Today is the sort of day where you just want to go out and take someone *coughs* (boss) to the pasture and blow their brains out!

I truly wish I didn't wake up this morning and instead woke up tomorrow morning next to my sweetie and find myself on the way to Disneyland, the "happiest place on earth". :( But that didn't happen.

Not even two minutes after opening the doors to my store, the owner calls. Joseph is an insufferable son-of-a-bitch. Oh, I have to write up the back story...so FLASHBACK!!!
Last Friday, there were some problems with a different location not opening on time. So my manager Lisa got blamed for it. She went to her uncle's funeral that day and the moment she got home, she had tons of messages on her cellphone about how the Palisades location didn't open ontime and the employee said he didn't "understand" what Lisa wanted him to do. One of the other messages was from another manager, Ivon. He needed her to bring the company truck to the Glendale store. She called him back and Joseph answered the phone. He went off on her and said, "You know that Palisades didn't open until 1 right?" She said, "Yes, but I actually called about the truck. I can bring it but I need a ride home because my family has been drinking." He said, "Well I lost a lot of money because of you." Lisa got pissed and started telling him that she didn't think it was her fault, that Mario didn't understand that she needed him to open on Friday and that if he didn't understand, why didn't he tell her so? Joseph kept on her and finally she said that she needed a ride home after she brought the truck. Joseph had the nerve to say, "Ivon can you take Lisa home after your shift is over?" Lisa exploded. He wanted her to work just after she buried her uncle?! How absurd is that? So she said some pretty harsh things. Apparently, the things she said "hurt" his feelings.

FLASHFORWARD!!!

So here we are, back to this morning. Joseph calls me and starts telling me how she hurt his feelings and how he lost sleep over the things she said. He tossed and turned all night long on Sunday night...boo hooo poor baby. *coughs* He says that he demands that she apologize to him for this because he did nothing wrong. HA! Oh, did I say that out loud? Anyway, next he tried to get me to agree with him about the situation with Mario not opening the store. I didn't give him the satisfaction. I told him flat out, "My objective opinion is that Mario should be the one held accountable for his own actions. If he truly didn't understand what Lisa was asking of him, he should've inquired further." Joseph didn't like that I wasn't complying with him, so he got clearly frustrated and blurted out, "Well I knew you'd side with Lisa anyway, so it doesn't matter!" He proceeded to tell me that in the worst case scenario where Lisa doesn't afford him the apology he sought after, he would accept her resignation. In which case, he wanted to know if I would be "up to the challenge" of managing the West Hills store. Yeah I'm up to that, but am I up to the "ultimate challenge" of dealing with Joseph directly? HELL NO! I wouldn't take his crap for more than a week. I don't tolerate his kind. I told him I "think" I could do it. After that he needed to call Lisa.

Lisa called me later and said that she didn't apologize for anything she had said, but she did apologize for "hurting his feelings". She was still working for him. Ugh. She forewarned me that this was only the beginning and that soon the shit was really going to hit the fan because Joseph is going to find everything he can to pin on her and basically force her out. Oy!

So after all the dust had settled from that, I had a jackass of a customer walk in. I just wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone today! (Not to mention that the applicant with whom I set up a 1 o'clock interview for was already 2 hours late!)He came in complaining about how high our 20lb wild bird food cost. (Mind you, it's only $6) He said that Petco was selling it for $3. Then he complained that our 40lb bag was 13! He couldn't understand why it was more than the smaller bags. I understood that, so I explained that it was because we got a really good deal on the whole pallet of 20lb bags that we were able to lower the price versus the 1 or 2 40lb bags we buy at $10 a bag. He couldn't accept that (not to mention he didn't think the price was low enough). So he said, "Well can't you just give it to me for $3?" I was seething mad by now because he was sitting here trying to haggle with me! (By the way, now the applicant arrives for his interview 2 1/2 hours late and my lunch is getting cold!) I said, "No sir, (mind you I'm trying to remain professional as my face is beet red {according to Manny} and I begin grinding teeth)I don't have the authority to do that and besides, we aren't competitive in that way." Normally, this conversation would've ended here. I've had these type of people before. They just either buy it or leave, but not today. Today is the day to be bothersome and assholian! "Well who does have the authority?" he asks. I spat, "The owner and he's in West Hollywood!" He said, "Call him, I want to talk to him." Oh boy, here we go. As if my day couldn't get any more frustrating. So I called Joseph and told him the situation. He did his best to fix it and even offered the customer a lowered rate, but after all of that, he simply walked out...not without "accidentally" busting open a bag of bird seed and spilling it all over our floor! I WAS STARK RAVING MAD! I was about to cry when the phone rang...and it was Lisa. She was telling me that Joseph called her and said that I went through the wrong person to fix the customer's problem. "I don't want to deal with this sort of stuff that's what I pay you (Lisa) for." he said to Lisa. What the fuck is he there for? To sit back and look pretty?!? Geeze! The waterworks started just when Berek called and saved my sanity! It was nice to hear from a civilized person with whom I care for deeply. I proceeded to unload on him. Thank all goodness for him. I don't think I could've made it through the rest of this awful day without him. He was my saving grace...the only good thing that happened today was simply hearing his voice on the other end of the phone.

I have yet to go to school...geeze, I hope all goes well tonight.