I now like how my job is something very few people would actually do. I like collecting the stories I tell here (and soon, in podcast form, if all goes right).

It's the dangerous aspect of it that makes me want to leave, but I'm proud that I have taken on this thing that I was really afraid of. So far, in my life, I've been really desperate to avoid conflict. Now that I get conflict almost every day, I'm a stronger person for it. I think.

I think you should wear a sword on your hip when you walk to and from your car. And a three musketeers hat.

That's been done.

How does the shop owner deal with it his entire life? Or do pawn shops have high turnover rates?

The owner lived through the neighborhood's better times. The manager has been there 21 years and not been shot or stabbed. Maybe that's the bottom line -- but I don't like the odds.

Turnover is high from what I've seen, but I don't know much history.

Not to beat a dead horse, but there are other injuries that are occurring daily that aren't inflicted with a knife or gun, and have insidious ways of presenting themselves.

Write that book, cast those pods!

Yeah.

A guy comes in on Saturday with a carpet kicker. This is an item that I was previously not aware of, since I have never installed carpets. You actually apply pressure with your knee to stretch the carpet out to the edges of a room.

The selling price of a Harbor Freight carpet kicker is $19.99. There are better ones for like $80, but this gentleman's carpet kicker was very old and not very nice. It's just a piece of metal and a piece of rubber and an edge with hooks on it.

He wanted $25, and we would only buy his piece of shit for $5 and not pawn for it at all. But sometimes people complain when we don't buy their stuff. This gentleman's method of complaining was to stare directly at me and ask over and over again for a $25 pawn. For like 5 minutes. Wouldn't leave the window. Just stood there and stared at me and asked over and over why we wouldn't loan him $25 on his piece of shit item.

See, this is not a very compelling story, when it comes to the pawn stories, but there are as many of these stories as there are compelling ones. It's the regular minor indignities of dealing with people who are truly uneducated and ignorant and uncultured... or high.

Because just now, the guy comes back in with the same carpet kicker, and asks for $25 again. I tell him with a degree of firmness, "We don't take carpet kickers, that's not something we deal in," and he walks away, leaving without complaint.

Can you explain it? That's your goal, in today's game of Retarded or High.

You're going by the price of a $20 piece of shit from harbor freight. If the kicker he had was old and worn, then it was probably a good one costing $100. Now he's got that number in his head, and was willing to give you a bargain at only $25. He's probably completely unaware that kickers are available in a range of quality/price these days, and befuddled by your refusal.

After all, he's been planning in his head, going there, getting the $25, and what he was going to do with each and every penny of it. Now you've brought his plan to a screeching halt, and he doesn't know what to do with the rest of the day.

How does it feel to crush the hopes and dreams and rest of the day, of the little people. :lol2:

I recognize this type of behavior from dealing with kids. If they think the issue is open/negotiable they will continue to negotiate/whine.

You have to indicate by word or tone that the issue is closed. One method I have used to good effect is to repeat the exact same phrase. Do not vary in the slightest. By the third time, they normally get the picture.

I want …
We're not buying that.
*negotiation
We're not buying that.

Etc.

It's worth a shot.

I used to make the mistake of trying to reason with people, al a Bruce's advice,
"See, I know this is a good carpet kicker, really quality stuff, but you can get a new carpet kicker for 20 bucks at Harbor Freight, so unfortunately I can only give you $5 for this."

I can't say, when I worked retail that reasoning ever worked, but I was much younger then and I think I had the stamina to wear them out.

"Neither" is not an option :D

high.

so high, he forgot he'd come in earlier. he left easily because that jogged his memory, and he knew staring at you wouldn't work.

Maybe he changed his voice and thought you'd think he was a different guy?

He came back in at 4pm . :facepalm:

I told him no again. But this time I found a better answer:

"You should try the pawn shop on 5th Street. They might have different policies than we do."

The guy brightened up considerably. The idea of trying to sell his piece of shit somewhere other than my shop had never occurred to him. He smiled, and said thanks, and left immediately.

If you had Retarded, you are a winner today.