'I don't think you understand': Customer breaks into unopened store to shop for camping supplies

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    Cheezburger Image 9894520064
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    We're Not Open Yet Lady Long Back in high school I was part of a team that helped set up a brand new hardware store in my small hometown.
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    The construction of the store was about 90% finished. We were in the process of setting up and stocking shelves, creating aisle ways and generally planning the layout of the store.
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    During this time: Only about half of the light fixtures were ever running at a time in order to save money during construction. Even though there were checkout lanes constructed, the registers were not yet installed. The only way to enter the building was to manually push open the automatic sliding glass doors in the front of the
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    store. Nobody was required to wear any sort of store uniform. Absolutely nothing about the appearance of this store would hint that we were open for business. So one day I'm stocking some shelves in the home and garden department and I'm approached by a lady I didn't recognize. We'll refer to this lady as "OL" for
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    "Oblivious Lady." She was carrying a few boxes of stuff in her arms (because we had no carts yet). OL: "Where is the camping section?"
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    Figuring she was just another new employee, I made a small introduction before pointing her to the general location of our camping section.
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    OL: "Do you mind walking with me, I get lost easily" (in hindsight this should have been my first clue something wasn't right).
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    On the way there, I noticed that the boxes she was carrying did not belong in the camping section. Me: "Actually, I think that hot plate belongs in the appliances section..."
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    OL: "Yeah, that's where I got it from." Me: "Ok... why are you moving it to the camping section?"
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    OL: "I'm not. I need this stuff for a camping trip." Me: "Is [manager] ok with that?" OL: "Who's that?" Me: "Wait. You work here right?"
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    OL: "No, I'm shopping for stuff for my camping trip." Me: "We're not open for business yet." OL: "But I need this stuff!" Me: "I don't think you understand. We have no way to sell any of this stuff to you. The grand opening isn't for another week."
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    OL: "I've been shopping around for a half hour and nobody told me you weren't open. I need this stuff and you're telling me I can't purchase it?" Me: "That's correct." OL: "How !" Me: laughing "Hold on, let me get my manager."
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    I grab my manager from his office and tell him the story. We find the lady in the camping section pulling items off the barely stocked shelf.
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    Manager: "Um... I'm sorry ma'am. I'm going to have to ask you to leave. This store isn't open for business yet and you're trespassing on our property." OL: "I'm just trying to buy stuff for my camping trip!"
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    We finally had to walk her to the front of the store and point out that the registers were not even installed. Then we walked her to the sliding glass doors, pushed them open and told her to have a nice day.
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    Tl;dr: Lady manually pushed open the sliding glass doors to gain access to a store that was not yet open. Shopped around for a half hour before anyone told her the store wasn't open yet despite obvious signs the store was still under construction. Demanded we let her purchase the items she had picked out. Had to physically walk her out of the store.
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    thevulturesbecame Hahaha only somewhat relevant but my senior year of high school I was briefly a key holder in a mall retail establishment. We had one of those grates that you'd pull down to the floor to lock up at night
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    because the storefront was a big open arch. One morning I was opening alone, get to the store (all of the lights are off, grate is down, clearly no one is there yet), kneel down and unlock it. I lift the grate enough to duck through (3 or 4
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    feet tops) before turning around and immediately lowering it back down until it was time to open. Except I ALMOST crushed an entire human being because a woman DOVE through the low opening I briefly
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    created to try to get in behind me. She's on her hands and knees scrambling through. I look down at her. We make eye contact. I am astonished and just say "...oh." She says nothing. She backs up (still on the ground) and leaves.
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    She didn't come back later. It was the weirdest and most comical behavior I ever witnessed there.
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    ripmick Yes, lady, it's definitely the fault of the workers that you managed to wander around for a half hour in a store that's clearly still being set up. Wow.
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    But I believe it. The last store I worked at was opening a new location and we could volunteer to help set it up. A few of my coworkers and I carpooled over to the new location. We went up to the sliding doors and
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    knocked/waved someone down - like you said there was no dress code so we were in normal clothes - and the woman who opened the door immediately apologized and said they weren't open to the public yet. We
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    explained we were there to work and she let us in. Turned out they had been having similar problems with people coming up to the doors and trying to get in to shop despite the fact that most of the
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    shelves were empty, there were boxes everywhere and there was clear signage on the door stating when the grand opening was scheduled for. If the doors hadn't been locked I'm sure there would have been plenty
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    trying to shop and complaining about the mess lol.
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    pumpkinsnice . Wow. The stupidity of some people is insane.
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    topheavyhookjaws IF YOU'RE NOT OPEN WHY CAN I OPEN YOUR DOORS?
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    [deleted] Amazing she didn't hurt herself on something. 237 Share xCtrldChaosx OP Seriously though, there was stuff everywhere
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    and with the dim lighting it could have really turned out badly. IIRC We had to have a meeting about keeping our eyes out for people who didn't work there.
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    This happened more than once. Most people walked in and were like, "oh this doesn't look right" and then left. This lady was just special.

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