staples, mouse

I headed to Staples last night to pick up a few things and as I walked in the door I knew something was amiss. The inner doors slowed as I walked through them and stopped so that I had to turn sideways to get in. The interior lights also went off for a moment - then came back on as someone shouted "sorry!". Some of the lights went out again, but I was still able to find what I was looking for. I went to the registers at the front and got in line - unusual for staples as they usually get people through the checkout quickly. After a few moments, it became clear there was a problem with their computers - as a guy came to the line and asked who was paying by cash or check. After a wait, I got called over to the other register where the clerk started to write down the SKU numbers so he could go and look up the prices in the store. While he was gone, I asked another clerk if they could run a credit or debit card manually. They said no and walked away. I was about to go find the clerk that was helping me to point out he was wasting his time if I couldn't use some kind of plastic - when he then came back with the prices. I asked about the plastic option again and he went to go find out the process - then discovered that the registers were working again. He rang up the purchases and I paid with my debit card and left.

Things that they did wrong:

A) no sign on the door. If they really couldn't run plastic, they should have posted a sign or made a general announcement.

B) no backup plan? It was pretty chaotic when they tried to find the prices and get people checked out.

C) poor communication between the staff members. The clerk that was helping me was out of the loop and not prepared for having the system go down.

It all worked out, but it was a near thing.

In other news... I heard about someone who uses their mouse upside down - that is, with the cord pointing towards them. And, apparently, they do this on purpose. I can only imagine the problems this would cause. How could they get anything done? How would they train themselves away from the intuitive motion of the mouse? How would they use the buttons? (poorly, as it turns out) and what the hell would they do with the touch pad of a laptop?

I mean, seriously, give it a try. I had a bad enough time when I switched the mouse to the left hand side of my keyboard as a show of support for my left-handed co-workers. It was the longest day of my computing career.

Madness.

Anyway, that's it for now. later...