MLAARE -Scavenger Hunt

It's rather typical.
While I'm at work.
For there to randomly be a 'lunch time rush'
Rather odd, in the fact that we're a pet store...for people to come during 'lunch time'
But come they do.
At some point between 11-3pm there is a rush of people.
Most of them wanting fish.

Which was the case of today.
An hour before I was to get off my shift.
I got hit with a rush.

It wasn't the worst rush I experienced.
Mostly it was people getting fish, and they were taking forever to decide on what to get, or kept adding on fish they also wanted, or kept asking questions.
Which made it more time consuming, so people had to wait.
But they knew I was helping them as quickly as possible.
It's also difficult because during these rushes...I'm usually scheduled alone.
So there isn't somebody else to help me out.
*sighs*
Thankfully most of the time people are patient.

But today.
Was different.

Because it was a day where there was apparently a Scavenger Hunt. A Team Related Scavenger Hunt. Where each team (there had to be like 5 of them.) Were given a set of tasks and asked to complete them the fastest.

One of those tasks, apparently was to come to our PetStore.

The first I knew of them, was while I was in the middle of my fish rush.
And this crazy group of people came in.
Giving off the frenzied air.
Talking about fish.
I assumed they needed a fish.
But they asked me like three questions about the mollies and then rushed off with the words "Hurry, before the other team arrives!"
Which gave me the heads up...I'd be seeing another team of people soon.
And I assumed that they would be asking me similar questions.
Which are easy to answer while I'm catching and bagging fish.

So I was still in the middle of helping my fish customers.
When I got an overhead call to go to reptiles.
Busy with fish, I tried to get a manager to help these customers, as I was going to be a while longer, at least 10 minutes or so.
But everyone else was busy with customers as well. So these reptile customers had to wait.
As I was in the middle of helping one, and had two more to go after them before I'd be able to go help the customers with the reptiles.

I was in the middle of helping the second customer (with another after them.)
When a woman in pink comes up to me.
"Hi, is there anyone in the store that can help us?"
"You're with the reptiles?" I asked, figuring that was who was getting impatient.
"Yes."
I was right. "I'm sorry, I'm the only one here right now, I have two more customers to help with, and then I'll be right over."

"We're kinda in a hurry." She said, as if she's expecting me to drop everything and come right over. "We're on a scavenger hunt, we need to hold a snake, or a rat real quick and take a picture so we can get ahead of the other teams."
"I'm sorry, its going to be a while before I can get to you."
"Is there anything else we can do?"
"I know another group just asked me about fish."
"That's not what we have..."
"I'll be right over, I just have to help one more customer and I'll be with you."

So I rushed to help the last customer as quickly as I could.
Before going over to this group of scavengers.
To find that my manager had managed to get to them first.
But I still needed to help them quickly hold a snake (as they didn't get a picture of the girl holding a rat because the rat tried to jump away.)
Which I managed.

And there were TWO other scavenger groups along the animals as well.
I pictured a nightmare scene.
But thankfully, my manager told the other two groups: "No more holding the animals." So I didn't have to help them, which allowed me to go back over to the fish wall which had more customers waiting for me.

Ugh. Rushes.

In any case...
I find myself slightly irritated at the people who thought up this Scavenger hunt on a FRIDAY.
Seriously.
Fridays and Saturdays are the worst days to do such things.
Because we are busier on those days.
We don't always have time to humor people in their 'quests to hold animals.'
Unless they intend to buy, people who just want to 'look/hold/touch' are low on our priority list. If we're busy, we're less likely to allow people to just randomly hold the animals.
Especially when I'm by myself and in the middle of the rush.

I don't know why they decided to have one of the stops be a pet store.
I mean, its happened before.
And its quite easy. Answer a couple quick questions, let them hold an animal for thirty seconds. Walla, off they go and I'm free of them.

But the way the woman today, basically expected me to drop everything to go help her in her group's task....Bugged me a lot.
Yes. It's a game.
Yes its a competition.
But No. I'm not going to skip out on helping actual paying customers, in order to help people who may not ever come into the store again, for a possible chance to win a game that won't matter in the long run.... yah. Not high on my priority list.

I'm busy.
I'm by myself.
You can't expect me to not help customers.
You can't expect quick service when I have customers IN the store.
If they'd come earlier in the day.
I would have been fine with helping them.
I wouldn't have been busy with customers.
So I could have taken the time to cater to them.

But lunch time.
Bad time.

At least they were helped, and they seemed content to go onto their next task.

In the end.
I was just glad to get off work and away from the crazy.
Because the rush....was a rush, and they wear me out.

-Sarnic Dirchi