destruction zone

I belatedly got round to doing the calendar return at work. Mostly, you don't have to physically send them back, you 'destroy them on site'. So I was printing off the return sheets and writing the word 'destroy' where appropriate. I had a sudden glimpse of myself from the point of view of an outside observer, alone in the office, scrawling 'DESTROY' over and over again on pieces of paper the printer was feeding me. It was like I'd gone insane.

No doubt I had. I mean, what was I doing observing myself from outside my body like that? But I had good reason. It had been a trying week. There was a particularly bad customer right at the end of the day on Wednesday. The till had not processed her transaction correctly, and she was in a big hurry - probably had an appointment with her anger management counsellor or something - and she just wanted a refund and 'couldn't believe' how long it was taking (about 30 seconds). There were a lot of other things she 'couldn't believe', including the fact that we all had jobs. Myself, I couldn't believe that she was allowed to walk the streets unmuzzled.

Anyway, finally, we got the till open (of course, nothing is ever simple with computerised tills, especially when you are being shouted at) and she got her £20 back, but, in Get Selling terms, she was very much in the 'zone of defection'. Well, let's hope she stays there.

Every time you go on a break at work now, you are confronted with the Get Selling posters. The more you look at them, the more you wonder: how much were they paid for coming up with this bullshit? There's one that demonstrates Waterstones' 'promise', which comprises 'Great Shops', 'Great People'. 'Great Value' and 'Great... well, I forget. You get the idea, anyway: everything's just great. The only effect that this poster has on me is to make me forget the meaning of the word 'great'. Repetition can do that to some words; though with others, it only increases their power. 'Destroy', for example.