Last month, a postal carrier knocked on my door. When I answered the
door, they shouted from the house next door to look in my trash can. They
had thrown a package for me into the trash. I replied "You put my mail
in the trash?", but they did not respond. I picked up the package,
wiped it off, and went inside.

Now I see by tracking information that another package I was expecting
has been shown as delivered. I cannot find it anywhere. The trash was
just picked up. Is my trashcan a proper mail receptacle? The carrier
even stated to "look in the trashcan" to find my mail. I have no prior
quarrel with this mail carrier, and they didn't seem angry. Please advise.

I don't know why but I started thinking of some people tonight that I'd like to get in contact with or find out how they're doing. So here goes, DP...

Cory Morris. Lived on a houseboat with his dad and bro about 6 years ago. Tall, cute, goofy looking. I really hope I wasn't your first, and if I was, I want you to know I really did like you. I heard you thought otherwise.

Dawna Little. Worked with you at Pac Power. You were so serene and non judgmental. I slightly idolized you. I wish I knew how to get ahold of you.

Zach Shephard. From the couve. You joined the Navy and got married with kids, I think you might be up in Birmingham Bremerton. I miss you a lot.

And what the hell ever happened to Randy of the Redwoods?

Any of you have any idea where or what these people are up to?

current state: pensive

Hi there.

For us who are working in retail, we would like to put forth a guide of handy (and goodfor your health) guidelines to help make your shopping experience easier and our working experience less than hell.

Do not pop your head into the employee break room and ask for help. There is someone in the department, probably helping a customer just like you. No one will come out on their break or lunch (both of which are enforced under labor laws in WA) to help.

If we are out of a product or do not carry a product, do not tell the cashier "Well, I'm just going to have to go to (rival store's name here)." It will not get us to get the product in and, honestly, some of the cashiers may even call the store to have it held for you. Threatening to go to another store honestly will not make us have trouble sleeping at night.

Do not treat the employees as if they are all uneducated heathens that all have illegitamite children. Yes, some may have had a child out of wedlock. Some may not have gone to college. Nevertheless, be happy we are not on welfare and are working for money.
(a) Some us are actually working college students. We need to pay car insurance, or food, books, rent, etc. We are balancing school, work, and sometimes a family. The last thing we need is being treated like we are not trying to do anything with our lives
(b) Do not hand us religious pamphlets when we are ringing you up, telling us it will "change our lives." Some of us are religious already. Some us are not. We do not need to be converted in either case.

(For hardware stores like Home Depot) Do not get pissy when an area is blocked off and a forklift is inside the barricades. Do not try to open the barricades to get what you need. It is blocked off so YOU WON'T DIE.

Please watch your children. Believe it or not, we are not a babysitting service and there are sharp things around.

Do not complain that you have to wait to get something or be rung up. We can't help the amount of customers in a store and comaplaining will not help us get to you faster, particularly if we are already helping another customer. (would you want an employee leaving you to help someone else when you need help?) You have to wait in line, yes. You do at the grocery store and i'm sure you do at restuarants. Grow some patience.

Do not complain the cashier when you have picked a product without a barcode or SKU on it and they have to call or look it up on their computer. Not all stores ring things up by price and, if you wanted to return the thing, you'd be sunk without it being rung up. It's not hard to find a product with a barcode. If none of them have it, don't worry too much about, we may already know.

Look at what has been rung up before paying, particularly if you have 20 items. We have 2 screens for just that and it will save you money and time since we will not have to send you to returns or scan everything again after having the transaction voided out.

Do not curse at the employees if they tell you what you want to buy comes only in a pack and you have one. We may just give it to you or explain what you have to do. Cursing widly will have the manager called up on you and possibly the police. All stores have a non-discrimination policy. This has nothing to do with not being able to sell a single of something that only comes in a pack.

Do not curse at employees period. We are equals. You are not our servants anymore than we are yours.

If you have a $100 bill and you buy only $12 worth of stuff,(and it early in the morning) do not getupset when the cashier has to wait for change. Usually, cashiers only start out with a limited amount ($100, change included). Also, do not be unhappy if you do not get $20s back and only $5s and $1s.
(a) Do not immediately pull out a $20 after the cashier has already rung up $100.

(Self Check-out) Do not comment that the Self Check-out machine is "taking away jobs." As long as there are people who expect employees to do all the work for them (which is at least 1/4) even though it is a "Self Check-out", there will always be a need for employees.

If someone in front of you is an immigrant and cannot speak english well, do not become visiably impatient and/or insult them after they have left. Remember, unless you are native American, your ancestors were once immigrants too.

There is a (small) list of what the consumer can do that can help their shopping experience better and help employees to not want to bang their heads repeatidly at the end of the day.

This really isn't a satire. I began thinking up this list a long time ago and although I am a consumer too, I at least try to treat employees at wherever I am with some amount of respect. They work hard. We work hard. We try to help customers as much as we can - just remember that we are human and we do not always have enough people in a department to help everyone at once.

Thank you,
Socktree