#working retail

He asked for a bigger size of something for his meal, and I warned him it’ll be charged more because of this

(Context: Standard “Meal Deals” come with an optional dessert. You can “upgrade” it for $2 extra for a bigger dessert: However, anything bigger will be standard price plus anything extra you add on it)

He says “sure” and he pays and I give him a receipt. Keep in mind; I was already running the entire front register on my own and so many people were coming in (it was also hot as fuck in the building, so I’m getting nervous and cranky)

Guess who comes back? Yup, it’s the guy again.

He starts asking me why the dessert was extra pricing, and he was getting annoyed and pissed. I try to remind him, he keeps interrupting me and gets pissed as he barks at me, and then I get pissed off and tell him outright that he asked for this and that anything bigger than the usual “upgrade” will be more expensive.

Keep in mind, this was a middle aged guy who has teenage daughters in the same building and I’m roughly older than them. This dude is yelling at a younger employee over something he did.

Got my manager to come handle it as I try and hydrate in the back, because I was ten seconds away from losing my composure.

Oh and wanna know the craziest ending of this?

Dude comes back and apologizes for how he acted towards me.

I said it was fine; it’s all forgiven; so on so forth. But had he continued having an issue with me I really would have said

“Look, you asked for it, you got it. Deal with it. Move on.”

EDIT: I TRY AND TELL MY FRIEND ABOUT THIS SHIT AND I GET SMACKED DAB WITH “ok, but I got something better” and got shown more AI bullshit

WHAT THE FUCK???????? BRUH IM HURTING AND SORE, I WANT TO EXPRESS MY CRAZY WORK STORY AND ALL I GET IS MORE AI BULLSHIT!! 🥲

EDIT 2: Apparently it was to “cheer me up” and make me feel better after a work day by using my favorite characters and such.

UK folks: Boycott the book and stationery shop The Works

Here's why:

Before my previous job, the job I had before (in 2023) was at The Works. My very first job, years before that, was at a different branch of The Works when I was 18. So it's safe to say I've served my time in the trenches that are corporate retail. It is important to note that I'm a transgender man.

When I worked there - The Works proudly stocked Harry Potter merch. You name it. We sold it. We even had quotas for selling key items, such as bags for life, two designs of which were Harry Potter themed. We sold the books and paint your own Hogwarts Express and so much other terrible, terrible merch. But, having been on the front lines of retail in that place - that shit sold. Oblivious parents buying a plushie Harry Potter or Ron Weasley to give their 3 year old. A well meaning aunt buying the books and a Hermione keyring for her niece. And then of course you had actual Harry Potter fans who either didn't care about JK Rowling's views or were oblivious to them.

The point is - I know Harry Potter merch is sold in places other than The Works. Major supermarkets like Asda and Tesco etc. often stock the books and clothing merch in their stores. Even Lidl has Harry Potter merch in around Christmas. While it'd be nice if we could boycott all major supermarkets - this isn't practical for most people. People need to eat and buy groceries and due to a lack of major supermarket chains which don't stock Harry Potter merch, people have no choice but to shop at those supermarkets. But - The Works is not a supermarket. It is a perfect example of a shop that can be boycotted.

Even aside from them selling Harry Potter merch, The Works gets away with worker exploitation on a massive scale. I faced ableism that actively put me in physical danger at the branch near me when I worked there (story for another time - maybe if someone sends an ask I might talk about that story). But the fact that in order to survive and be paid, as a trans person I had to sell Harry Potter merch day in day out. It was gruelling and soul crushing. Every sale goes to JK Rowling - who has actively donated to the terfs who brought the case to the UK Supreme Court which has just taken away my - and all of my friends' rights.

That's why I'm calling for a boycott of The Works until they no longer stock Harry Potter merchandise.

If - and I'm aware it's a big if - if this boycott is successful, it will eat into the profits of The Works. The management of that company is so fucking money hungry they *will* notice, trust me, if their bottom line is being eaten into. If the management discovers that the reason for the drop in sales is because of their stocking of Harry Potter books and merch - they will be forced to consider not stocking them. (Still very sapient that this is a big if - but we have to try something - and this might just work. Even if it causes JK to lose some sales and have less cash - it's progress).

If you currently work at The Works - my advice to you. If you can, try and work somewhere else (big ask I know - and I know from experience it's not easy. That company doesn't care about you and even if you have nice managers (I didn't) if you need to interact with their higher-ups in any way you will be sorely disappointed to find they only care about you insofar as you make them money). If you can't work somewhere else - join a union NOW. I wasn't in a union when I had a whole bunch of illegal shit happen to me at work there and I wish I had been. I'd recommend Unite or Unison. Speaking from experience, regional managers will try to take it out on you if there's a drop in sales. But hold fast and don't let them bully you!

Thank you if you made it this far into the post 💜

Please reblog and share this - talk to people outside of tumblr about it. I'll get something more official out about this when I can - but for now I think one way we can protest the influence of JK Rowling in our lives as trans people is to hit her where it hurts - her wallet.

Goes without saying to boycott everything Harry Potter related in general too. If you already own merch. I don't care what you do with it. Just don't buy any more.