The Power Of Belief Won’t Get You Through This

Several years ago, I worked in a furniture store that was a nightmare. It was a single family-owned store, and I have suspicions that they didn’t care too much about the store itself, just what they could use it for with certain financial activities.

One Sunday, the power goes out. It takes a bit, but we finally get the notice from the utility company that it’s out for the entire business complex and they don’t think we’re going to get it back until later that night, if not the next morning. We beg the manager to let us close and just go home, but she refuses because we still might get a sale. Thankfully, it’s early summer, so light and heat are not a problem. I try to point out a couple of things that are problems.

Me: “I can’t run any sales through because the credit card machines are down. Because we have no power.”

Manager: “We take cash or a check.”

Me: “First, no one carries $1,000-plus in cash unless they know they’re spending it, and second, no one really uses checks anymore. Third, I can’t process financing applications, either, because we have no power.”

Manager: “We stay open.”

Me: “Okay, but I can’t submit any orders because the computer won’t turn on because we have no power.”

Manager: “You submit it tomorrow! We stay open!”

She then stormed off. We did get one customer who wanted to make a purchase, but my manager wouldn’t let me call them the next day to run the card then. No, she wanted me to write down all of their credit card information on a sticky note and just enter it in the morning. The customer wasn’t comfortable with that — I don’t blame them — and left. We then got yelled at for letting the customer walk. On the upside, the power did finally come back — right as we were locking up for the night.

I’m so glad I got away from that place.