The Retail Blues

I write this while finishing the fifth consecutive day at work in a retail store. I've worked there since Christmas and I've got to be honest.. It is DRAINING. Yeah, there's the usual job gripes: Feet hurt from standing up all day, don't get paid enough, hours are too long, breaks are too short. That stuff, though, is easy. It comes with the territory of any job. However there's only one thing that really REALLY annoys me.. Customers.
Before I start let me say that I certainly don't mean all customers. Customer service is the best part of my job.. I enjoy helping people and I love it when someone leaves happy because of the assistance I gave them. The customers I'm referring to are the difficult, ignorant and aggressive people that I have to deal with on a daily basis. My proposal is that everyone on earth has to do a short, mandatory stint as a sales assistant in a clothes shop to learn some retail etiquette.. But I somehow don't think it's gonna catch on.
So here's some rules on how NOT to be that customer that every sales assistant hates.

• Politely ask for help if you need it. So that's no 'oi's' no clicking of fingers and no whistling. We are not dogs. It puts you on an already good footing if you simply say 'excuse me have you got a minute? I was looking for this in a different size/colour/fit/whatever'. 
• If you don't need help and staff ask if you're ok or need anything don't scowl or be rude to them. It's part of their job. You'd be quick to complain if you needed help and weren't approached.
• In the event of that particular shop not having the item you want don't blame the staff. It's not the end of the world that you can't have that new pair of shoes right this instant. Accept it as one of life's mild annoyances.. Like rain on a Saturday.
• When rifling through clothes on the rack keep in mind that the mess you make will eventually have to be cleaned up. That top that fell off the hanger won't miraculously jump back on and that dress you placed on a rail full of trousers won't somehow walk back to it's allocated spot. Yes it is a sales assistant's job to do such things and we will do it.. But it shows a distinct lack of respect to have no regard for that fact. If you were in a fast food restaurant you'd clear your table - It's the same principle.
• Remember that we WANT to help you. It makes our days go much quicker when we have a creative task such as picking your outfit for your work night out. This, again, is within reason. Asking for every shoe in stock in a size 8 because you can't decide crosses that line.
• SMILE!!!!

Trouble In Egypt

Two days ago, stories filled the pages of every newspaper in the country of the riots in Egypt; We saw scenes of vehement civilians running through the streets showing their defiance against their political leader. One man steadfastly held his position in front of a huge tank which looked as though it would have had no problem swiftly crushing him. Another climbed up and tore into a colossal canvas poster of the Eqyptian Prime Minister Hosni Mubarak and plumetted to the ground in a positively cringe-worthy fall.
Most Westerners have been conditioned into believing that when Muslim communities come out in their droves to protest about something it is usually to oppose American or British interference. We picture hysterical radicals chanting in Arabic and shrieking and hollering wildly, cars being set on fire and naive young children following their parents into the dangerous crowd. It may be stereotypical but this is all we have seen from the news coverage of Muslim countries. We fear Eastern nations as we know them to have different values and very different rules about what is right and wrong.
Yet, I could not help but feel wholly proud after seeing this coverage, and also astounded at my own level of ignorance and small-mindedness. Here were well educated, well informed individuals speaking rationally about their struggle for democracy and why they were revolting against Mubarak's three decade regime. No shrieking or hysterical behaviour whatsoever; just young and old alike coming together for democracy - something we Westerners hold so dearly in our own countries.
Furthermore, women and men were involved. It's so easy to think that Muslim cultures treat women as second class citizens because they are 'forced' to wear burkhas and seemingly not encouraged into education. However these women i saw were speaking with the utmost intelligence and the burkhas only served to show that they themselves were preserving their decorum and dignity so as not to be objectified as mere female bodies (which is unlike most of us British women can say for ourselves).
I was impressed with a wise and richly cultured people and i felt truly ashamed that i, like many others, had held unjustified preconceptions about predominantly Muslim cultures. I think what is needed more than anything in these uncertain times between the east and west is education. Education about how others live their lives, about the people behind the dictators and about the similarities we share. Otherwise, i fear it could be too late for us to reconcile our behaviour - and i feel strongly that half of the world is too many people to alienate ourselves from.

UCAS

It's university applications time and stress has inevitably ensued. Mine was sent on Christmas day (only to add to the abject bleakness of that particular day) and I have, so far, received one reply - a rejection. Needless to say I'm completely downcast. 

• Granted it was a huge stretch of the imagination expecting to get in anyway with grades well below the entry requirements. 
• Granted I can't afford to pay for an English uni as well as the cost of living in London. #
• Also granted I have attachments here in Scotland and I wouldn't leave certain people here for anything. 

But that still doesn't take away from the fact that it is a rejection. They still don't want me there; I am still not good enough for them. I just get angrier and sadder. On the upside though, I was on the online forum 'The Student Room' and was looking through a couple of general threads about UCAS offers. Basically, some of the people on that site (most of whom have gained conditionals) are a few sandwiches short of a picnic. Surely if they can get in somewhere then someone like me who has, at least, a grain of common sense can. And if not, then I wouldn't want to be there anyway ;). 

My Addiction

I'm back on it again, the form of musical heroin that keeps me awake at nights. It's The Cribs, the band which i will never have enough of. The title of this blog explains it all.. That underlying anger at the world which makes many a decent band into iconic figures. The thing I love the most about The Cribs (apart from the obvious great music) is the fact that they are working class. It's a silly thing iIknow, but if you're familiar with the indie scene at the moment you'll be aware of the fact that there is A LOT of well off-perfectly presented-decked out in all the Topman their artist parents could afford bands singing about.. Well not very much if I'm honest. The Cribs are my choice because they show their disdain freely for jumped-up scenesters who obviously spend about 6 hours a day in front of their bathroom mirror. They actually remind me of myself in some ways: My English teacher HATES to like me. She is part of the literary set who have nasal voices and won't read Welsh because it's not good enough for 'them'. I entered her advanced higher class and she obviously wanted me gone immediately. With my working class accent and lack of desire to enter Oxbridge higher education, she took one look at me and said 'unintelligent'. This was until she read my pieces.. Still she critiques them so much harder than the rest of the class. So I fight back, iIdo what the Cribs do.. I get better every time, just to show her that I AM smart enough to be there, I CAN show up the rest of the class and there is no way that my background affects the quality of my work, it in fact enriches it because I've got more life experience than anyone there ('born in the same expensive house they live in now, dad's a GP, mummy's a full-time housewife' children). The Cribs are my working class heroes, who inspire me to defend myself by always being better. In years to come when I meet that teacher again I'll be glad to say that however I've turned out at least i didn't get there because of my posh accent and wad of cash.. I worked fucking hard for everything i have.

Kwilliam?

So.. The most politically correct young couple in the country have finally announced their engagement. Good for them! There's all this talk, especially where i live in Scotland about how we shouldn't have a royal family. My view on the subject is that getting rid of the royals would be like banning tartan in Scotland. They cost what is, essentially, a pittance of the taxpayers' money and bring in an enormous amount of revenue in tourism. We spent 105 BILLION on welfare this year compared to the queen's estimated spending of £14million. Tourism contributes £76 billion to the economy with this coming, in the main, from London (home of her majesty herself). Let's weigh that up shall we? I say we wish Kate and Wills the best of luck for the future and enjoy a day off of work on their wedding day instead of prattling on about nonsense.