 Posted by Steve on October 31, 2003: New comic here.
So, what would you guys think if I told you that's pretty much the way things happen when I work on Halloween? I mean, besides the kids fighting, that is. Candy preference is always given to kids that put more work into their costume, and even more preference is given to kids dressed as superheroes. My candy, my rules.
Actually, I was really into Halloween until last year. It's usually a lot of fun. You get parents taking the little ones trick or treating during the day, then it dies down in the evening. No problem. There's always more than enough candy to go around.
Then last year, the mall decided they'd advertise that they do trick or treating in the stores. They advertised that it was from, I think it was 6pm to 8pm, and that participating stores would have this little sticker in the window saying they're participating. No problem, they let us know in advance and we bought more than usual.
The problem was that we had a ton of trick or treaters last year. Even during the day, where it's usually just a few hours and a pretty small crowd, there was a lot more than usual. By the time 6 o'clock came along, we had used up all our original stash. No problem, the mall had said they'd have bags available to purchase. It was gonna be a bit more than what we paid for our stuff, but beggers can't be choosers. So the manager sends me down and get a few more bags. The problem is that now all the people in the area who read the advertisements are now coming in. And now it's really busy. Tons of people in there with their kids. I guess post 9/11, people weren't so hot on the idea of their kids going door to door. Again, no problem, we just reloaded, we should be fine, figuring whoever is here is probably all that's coming.
Except we're wrong about that too. Now it's 7 o'clock, and there's still people just coming in. (the store is right by one of the main entrances.) So we run out of candy for the second time. This time, in a rare act of good will from a member of the People Who Hate People Party, I send a part timer down to get more bags with my own money instead of just telling people we're out. And the mall is scamming this stuff for like 5 bucks a bag too.
And by now most other stores are running out or have ran out. They've got the same problem as us, there's just a lot more people here than they planned for. The part timer comes back with two bags and says that it's the last of the mall's stash, meaning there's more people here than even the mall planned for. By about 7:30, we're out. I figure that's good enough, the thing was scheduled to end at 8 anyway, so we lasted close enough. I take the participation sticker out of the window and we brace ourselves at the front counter to tell people we're all out. (Since no one in this mob is actually here to shop. We made about 8 bucks or something that night.)
And now you see the real nasty side to people. The side that makes you join the People Who Hate People Party in the first place. Now people are pissed because everyone's out of candy. They're even pissed at stores that weren't participating in the first place. Kids coming in have gone from "Trick or Treat!" to "Do you have any candy or what?". Some lady took two steps into the door, looked at me and went "Do you have candy?!" I tell her no, we ran out a little while ago. She just blows up and goes "What the fuck! The flyer says it's til 8 and everyone's out! This is bullshit!" Nice language with her kids standing right there. Note that by now it's about a quarter to 8 anyway, and we don't even have the stupid sign in the window anymore. (In fact, I had one of the kids make a sign saying we were out, not that any of these people bothered to read it.) But none of that matters. They promised little Johnny free crap and they want it now.
This went on for the rest of the night. Kids walking in going "Got any candy?", parents blowing up at me and the part timers. By the time the store closed at 9 I had called the manager and told her if she planned on giving out candy next year, then I'm requesting off, cause these people can go to hell. Just another holiday ruined by retail. See you next week.
|
