BMX, Beer, Bastards, Boston....

BMX, Beer......
The BMX is in the corner, sweaty pads are air-ating, socks are off and the beer is flowing. Just got back from blowing off some steam on a BMX sesh'. Couldn't clear the sidewalk gap for the life of me. The transition felt soooo bumpy and off kilter to me that I couldn't get comfy with it. Was fun trying though. Tried this little, weird, landscaped gaped-bank thing. Pedal up an inclined parking lot and jump over a curb to this steep-assed bank with dirt/mulch on top. The dirt wound up being a bit softer than I expected but I rolled away unscathed. While rolling away, I noticed a cool sidewalk gap. A bit of construction going on + missing part of the sidewalk where two parts are supposed to connect= fun gap! Rolled around a bit and practiced roll-backs and 180 bunny hops. Raced to beat game traffic and made it home....'sigh'. It's official...BMX rules.
Bastards.....
So I may be preaching to the choir on this one but stick with me. I work at a shop that operates seasonally. Being said, we are busier during certain seasons than others. Working in a SKI shop, it stands to reason that we are in a busy period NOW. I also understand that we all have bad and or trying days. It's just human nature. I also understand that you have things to do and places to be. So do I. But when we give you a slip of paper and tell you not to lose it because you will need it to claim your skis (and to expedite [sp?] that claim) when you return to pick them up, it makes sense that you should not lose it. Put it in a safe place. Apparently, this guy tonight didn't understand our simple directions.
When I go into a store and don't get the service that I am expecting, my first reaction is to stay calm and examine the situation. Acting like a prick and being rude to the employees who are there to help won't get you anywhere. Especially if that place of business is busy. If I went into an ice cream shop in the dead of July, I wouln't get pissy that they're busy. It's seasonal! (Like I said, probably preaching to the choir but stick with me). Follow this conversation. First the customer (we'll call him FF, for Fat Fuck because I don't think that he knows about salad being a meal item) then myself:

FF: has been waiting for about 2 mins for his equipment because we have to sort through a fucking MOUNTAIN of skis to find his 'I don't understand why it's so hard to find these skis. They're this big!'-makes a motion to gesture small skis I presume.

ME: 'Did you bring your tag? That will expedite the pick up*'-cut off by FF

FF: 'No! That guy's looking for it. How hard can it be'...blah blah.

ME: 'Well, we currently have about 500 pairs of skis back there so it may take a bit of time if you don't have your tag. We need to sort through each one*' cut off again...anger lever rising several more points.

FF: 'My patience is wearing thin. Why don't you run back there and help that guy look!?'-turns his back on me and walks away.
At this point it took much strength and resolve to keep from insulting him. I mean, there was soooo much material to work with: the overweight waddle, the lazy eye, the baldness and not to mention his rudeness. Since it seemed that life had already delt this guy a winning hand, I kept my mouth shut. Then he asked me to have my boss call his cel phone (so he could presumably bitch her out about our 'incompetence'). Fat, angry fuck, go have another doughnut and a coronary. Can't wait to see how many people jump to help his fat ass the next time he comes into the store. This is the second time I've delt with the rude bastard. The first time he gave me grief about paying our fee for the adjustment of his daughter's ski bindings.
'It costs 30 bucks to make the boot fit in the binders and turn a few screws?' Ahh, but if it was only that easy you rotund little man! Hopefully he'll have such a fit that my boss didn't give him a call that he'll come in screaming and cursing at me and I can kindly kick his fat ass to the curb and politely ask him never to return. So what did we learn boys and girls? Rudeness is more likely to get you fat, bloated and red faced like a Kennedy; whereas kindness will get you much more help and a lower blood pressure.
Boston......
Round two. Bring it! I'm ready. Ready for the long trip. Ready for the surge of customers. Ready for the assinine questions. Ready for the overbearing reps. Today Joe related a story of a rep selling this guy a board that he was going to hate @ the show yesterday. When he (Joe) went to the wall and sold the guy a much better board for his riding style, the rep went over, played stupid ('Oh, I completely forgot to ask him his boot size.' He sold a guy with a size 10 a super-wide freestyle board when the dude wanted a ripp'n freeride stick. Great job rep! Anything to make a sale!) and then gave Joe the evil eye for 10 mins cause he sold the dude the competition's product. When did snowboarding become based on the bottom line and how many boards you can sell to people instead of getting someone something that they'll be stoked on for a bunch of seasons? It makes me sick. You put people on the wrong shit, they wind up hating snowboarding, quit, and then you lose customers. It's such a negative spiral for the industry. Just so you can sell a few more units you pad you pockets. Everyone wants quick cash I guess. No looking to the long term.
Well, the Guinness is dry, the peanut-butter cookies are merely crumbs, and I'm out of words. Thanks for check'n in. Round 2 update in a few.
Ride Fast! Ride Hard!