Those Darn Kids....

Yesterday was a fairly interesting day and I believe it revealed to me why America's economy is unstable. The reason is companies are not hiring the right people to meet the customers nor are they training them.

Here are my reasons.

Case #1: I went into a Home Depot to get two replacement pull down blinds. I bought with me a pull down blind from another window which was the EXACT length that I needed. I picked out two blinds and asked if someone could cut them to length. The service rep said she did not know how to work the machine but would page someone. Within a few minutes, a teenager showed up who said he could cut my blinds. He measured my existing blind with a ruler and put one of the new blinds in the machine. He quickly cut the blind but could not figure out how to place the "end cap" back into the blind. He struggled with that piece for 10 minutes. Now, I have had blinds cut before and actually remembered how to use the machine properly from observing the previous person so I gently instructed the young man on how to get the piece back in. We then stood the new blind up and it was off by about two inches. He turned red face and said he would get another blind. Again, he measured and cut but was still off. After retrieving yet another blind I suggested we STAND the new one next to the one I brought in and use a marker to mark off the cutting area. That worked! Now, during this time I never lost my temper nor did I get short with the poor kid, I actually felt sorry for him that he had not been given proper training and was having to go through this WITH A CUSTOMER. I thanked him and left.

Case #2: On the way back, I stopped by a CARMAX to look at a Honda Pilot. I had been thinking of getting a replacement car for my wife and I like the look of the Honda Pilot. I had never been in a CarMax before so I was looking forward to this. I walked in, an eager young man came up and introduced himself. I explained that I had seen a car on their web site, he quickly and efficiently pulled the vehicle up on his terminal and walked me to it. We opened the car up and I began asking questions.

Question Number One: Does this car have the cylinder de-activation feature or was that only introduced in 2006.

Car Salesman: Uhm, uh, I think this is a six cylinder.

Question Number Two: Is this an All Wheel Drive or a Front Wheel Drive only?

Car Salesman: Uhm, uh, I think it is four wheel drive.

Question Number Three: What is the towing capacity?

Car Salesman: I think it can tow a boat...

Again, I could only shake my head at this. I know that 'CarMax' is the Walmart of the car dealerships and you are taking a chance when you go to one but I would have expected a little more knowledge or at least a "You know sir, I am not sure but let me go find out for you!" answer.

Case #3: That night, Mrs SP and I went to the mall. While she was browsing in a clothing store I noticed a 'Game Spot' store and saw they were advertising a Sony Wii. I have heard a lot about the Wii and had been thinking it would make a great gift at Xmas for a certain Grandson I know. So I decided to go check it out. I walked in the store and found one on display with a sign that said "See store clerk for Wii controllers". I waited and no-one came around, the store clerk was a bored teenage girl with Tatoo's who was talking on her cell phone at the checkout counter. I walked to the counter and waited, she noticed me and continued talking for a minute or two and then said into the phone "Wait a minute, I need to work". She looked at me with a bored expression (Hey old man, what are YOU doing here!) and said "Kin I hep you?" I told her I wanted to try the Wii system and she said "I need your drivers license". I produced it and she opened a door and slapped a controller down and continued her conversation on the cell phone. This really annoyed me! For goodness sake I could have pulled out my wallet and bought one on the spot if she would have just given me some decent service. I looked at her and put the controller back and said "Never mind" and took my license from the desk and left.

It is no wonder companies and businesses are hurting! They need to spend more time training their front line troops.

POST A COMMENTSouthernProgrammer(08/02/2007)
I was sent out to a MFG site recently to bid on a project. As I was walking through a warehouse area I saw a forklift driver driving a large forklift whipping through an area while his neck cradled a cell phone that he was talking into. Can you believe that? This guy was driving a MEGA TON vehicle IN A BUILDING and could have KILLED someone. I mentioned it to a supervisor who said "Dangit! I toll him not to talk on his cell while he drive that lift!" and ran off... I personally own a cell phone but try my best to not use it while driving as I see it is EASY to get distracted. When I DO use it, I use the ear piece...

What happened?(08/02/2007)
Not too long ago, I went into Subway for a sandwich. I wanted a veggie sandwich. The guy had no idea what any of the veggetables were. I asked for pickles and he picked up cucumbers. I asked for lettuce and he went to get tomatoes. His excuse, "It's my first day." Right, your mom needed to give you more veggies. Even if it's your first day, give me a break. I'm a vegetarian and I can tell the difference between a meatball and a slice of turkey.

SouthernProgrammer(08/02/2007)
I once talked to a guy who owned a McDonalds, he told me the BEST employees were retirees who were looking for a little extra $ and a reason to wake up in the morning. He said they generally didn't mind opening the restaurant and would ALWAYS come to work on time with a cleanly pressed uniform and would cleanup without any problems. The issue he had was he had problems finding enough to keep staffed as retirees were in such high demand for those same reasons. This in contrast to the teenagers who would come in with a sloppy uniform, cell phones (which he banned) and an attitude.

dumber than a box of catsh*t(08/02/2007)
That is the problem--those cell phones. And kids not wanting to work. I've decided to completely quit my line of work--education--for these 2 reasons. 20 years--I'm DONE!!!

SouthernProgrammer(08/02/2007)
I recently began helping another church start up a soccer program for under 10 year olds on Wednesday nights. The Coaches are teenagers from the youth group, several of them are girls and whenever they get 30 free seconds they yank out the cell phones! I just don't get it! I would rather them at least TALK TO THE OTHER KIDS rather than someone on the other end of a phone!

Fedup-TimeOut(05/07/2008)
Don't get me started on this. I agree that older workers usually are better employees and they don't mind coming to work, either. I work around a bunch of younger workers and their work ethics stink. In my department, they act like a wrestling tag team. I have been in this particular department a little less than a year, and from the time I've been there, not one of the other employees have worked a full 40 hours in any week. They take turns being out (lika a tag team). They actually get together and plan it so that no more than two people are out at the same time. Some of the days are actually scheduled ahead of time, but most times its either a call out, or they will come in at the beginning of the shift then leave early, or ask for Friday off, then leave early on Wednesday, call out on Thursday, so with the Friday which was approved as a legitimate day off, they've now ended up with an extended week-end. Or they will take a vacation beginning on Wednesday of one week, are supposed to return on Monday, but call out sick on Monday and Tuesday. This, again, allows for an extended vacation without using regular vacation time. They supplement their vacation by using sick leave to extend it. The manager is no better. This is that under 40 crowd.

All over the company, it's the over 55 & 60+ group who are on the job every day unless they've scheduled time off in advance, and they come to work when they're not feeling well. The "young-uns" in the work force will stay home acting sick very frequently, and they also regularly use their children as excuses to take time off. Say their children are sick so they can stay home and use sick leave instead of telling the truth and asking for vacation leave. They know if their sorry "azzes" ever get fired they won't be paid for any sick leave that they've accrued, so they lie and play the game.

If I had a company I'd blatantly discriminate against most younger people as I'd be hard-pressed to trust hiring most people under a certain age range. I'm not putting down the entire group of people in the younger age group as I ALSO know a few younger workers who had parents and grandparents with strong work ethics and passed those ethics on to their children, and these precious young people are very good and loyal co-workers who also hate seeing the lazy ones taking advantage of the situation. I may not like the way my company is run, but I still adhere to my personal principles. When I get fed up, I just look for something somewhere else. I'm looking right now, and as soon as I'm blessed to get hired, I'm gone! But in the meantime I will continue to give a good days work. I will continue to do what I was hired to do and will do as good a job as I possibly can.

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JobSchmobber Community Comments
Agreed (08/02/2007) I agree with you. NOt too long ago, I went into a gas station to get a few cases of water (emergency). The only had one case displayed, and when I went to the counter to ask for more, the clerk was about 8 deep in customers talking on his phone. He said to the guy, "I'm workin' nah it cool I can talk." Took me almost 30 minutes to ask for a case of water.