We just say "manager"
Dan is on vacation this week, and guess who gets to be in charge while he's gone. Dan always does a great job of
preparing us underlings for new situations, so I wasn't nervous about it. But of course, life is never without its wrinkles.
LONG DETAILED STORY OF WHY WORK WAS WEIRD TODAY
TL, DR: I threw a young man out of the bookstore. He kept showing up in new disguises.
This morning, out of the clear blue, a coworker about R's age (we'll call her Sue, how do you do) somehow developed a stalker. A boy about her age brought in a 9 week old puppy, and let Sue hold it for a couple of minutes. The puppy was adorable but the kid was obviously all about chatting with Sue - asking her name, flirting with her, that kind of thing. Sue is a cute girl and has dealt with his type before, so she wasn't too creeped out by it. He left with the dog, but reappeared multiple times, always making a new excuse for having to come back into the bookstore.
The fourth time he came in, I (having just heard about this policy from another coworker) let the boy know that dogs aren't allowed on campus unless they're service animals. I thought I spoke to him kindly enough, but he rolled his eyes, grabbed the stuff he'd set down on the counter, and left in a huff.
He then changed clothes (what) and came back without the puppy, wearing glasses and a baseball cap, like he was a completely different person. He handed an expensive men's watch to Sue, said "You lost this," and when Sue said, "No, that's not mine," he insisted that it was hers and left it there on the counter. (I later heard from B that the boy had asked B to hand the watch to Sue for him, and B refused.)
Another employee who had just bought a snack offered to take it to Lost and Found, which is B's department. B looked up the watch online, and it's worth over $2000.
By this time, we're all getting a little wigged out. We get that Sue is attractive, but what was with the hovering, and the changing of clothes? Who leaves an expensive watch for a bookstore employee they've just met? It seemed planned - like who shows up with a puppy and uses it to try to get with the cashier?
Meanwhile, the boy went out, changed clothes a second time (Outfit #3, for those who are keeping track), and didn't come back into the bookstore but hovered inside the building, either using the computer in the main hall or walking around, taking pictures with his phone, and peering into the bookstore to see if Sue was still behind the cashier counter. We planned to have a security guard walk Sue to her car when her shift was over, but Sue's boyfriend came to the bookstore and ended up doing that instead.
All this time, Heidi was searching the security camera footage and found a couple of screenshots to send to the security department.
Ultimately the kid left, and we're hoping not to see him again - but as B pointed out, if he's a student, we will. We'll see how many changes of clothes he brings with him next time.
Work ended smoothly with minimal hand-wringing. I decided to bus myself home. Nice sunny day.
Life is weird, but good, friends.
