Men Behaving Badly...or, Another Day that Ends in Y

I don't consider myself someone who needs customer service people to suck up to me.  Having worked in customer service for a bajillion years and being the child of two service workers, I get it.  I don't expect them to smile at me.  I still tip well, even for semi-shitty service.  I don't dick around and waste copious amounts of their time trying to engage them in idle chitchat, or tell them unfunny jokes and expect them to laugh.  That's not my style.


But let me tell you about the experience I just had at the University Library.

Let me preface my tale by talking about every other experience I've had at the front desk of the library.  Every other time I've had a question/needed to check out a laptop/asked for a key to the locked study rooms, I've had no problems.  In fact, the young women who work there have gone above and beyond my requests at times, without my asking, to look something up for me, whether it be the IT Help Desk hours, or locations where I can check different things out, etc.  Last week I checked out a laptop and they were super friendly and nice about it.  So I guess I fell into a false sense of security that people were gon' be decent to me when I went up to the front desk for things. 

So Friday, I went in to check out a laptop.  As I approached the desk, I noticed that two men were working, which is unusual because I've never seen men working there before.  One of them was older--mid to late forties--and appeared to be in charge.  I'm thinking he's the manager.  Manager types have a TON of stress with that whole passive-aggressive "Ya'll ain't workin' hard enough" abuse they have to dish out to their peons, so I can TOTALLY see how he'd be super tired from all of that, and that's why he and the other dude he was with were just sitting there shootin' the breeze when I strolled up.  They looked up at me, glaring, as I smiled and asked if I could check out a laptop.

Now, were they pissed because they had to work the Friday after Thanksgiving?  Possibly, though I (and most people who work retail) also had to work that day and didn't act like the sky was falling.  Maybe they aren't nice to un-hawt women, and I fit that category since I was wearing my homeless chic beanie/skull cap, no makeup whatsoever, and my nose was bigger than usual due to my having a sinus cold.  Perhaps they could smell my feminism on me.  That makes men angry.  Or, like the lion in the "Like a Virgin" music video, they could sense I was menstruating, driving them crazy and angry with bloodlust.

*****************True Story.  When they were filming that video, Madonna had her period, and the lion was going totally insane whenever she'd stand next to it.  Apparently, you don't want to be bleeding whilst in the presence of a lion.  However, lions kick ass and these guys were little bitches, so I don't think the comparison stands up in a court of law.****************************************************

Anyway, when I smiled and asked to check out a laptop, they glared at me for about five seconds before answering.  Then, the white bread managerial-lookin' one sighs (he's SO stressed and tired from the zero customers that were in the library, taking up his time) in angst and irritation and gets up.  He slams the checkout book on the counter, and starts filling out the form.  I took out my student ID, forgetting for the moment that you need two forms of ID to check out the laptop, and he about bit my head off reminding me.  He had me sign and date the forms, and continued to roll his eyes and act like the bitchiest motherfucker on the planet.  I mean, I actually started laughing it was so out of control ridiculous.  He never told me when it was due (In three days.  After the third day, I'm charged 25 dollars.  To me, that's a lot of money.  I think that when 25 dollars is on the line, I should be apprised of when this shit is due so I'm not charged such a huge amount.) I don't think filling out a form and handing me a computer are heavy tasks.  Maybe he should dig some ditches or graves for a few years.  He might appreciate his cush lifestyle then.

Despite my bravado and bitching on Facebook about customers annoying me by coming into the store, I'm actually very nice to them.  I'll go above and beyond (despite my pay scale) and call other stores for them if we don't have something and they don't want to order it (so long as I'm not busy), or find things that aren't listed in our warehouse by looking elsewhere to get the isbn, etc.  I'm always very polite (so long as motherfuckers don't be frontin'), and I don't act like they're the bane of my existence for asking me a question.  You know who else doesn't do that?  The women who work at the University Library.  They actually know how to do their jobs, and they don't act like it's beneath them to talk to me, no matter what I look like on any particular day.  You know who *doesn't* have the manager position at the University Library?  The women.  Instead, the Man In Charge is a Man Who's a Dickhead, and he gets to strut in his entitlement and act superior to all and sundry that aren't him.  He deserves that position like a puppy deserves a kick, and I may write the Chancellor myself to make that clear.