This is one in a series of writeups concerning my Adventures at Circuit City. Since everyone is underpaid and instructed to basically fuck people over, the work environment is... well... different from anything I had ever seen.
It was a
wednesday night, I was the
closing captain (don't we all love these empowering yet mocking 'titles?') for my department. As the last registers were closing, the lights die. Appearently, the
emergency lights were also out, as it was pitch black.
Using my hands and
sixth sense, I managed my way to the front of the store, to the entrance. The
full moon illuminated the display
laptops and counter; two of my
cow-orkers were sitting against the wall, waiting to leave. We chat about the day's regular occurances and eventually the emergency lights came on. The two other guys take this as their
cue to get their jackets out of the
breakroom. As soon as they disappeared I heard a banging sound on the front door. Turning around, I see an oak-tree of a man trying his dearest to break down the
front door, all while yelling "Let me in, let me in you
motherfucker." I pondered his request for a good bit and decide otherwise. "Who are you?" I inquired. "
Let me in!" Decidedly, I turned around and headed towards the back, hearing only one of the
garbage cans hit the bullet-proof plexiglass. The police are called and Kevin (Store manager) proceeds to the front door where our subject is throwing trashcans against the door.
"That's Kim's husband," he yells. "somebody, let him in, we need the key." Kim was our warehouse manager, and when the power went out she had called her husband telling him that she was 'scared.' Feeling protective, he stormed out to 'protect' her, even if that meant taking down a few doors.
Regardless, the front door key was still in the warehouse, and the guy was steaming. He kept on eying me, as if the whole charade was my fault. Again, everyone disappeared, and I slipped into the computer department. "Don't knock against the glass" they say at the gorilla cage. This felt eerily similar. Finally, the key was retrieved and the cop showed up. Both the gorilla and cop were let in simulataneously and everyone assembled in the entryway. Again, he eyes me and steps forward. Now, I'm a pretty decent-sized guy, but this character was a foot and a half taller than me and weighted about double. And was leaning over me, yelling: "You! It's because of you that my wife has to work in fear." The cop kept his respectful distance, but I could feel the man's breath upon my face. He moves on to the next employee in line (a minister in training) and rants without police interferece. Bent in anger, bent and loaded, ready for attack he accuses us of calling his house and calling him a nigger and an animal. After he is through and steps back, the police officer tells him to calm down - nothing out of the ordinary for MOPD. It is only with his turn that I notice that Steve (department manager) wet his pants and was making an exit. Poor guy. They never did let him live that one down. No arrests were made and business continued as usual. And the guy never did notice that we were the ones working in fear now...