The Robos

So we have this hamster that's up for adoption.
Because a while ago he got his foot caught in the wheel and spent like a month with the leg in a cast.
It healed...but now he walks rather funny.

So we have him up for adoption so he can go to a good home.

And today I had two different customers indicate that they wanted him.

Only they didn't 'want' him.
They wanted a hamster.
Specifically his type of hamster which is a robo dwarf.

And since the hamster is up for adoption, that means that we have no return policy for him if things don't work out.

And knowing that a lot of people are buying pets for funsies currently.
I wanted to make sure he would go to a good home that would still be able to take care of him when the crazy goes away.

The first customer was getting a hamster for their sibling as a gift.

So I redirected them to a different robo dwarf cage.
As I don't think it's a good idea to give a 'special' hamster to someone as a gift if they're not expecting it. 

The second customer was a family with a child who were eager to have a pet...but struck me as first time pet owners and therefore, probably weren't prepared to care for a 'special' hamster.

So again, I redirected them to a different robo dwarf cage --actually the same cage as before as when it became empty I brought out another hamster to take it's spot. And then ended up bringing out another hamster to fill the spot again when I sold the second one.

So yah.
Sold two hamsters.
But avoided adopting out the adoptable hamster to ill-prepared pet parents.

Hopefully the adoptable hamster will find his forever home soon.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Bitten

I wasn't present for this.
I mean. I was in the store.
But I was in the back and didn't hear what happened until after everything.

My Manager got bit by a dog today.

Which working in a pet store...it's not like....one of those 'shocker' moments. 
Except it is.

It's super rare for us to get bitten by dogs in the store (unless you're in grooming, than that is more likely) because we're careful. 

No one wants to get bit after all.

From my understanding some idiot walked into the store with his dog off leash.

Which is against our policy. Dogs have to be on a leash for safety reasons. 

And had apparently been told like twice that his dog needed to be put on a leash.

Which is when my manager approached.

I'm not quite sure what happened...as they were tripping over their words. But I think they went over to tell him to put a leash on his dog? And he asked my manager to help him with something? Something involving the dog?? As it put my manager within reach the dog's teeth as when they got in range...the dog attacked and bit my manager on the arm. 

It looked crazy. Like the bite itself wasn't as bad as it could have been. But it did draw blood and bruised the arm and it like immediately swelled up. 

But in the aftermath of trying to deal with the bite...

The dude just left before the rest of us could stop him as we didn't immediately know what had happened.  
He left with his dog.
Didn't stick around.
Like a panicking coward he left. (probably in hopes in avoiding getting in trouble) 

But like. Jokes on him.
Because we have cameras in our store. And witnesses. 
So hopefully the police will be able to track him down as yes we did call the police since the customer left and my maanger was bleeding from a bite wound.

*exhales* I'm just....annoyed.
Annoyed that the guy lost all common sense and didn't listen to us when he was told to put a leash on his dog. 
All this could have been avoided.

I hope they catch him.
Because it was awful seeing my manager shaking and in tears after the incident. 
But thankfully we were able to get her to a clinic to get her bite treated and such.

*exhales*
Crazy. Just crazy.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Repeating Myself Far Too Much

It's a known fact that customers don't know how to read.

But it sure gets irritating when they prove that fact to be true.

I had a family come into the store (which WHY leave your kids HOME) wanting to buy fish (because the kids wanted them) for their 36 gallon tank.

Except the family had no idea what they doing.
No knowledge of fish---or very little as they did say they had a smaller tank (though I am wondering if that was a lie just by the questions they were asking.) 

In any case.

The first fish they pointed out that they wanted was a koi fish.

Which since those fish can get a good 3 feet full grown.
Putting them in a dinky 36 gallon tank is NOT recommended.

No at bare minimum it needs to be a 50 gallon if not a 75.

And the customer was like "Okay."
And the proceeded to point to the tank right above the koi tank they originally pointed to and were like "Then we'll take one of these instead."

....Which.
I do have to wonder...if the fish in that tank look EXACTLY THE SAME as the ones in the tank below it...with the ONLY difference being the SIZE of the fish. 
You'd think that they would be the same type of fish.

But no.
The customer proceeded to do that to FOUR of our Koi tanks before being like "Okay which tank holds the goldfish then?!"

Like dude.
Just read the signs?
We do have picture tags on our fish tanks that TELL you exactly what type of fish are in that tank.
Seriously you just have to take two seconds to read the tags to know what fish there are.

But Nooooooo.

And like...not only did the customer end up completely bypassing the two columns of fantail goldfish tanks that they originally wanted.

But they went straight to the cichlids.
*exhales*
Which are considered to be our agressive fish.
AKA fish that can and will KILL other fish.

And like a repeat of the Koi tanks.
The customer proceeded to point to like three or four other cichlid tanks. 
*exhales*
Like dude.
LISTEN TO ME.

It was a nightmare having to deal with this customer because I honestly felt like I was just a fly buzzing by their ear.
Whatever I was saying either wasn't being comprehended...or it was going in one ear and out the other.

Because even when I was like "Hey you got 6 fish you don't want to get any more this time around."
The customer was like "I want this fish too."

Like dude...are you trying to prove something? 
Because whatever you think you're trying to prove, you're not proving anything other than you're an egotistical jerk.

Listen to the workers. 
Especially if you have no idea what you're doing when it comes to fish.

It was honestly one of the more frustrating conversations I've had with customers.
Because like...I really don't need to repeat myself over a dozen times if you would just actually listen to what I'm saying. 
*exhales*

Yah.
I got super frustrated with this customer.
Super frustrated.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Stay Home

I do get it.
I truly do.
That people who are stuck at home all day are looking for a companion to keep them entertained/company while the virus is running rampant all over the world.

But at the same time.
I don't understand why people decide that "Now" of all times that they "Need" a pet.

Like. 
The "Stay Home" concept means that unless you NEED something like food for a pet you already have...there should be no reason for you to be coming into the pet store otherwise.

Like yes you want a pet.
Yes you want a companion.
For now.

But what about when this 'work from home' period ends? When you're going back into the office five days a week. When you'll have less time around your pet.
Will you still want it then??

*exhales*

Honestly, I expect after things return to 'normal' that we'll be getting a lot of calls from customers who no longer want their pets wanting to know if we'll take them back.

I'm not looking forward to that.

But seriously.
Just because you're bored...doesn't give you a reason to come into the pet store.
Don't risk your life or other people's lives by trying to get a pet for your temporary enjoyment.

Stay home.
Stay home unless you need food for a pet you already have.
This isn't the time to be wanting a pet. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

The Cardboard Cat Scratchers

I had an older customer come into the store today (which WHYYYY Stay HOME) looking for some replacement inserts for a cardboard cat scratcher he had. 

Unfortunately...I only had one 2pack of the corrugated cardboard insert in the size he needed.
Which wouldn't have been that big of a deal...except the cardboard was on a buy one get one half off deal. 

And since we only had one....it made it hard to get a second one at half off. 

However, we also had a bunch of the premade cardboard scratchers in stock. And they two were on the same sale.
So that if he bought one at the $10 price. He could get a second one for half off. Aka meaning he was spending around $15 on the two.

While the single 2 pack was $16.50. 

But the customer didn't want to buy the premade ones ---well he did but he wanted the inserts as well. And so asked if we could give him a discount on the single 2 pack since we couldn't do the half off sale for that product.

*shakes head* I don't get people. Like...some are so insistent to get things at a reduced price....and honestly I'm like "This...this is the hill you choose to die on?" Like dude. Just go buy the already made ones and call it a day. 

But being the good worker I am, I went to check in with a manager to see. And they said that we could give the dude a 25% discount. 

So I came back to tell the customer that and they were like "25%?! I could get two of these for cheaper than that!" 

Which...I was skeptical but sure whatever dude.

And so the customer chose to buy 4 of the premade cardboard scratchers.
Which probably cost him around $30??

When...buying one 2 pack...would have cost him like around $12? instead of the original $16.50 price?

So if he bought 2 of the premade at $15 and the inserts at $12 and spent like three dollars less.... *shakes head* 

Customers are weird. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

A New Head

My managers have been having like...near daily meetings currently.
Just going over the ever changing dynamics of how the store is being run.
As like every day there's changes.

This morning we put up signs tell customers that unless they're planning to purchase an animal today...we won't let the customers hold them. 

Because it's hard to keep your social distance if you have to be near the customer to let them hold the pet.

But like I also heard that we're going to set down tape marking six feet distances in crowded places.
Like the area around our cricket podium and such.

To prevent customers from crowding around us.
Though that hasn't been much of an issue in the mornings....I don't know how crazy it can get in the evenings.

However.
The good news of the meeting today.
As I happened to take my lunch break while the managers were having their meeting in the break room.

Is that we've finally hired a new Head Manager!
Woot!

Which is great. Because like...we've been without a head manager for over a month now. *shakes head*
Definitely a bad time to be without one of those though our VP Manager has been doing a good job of keeping everyone on track and such.

Still.
It will hopefully be good to officially have a Head Manager back in the store. 

Though it is slightly...complicated.

As if things go well...we'll be able to officially have them in the store come Monday....

But things may not go well. As there needs to be background checks and a couple other official things done before this person can become our official head manager.

And with the courts being closed....it may not happen for a bit.

Still. 
We'll see.

Hopefully this person meshes well with us.

I mean, I met them briefly when the DM brought them by a bit ago and they seemed alright.
But a two second greeting does make it difficult to judge a person.

So we'll see.
Hopefully it's good.
Hopefully.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Rescheduling?

I do wonder...how contacting all our customers is going.

As with the canceling of our Dog Training Classes and Our Grooming Services for the foreseeable future of at least two weeks if not longer....

I do wonder how long it will take our Dog Trainer and our Groomers to contact all the customers who wanted to do classes or groom their dogs and tell them that they have to cancel their appointments and reschedule for another time.

It's probably going to be a lengthy process....or else they're just hoping that the customers will read the emails stating those services are cancelled....

(which customers don't know how to read so idk how well that's working out)

But it does feel like a lot of my calls today at work involved customers asking about our Training and Grooming services.

*exhales*

Some of them were rather understanding of the situation.
Others seemed completely clueless. 

I had one customer who wanted to know when she could get her dog rescheduled for a groom.

And like.
*shrugs*
We don't know.

We don't know how long the salon is going to be closed. 

It all really just depends on how well people can listen to directions. Stay Home. And let the Virus run it's course with as little deaths as possible.

But until it's deemed safe to have strangers in close contact with each other again...
Who knows when we'll start up those services again.

I mean, our public school have postponed having students come back to class until the first of May. And that's like..six weeks away.

So we'll see.
There's still so much information coming in.
So many changes still occurring.

It's hard to know.
Just how all of it will play out in the end.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Info Dump

I had a couple of repeat customers come into the store.
In that I'd interacted with them a couple of weeks ago when they were first setting up their tank.
But they'd returned in order to return a molly that was being aggressive to their other fish.

In the process they wanted to get a different molly in hopes that that one would be a better friend to their other fish.

But they were also interested in getting something else that could help with their tank as they were experiencing a bit of cloudy water -which is common for brand new tanks-- and were thinking that they needed to get a catfish or a snail to see if that would help clear things up--I think they were thinking too much food on the bottom of the tank was causing the cloudiness??

I'm not sure.

As as we were talking over the snails...
Another customer standing nearby...jumped into the conversation.

They're one of those 'fish enthusiasts' that are obsessed with their fishtanks and want other people to succeed in their aquarium maintenance.

Though I do wonder if this customer was just feeling the effects of the "stay home" quarantineesque thing going on currently and was just looking for an excuse to have a conversation with someone as they had a bit of a...crazed energy to them.

an "I haven't spoken to anyone in six days!" sort of energy. 

And the customer basically went off on the other customers talking about pros and cons and explaining different processes and such--and like I tried to find a way to let the two customers take their fish and leave without having to twenty minutes of instruction--but unfortunately a different customer needed my help before I could distracted the obsessive customer with their own need to get more snails for their tank.

But yah.
I'm pretty sure the obsessed customer gave the two newbies quite the crash course of information that I could tell left them feeling a bit overwhelmed and wondering just what they'd gotten themselves into.

*exhales*

Honestly.
It's a fine line I have to walk with customers.
As I have a ton of knowledge on fish and how to care for their tanks and proper set ups and such.
But I also recognize that many customers don't want to go crazy and have to 'care' for their tank. They're looking for a lower maintenance thing or else they're on a budget and can't afford to get everything then and there.

And I often take the "less is more" approach.
As I feel like the "more" you try and "do" for your tank...the more problems you end up having and more money you spend trying to 'fix' it.

Thankfully I was able to catch up with the two newbies and do a quick "Yes that's all important, but this is probably what you definitely need, wait on the other stuff" and also "you don't necessarily need "this" stuff" sort of quick conversation.

As the other customer was wanting them to buy like another $50 worth of stuff. 
And I was like "Okay you probably need this bacteria starter to help with the cloudy water but wait on the other stuff." And sent them on their way.

Because.
Yes.
There is a ton of stuff you can buy for your tank.
but there's no need to overwhelm new fish owners right away.
And if you set up the tank slowly...oftentimes you don't need half the stuff anyways.

-Sarnic Dirchi

In the Filters

I found a leech in our filter system today.

Which is like...the second...or maybe the third? Time we've found a leech in the system.

The last one I remember is when a coworker discovered one hanging out on one of our aquatic turtles. Not sure if we had one before that point. And that was like...maybe a year or so ago??

In any case.
This morning when I was switching out the filter pads in the back, I noticed as I was placing a new pad in that there was this thick streak of brown -that at first I thought was just like...food waste. But a closer glance told me it may be something different.
Something alive.

So I poked it.

Sure enough. It had the feel of something alive. 

So I grabbed a pair of tongs as I was already kinda thinking it may be a leech of some sort.

And getting a cup of water, urged the thing into the cup so I could see it better.

Yep.
Definitely a freshwater leech. 

Not quite sure how it got into our tanks.
Or how long it's be hanging around....

Like it could be as recently as under 24 hours as I did get in a turtle yesterday and the last time we saw a leech was with our turtles....
But it could have been in our system far longer too...it's hard to know.

Sucker is a bigger one though. Like a good two inches, nearly 3 inches maybe when it's stretched out. 

I ended up taking it home with me. Mostly because my Daddoo wants to keep it as a pet. So I bought the leech a temporary home and placed some aquatic snails in there for it to munch on...and we'll see if it survives long enough for me to take it up to him. 

But yah.
That was a cool different discovery for the day.

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Natural Disaster

You never really think about what you'd do in a disaster...if it occurred at your job. 
Like you're there.
And something happens.

Then what?

I had that today.
When an Earthquake struck when I was working.
Thankfully the epicenter was in a different valley.
But it did shake the walls and rattle the lights here.

And I just had to look around.
And wonder.
Where would I be safe to take shelter?
Where could I go in the store to be safe in the middle of an earthquake.

What would I do after the shaking stopped?
Like.
If there was major damage to the store.

I kinda think I'd go check on the animals.
Especially the fishwall.
And make sure that no fish were like...on the ground or in empty tanks or something.

But it's hard to know.
What exactly you'd do in a disaster.

If we'd even be allowed to stay in the building.
If we'd be allowed to rescue the pets.

It's hard to know.
Until you're in the situation.

Hopefully I'm not in a major situation like that.
But now I do have that thought in the back of my mind.

What if.

-Sarnic Dirchi

You Still Open?

It actually felt more normal at work today.
In that Tuesdays are usually slow days.
And today was a slow day.

Though I'm pretty sure it was slow more because many people are avoiding coming in to do the social distancing thing. 

And most (not all) of the customers that did come in were coming in because they needed to get supplies for their pets. 

If you didn't know there was a pandemic going on...today was one of those days where you'd think it was pretty normal. If not slightly more dead than normal.

But it's the phone calls that tell a different tale.

As practically every call I answered on the phone involved the customers either a) asking if we were open/what our hours were. Or b) If our shelves were empty/if we still had dog food. 

Which our shelves still have plenty of food on them for the most part. Like we always have food that runs out no matter what the day.

But overall, most of the product we had bags on the shelf. There were a few brands that were thinner than other brands in being stocked up.

We're not like the grocery stores though. We're not running on empty.

And our hours?
Unchanged.
Still opening and closing at the same times as usual.
For now.

And I've been told that we're an "essential retailer" because we provide food for animals. So yah. Not much is expected to change for us.

So hopefully that helps customers not panic...at least as much. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Guppy!

It was one of those trend days. 
Where for whatever reason, the thought came into multiple people's minds...to get the same thing.

Today.
It was guppys.
Which since we're in the middle of like...a pandemic...it is weird how many people are coming in to buy pets still.

I had four customers in a row who wanted guppys.
But not like any guppys.
As we carry like....twelve different varieties of guppies (different colors) 

And for whatever reason.
Each customer wanted either a Platinum (white) guppy. Or a Red Tuxedo (red tail black body) guppy. Or even both. 
And it's just....weird.

To have to catch the same fish for different people.
It's a weird trend.

Like why those guppies.
Why those two colors.
*shakes head*
Who knows. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Hoarding

I kept getting calls today.
With customers asking if I had certain products in stock.
Most of the time I could say yes.
Sometimes I had to say No.

I put a few of them on hold.

It's just...crazy.
How differently people have been acting.
How tense they've been.

And I'm so grateful that the pet store isn't like the grocery stores.
Where our shelves are still filled with food and supplies for the animals.
Where we're not running low on things (yet) 
Where while we do have some people panic buying, they're not hording things (yet) 
allowing there to be food enough for all. 

It's just....a weird time.

-Sarnic Dirchi

One of Those Days

It's one of those Thursday Mornings that ends up being busier than other Thursday mornings.

Like I had a customer throw open the doors to our stores like fifteen minutes before we open going "Your doors aren't opening!" 
Well duh. We aren't open yet customer. Just because you show up at the doors doesn't mean they'll automatically open for you if we aren't open yet. *shakes head*

But it's also the case where the crazy about this Virus thing is kicking in and I'm having to field phone calls where people are asking if we have certain brands of things in stock so that they can come buy it for their pets. 

Let alone seeing all the people beginning to come into the store wearing masks and such.

It's just...been one of those crazy Thursdays and I can only guess it will be slightly more crazy this weekend. 
But we'll see. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Field Trip

We had a class come into the store today, young kids like age 3-5 years old.

Which is a common occurence for us as petstores are a rather popular destination around here to take kids to. *shakes head* Not sure why. Probably inexpensive and nearby? 

In any case.

Today's group were notable in that all the kids were deaf/hoh. 

Which was awesome because that meant that I could use my ASL skills and sign a bit to them. ^^;; 

So I spent like an hour, showing them the snakes and lizards and fish and guinea pigs and such. Picking up a couple new signs that I didn't know, and just, having fun using my sign language to chat with the teachers and parents who'd come with the kids to see the animals. :D 

It was fun.

Fun to see how the kids reacted to touching different animals and their various textures. ^^;; 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Another Nightmare Customer

-__- 
*exhales*
We've unleashed another nightmare customer.

So Sunday I had a customer come into the store right? To buy 4 large Oranda Goldfish.

I didn't think much of it.
Because again, if you're buying that many large goldfish for over $100 total...I would expect you would know what you were doing.

Apparently not.

Because yesterday I saw this customer not once, but twice while I was on the clock.

The first time they came in wanting to get a filter for their tank.

....Which....I would have expected if you were buying over $100 worth of fish....you would have had the tank set up and ready and running.

But after establishing how big of a tank the customer had I showed them the appropriate sized filter and off they went to buy it.

Only to have them come back in a couple of hours later.
This time to get bags of gravel.
But not like the 50lbs that they would need for their tank.
No they only bought like 10lbs. 

And like...it wasn't that bad of an interaction.
it's just stressful for me, because again, there's a language barrier between me and this customer. So our communication takes place via a translator app on the customer's phone. 

And it's just...stressful, mostly because I can't tell what emotion they're actually feeling as from the tone of their voice when they speak they sound rather upset/angry and yet...I'm not sure they are or if it's just how the language sounds?? Not sure.

In any case.
....they came back in again today. *exhales*

And I almost managed to avoid them.
As my manager was helping them and I was just passing by to grab paperwork to do a sale on a couple of hamsters when the customer snagged me into the conversation as they recognized me as the one who's been helping them.

Which sucked because I was literally off right then and just trying to finish the hamster sale and then go clock out.

But no.
This customer ended up making me clock out 15 minutes late. And I didn't even figure out exactly what they were trying to ask/get/need before another coworker came over to take over for me so that I could leave.

I don't even know exactly what they were after.
Like from when I was talking to them they were complaining that the filter that they bought yesterday had made the water all cloudy. And they didn't like that. But like...that's normal for brand new fish tanks to have the water be murky for up to a month until things settle down. 
But they were wanting the water to be as clear as our fish tanks in the store. 
Which the customer wasn't understanding that our tanks didn't get like that overnight. The system has been set up for like 20 years if not longer and we change our filters every single day. So that's why the water looks clear. It took work. 
But the customer was insistent that they wanted their fish tank water to look exactly like ours.
So I showed them some "accu-clear" that could help but I told them that it doesn't always.
And like they were like "I already bought two other chemicals to treat my tank why do I need a third!"
Because the other two chemcials won't clear your cloudy water that's why. XP 

We hadn't come to a solution when I left.
But I've had word that the customer ended up buying a completely new tank to take home.

Which how they got from cloudy water to brand new tank I have no idea.
*shakes head*

I am hoping that I won't see them tomorrow though.
Because after having to deal with them four times in the past three days I'm just dreading having to interact with them again if they do come into the store.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Few Crickets Big Need

Gotta love those days when you're low on crickets.
Because like...maybe you'll be able to make it through the day without running out.
Especially if customers don't need crickets today.
Or if they only need small quantities under like 20 each or something.

Maybe. Just maybe we could eke it out until our Cricket Shipment comes in.

Or not.

Because of course the first customers I help in the morning are people wanting a ton of small crickets.
Small crickets that we don't really have many of.

And the first customer wanted me to bag them up 80 small crickets.

Which when I was pretty certain I only had like maybe 200ish left...is a lot of crickets.

And then the second customer came in.
And wanted 76 crickets.

*exhales*

Which meant that I probably only had like...maybe 50 or at most a 100 crickets left for the rest of the day...and we'd only been open for like maybe an hour. 

Not. 
Good.

*shakes head*

Why do the customers need the big amount of crickets right when you don't have that many??

-Sarnic Dirchi

Big Orandas

Had a customer come in the store today wanting to buy our Large Oranda Goldfish.
But not just one of them.
They wanted four of them.

Which is kinda crazy because those goldfish are over $30 each so the customer basically dropped like $120 on four fish in the blink of an eye.

But the other notable thing of that particular conversation was that the customer didn't speak any English.
So they were using their phone to translate their words into English and then I would use their phone to translate my words into their language.

It was rather cool. Like it's amazing how far technology has come so that we can use it to help us communicate through the language barrier. 

Hopefully the customer enjoys their new fish. 

Matchy Matchy

So this morning right as we opened the doors--well actually they were waiting outside before we opened the doors, a family of three -parents and their child-walked into the store.

Which wouldn't have been that notable -beyond me thinking them weird for waiting outside a pet store first thing in the morning- except the family were all wearing matching black jackets. 
But not only were they all wearing those matching black jackets but they were also sipping from matching cups -like the kind you use to drink hot chocolate or coffee- at the same time.

So this family of three.
Walks into the store.
Wearing matching jackets.
Sipping from their Styrofoam cups.
All at the same time.

It was...different.
Like I'm not even sure if they bought anything.
It's like they woke up this morning and were like "let's go grab drinks and go wander the pet store right when it opens!"

*shakes head*
People are weird. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

On a Leash

So our store has this policy where if dogs come into the store they need to be on a leash or contained in some way. 

But not every customer knows that--or realizes it. So we do occasionally find dogs wandering around the store by their owners without a leash on. 
To which we then offer the customer a temporary leash for them to use.

Some people are grateful for it.

A lot of people are annoyed by it.

Because they think that their dog is "well trained" and therefore doesn't need a leash because the dog will come to them when called.

*shakes head*
It's like the customers don't realize that life exists outside of them and their dog.
There are people with allergies who come into the store.
There are people who are afraid of dogs who come into the store.
There are people with dogs who are timid and scared of other dogs who come into the store.
There are people with dogs who can be aggressive to other dogs that come into the store.
There are people with brand new puppies that they don't yet know how to handle that come into the store.

Needless to say.
We have the policy to help protect all people, dogs, and other creatures that come into the store.
Because while you may think your dog is 'well trained' other dogs are not. And your dog may not be as well trained as you think it is. 

So we say all dogs must be on a leash.
To help keep everyone safe.

In any case.
This morning as I was walking through the dog food section I noticed that a woman had her dog nearby her...but she didn't have a leash.
So I politely offered to grab a leash for her dog.
To which she responded "He's on a leash." 
And gestured to the dog that had a little handle leash on it.
A leash that the customer was not HOLDING.

Which it's kinda implied that if a dog has to be on a leash...that the customer needs to be holding the other end of the leash. Because it's pointless if the dog has a leash that isn't being held if the dog gets into trouble. *exhales*

I was like "Okay."
And moved on.
But the customer headed back deeper into the store to where I knew my manager was.
And my manager too brought up the fact that the customer's dog had to be on a leash.

But my manager further clarified that the customer needed to be holding the leash because it's Policy that dogs are on a leash for everyone's safety. 

I don't know how the customer responded to that.
But I did see them walking up to the register holding the dog's tiny little loop lead leash thing. 

Apparently.
The customer was not happy.
As she basically blew up at my cashier.

Asking like "Do you have dog training classes here? Do those classes play hide and seek? Where the owners hide and the dog has to find them?" -Which Yes, No. And No.
"Then WHY? Do i have to have my dog on a leash! He's well trained! I have this particular training collar on him and he listens so well to me and I can walk around in OTHER stores without him on a leash." etc etc. And basically ended up with her threatening to take her business elsewhere.

*rolls eyes* 
Go ahead lady. Go ahead. Go elsewhere. As we have to consider the safety of all our animals and it is an official policy in the company that all dogs must be on a leash which implies the owner must be holding the leash. 

*exhales*
But like.
Some people.
They think the world must revolve around them.

But the kicker was that she said her dog was well trained right?

Well my cashier said that it took the customer multiple attempts to get the dog to obey her commands. Like it took her four times telling her dog to come before he would come to her.

...That's not well trained at all lady. *shakes head*

-Sarnic Dirchi

Fish Tank Buddy

My fish tank buddy came into the store today. :D
The older gentleman that also bought a 125 gallon tank and decorated it exactly how I had it decorated in the store and only ever put like 14 fish into the tank, one for each granchild.

Yep. My fish tank buddy came into the store today!! :D 
I have to say I was so excited to see his friendly smiley face as I see him like...maybe twice a year? Maybe?

So to have him walk into the store?
Oh yes I was excited!!

He wasn't coming in for fish though. Nope still quite happy with the ones he has.
But he was going on vacation and wanted to know what he could feed his fish in the meantime. 

So I showed him the vacation feeders and made sure he got the right ones for the amount of time he would be gone. 
And after answering a couple other questions.
Sent him on his way again.

But ah. I love seeing familiar faces. Especially ones that just leave you feeling happy afterwards. ^^;; So glad to see him.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Stocking Up

Had a customer come asking me if we had more containers of a specific type of cat litter in stock.
As we always seem to be super low on them.

Which they already had two containers of the cat littler needed in their cart....

But the customer was sounding rather...irritated. So I said I would go check it out (while wondering why they didn't stock up on a different cat litter like Tidy Cat that we have tons of) 

And in my search I discovered that we had one more container of their specific type of cat litter....
However...it was on the very bottom of a pallet that had just come off our truck that was like...stacked with stuff eight feet tall. *exhales* 

Knowing they already had two containers....and knowing that we had no easy way to get the litter off at that moment.

I told the customer that we had no more available currently. 

But apparently.
The reason why they were wanting to stock up on cat litter....

Is the exact same reason why the grocery stores have empty shelves of water bottles, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper.

People are preparing just in case the corona virus hits the state.

But like...
I don't see why they're wanting to prep on buying stuff for their pets....like it's like they're preparing for the apocalypse or something.

My cashier commented though that multiple people had told her today that that's why they were buying a bunch of food and stuff.

Just in case.

It's like...interesting.
Like cool on them to think to stock up for their pets as well as for themselves.

But I honestly think there's a lot of panic for well....very little reason.

Practice proper hygiene and I think most everyone will be fine.

-Sarnic Dirchi