, “Subway snob!” as she stomped off. I have to admit, I was dying to know what the hell that was all about. I’ve racked my brains trying to figure out what would induce her to shout out such a phrase, but I don’t come up with much.

One nice thing I got to do before I leave B&N, by the way, was submit a book for the “Staff Recommends” section. I feel very proud of that since I think the book, English Passengers by Matthew Kneale is fantastic and he’s a relatively unknown author in the U.S. I hope it sells! I hope people enjoy it and seek out more of his books as I did.