Category Archives: Lists

Retail Vocabulary: Commerce

Change
A compromise between stealing and paying too much

Real Change
Only possible with a lot more change

Tax
A way for stores to pretend that things cost what they cost.

Conveyor belt 
A moving surface that continuously forces you to touch weird things that people are going to put in and on their bodies.

Scanner
A stripe connoisseur that regards your specimen as being of inferior quality 

Barcode
A repentant fingerprint 

Coins
Money that is neither magnetic nor flammable, so what fun is that?

$2 Bills
Outcast notes rejected by the bill community and forced to live with coupons

Everyday Vocabulary

Stress
A fundamental particle that carries the anxiety force.

Passive
Unwilling to fight to achieve failure, preferring to allow it to arrive in its own sweet time.

Fatigue
A destructive condition experienced by all living things, and bridges, in both cases eventually leading to catastrophic collapse.

Satisfaction 
A feeling more commonly experienced by criminals than common people.

Classic
Probably horrible.

Pleasant
Synonym of boring

Festive 
A type of behavior that rapidly progresses to vomiting.

Table
A type of sexual platform available when house-sitting for a friend.

Interpersonal Vocabulary

Therapy
An educational method for learning to use clever trickery to control yourself and others. Therapy is currently legal in all 50 states and outlying territories.

Compromise
The point at which everyone agrees the whole thing is fucked, and can we just figure out a way to stop having to talk about it?

Ghosting
The situation created when a good friend decides they would like to focus on the weak and deceitful aspects of their character, so they won’t have as much available time for you.

Passive Aggressiveness
A way of announcing that you are so naive that you believe nobody has figured you out, when in reality everyone knows what you’re up to, and believes you are weak and unpleasant.

Hello
Baseline standard greeting used by humans who are not extremely tired, extremely unhappy, or extremely unpleasant.

Retail Vocabulary: Security

Spider Wrap
A popular expert level puzzle game where players compete against themselves to untangle a tricky web of wires before they fucking go insane. 

Clothing Tag
An mildly uncomfortable accoutrement attached to pricey garments until it can be removed using the stolen pliers.

Door Alarm
A tool for measuring cashier competency for the purposes of statistics and wagering. Theoretical abstract benefit as a theft deterrent.

Shopping Cart Wheel Lock
A device designed to discourage people from returning shopping carts once removed from the parking lot. 

Glitter Bomb
A bait and switch operation where someone believes they are getting a fancy gaming console, but instead are showered with unicorn dandruff and forced to vacate the porch.

Retail Wisdom Cookie — December 2024

…a fortune for every day of the month!

  1. You never get that time back that you spent voting 
  2. Whether you push or pull depends on what side you are standing on 
  3. Either a refund or frustration may be provided 
  4. Sometimes the thing you find is not in the right place 
  5. Self checkout affords you the chance to personally use lasers 
  6. An empty cart may contain forgotten items 
  7. If the alarm goes off, it is time to wake up, or you are stealing 
  8. Tap dancing in the aisles is unambiguously annoying 
  9. The front of even the longest line will be reached 
  10. Batteries could realistically be anywhere 
  11. You cannot climb beyond the end of the ladder
  12. Do not let a single word define you
  13. You must be awake to take sleeping pills
  14. Your destiny may be to articulate the obvious
  15. What you stand behind dictates how much authority you have
  16. Wasps are not concerned with your innocence
  17. A horse is probably cheaper than a new car
  18. Take an empty cart, leave an empty cart 
  19. Accept all cookies 
  20. Have they worn it, no. Have they lied, hard to say.
  21. You’re satisfaction may be moderated by exceptions 
  22. A shrill beeping at the door is one way to start a conversation 
  23. A line is just a structured crowd
  24. You can forgive your ex, but that doesn’t make them not horrible 
  25. November: terrifying in stores, but gratifying in offices 
  26. A computer offers no explanation for its limitations
  27. As much as you give, they will wait in line to take it all 
  28. Store credit is not a reasonable trade for an unreasonable return
  29. Everyone is timing you
  30. Saying yes is easy, saying no is an art 

Trader Wisdom Cookie — June 2021

…a fortune for every day of the month!

  1. No matter where the bags are hung, they won’t find them until it’s too late.
  2. Kalanchoe: the pretty little flower with the name of a vengeful Hindu warrior-god
  3. Nobody knows what a Grump Tree looks like when it’s grown up.
  4. Wine boxes: possibly available.
  5. Working today makes tomorrow better than if you worked tomorrow and not today.
  6. An abandoned steak thawing on a shelf of chips is not how things were supposed to end.
  7. Understanding the situation at the warehouse based on what they send on the truck is like trying to understand the life of an estranged friend solely based on a vacation postcard.
  8. It is worth noting that the store was open for several hours before selling out of frozen peas.
  9. Ask yourself this: If you could put a raccoon anywhere in the store, where would you put it first? Would you do it when the store was open or closed? You need to think these things through for the plan to succeed.
  10. Water on the floor could have many causes, but toothpaste on the floor is delightfully baffling.
  11. Name a place where onion skins have not been found.
  12. Playing accordion outside encourages people to come inside. Playing accordion music inside encourages customers to leave.
  13. The ratio of carts outside vs. inside the store is inversely related to how much the Crew is tired of feeling panicked.
  14. The nut mix that was seasonal, what was its exact name? QIL wants to know.
  15. The middle of a box is never an appropriate location for a bar code. Stacie, packaging designer in Monrovia: I’m looking at you.
  16. The Captain decides where to put the greeting cards. The Captain is Keeper of the Sentiments.
  17. Dear Naan, Please let us know if you are sold out before we come to the store. Thanks, The Customers
  18. If you run out of time, just skip the order.
  19. Report: Yogurt dead on floor, nobody cares.
  20. Finding where the product SHOULD BE has value, even if the product is not there.
  21. The carts are calling you, singing their ugly parking lot song
  22. Checking the computer will yield the same result.
  23. Show respect by removing your hat when discussing Everything But the Bagel seasoning.
  24. The best surprise you’ll have in the next two weeks: direct deposit
  25. Although you hate Christmas music, you would hate ukulele music much more, so be careful how you frame your criticism.
  26. A customer can easily enter the back room if the doors are not barricaded.
  27. Sexual, religious, and political comments are not appropriate at work unless you are drunk, in which case you’re already going to be fired, so go ahead and speak your mind.
  28. Integrity means admitting that you are not gluten intolerant.
  29. Speak the truth about the Ginger + Lemon Sparkling Apple Cider Vinegar Beverage, or say nothing at all.
  30. The ends of the aisles causes more anxiety than the middle. Once you’re in the middle you’ve got a ticket to ride.

How Are We Jamming?

  • All day long, yo
  • In the break room with Peony Blossom Foaming Hand Soap
  • On reg, but only occasional mild jamming
  • Quietly, in the back room
  • God dammit! by getting Chicken Tikka Masala on our shirt
  • We are not Jamming at all. We are listening to the country music station, which is a major non-Jamming bummer.
  • Step aside, and let me show you.

Trader Wisdom Cookie — May 2021

…a fortune for every day of the month!

  1. Shopping on lunch: difficult. Shopping after the store has closed: more difficult.
  2. Talking to your friends at work is not a good idea, but you can’t put your life on hold for some dude in a Hawaiian shirt.
  3. People daydream about what music they would play in the store if they could. If you could choose the music, you would definitely be fired.
  4. Always defend the perimeter. It is the first line of defense to protect important interior items like Everything But the Bagel seasoning. If the perimeter is breeched, then the freedom to properly season your avocado toast may be lost! Crackers is your fallback position.
  5. A man is taller than a register, but a man does not have built-in lasers. But a man can purchase an add-on laser kit if he needs it. There is not, and must never be, an add-on legs kit for a register.
  6. People seem taller when they are in the Bridge, but all of us stand on the same floor. It’s kind of weird.
  7. Cards come in various categories, but there are no mean or angry cards. Angry people must express their sentiments in their own words using Blank cards.
  8. When a customer attempts to buy a vegan product, be sure to ask to see their Vegan Identification Certificate to make sure they are not purchasing a product that is the birthright of someone else. You’ll both know it’s a dumb joke, but still, if they resist ring a three-bell.
  9. Perhaps the Quick Item Lookup is intentionally slow, allowing you a moment’s rest before returning to the customer with the news they most feared.
  10. Don’t neglect the fennel, because somebody will ask about it.
  11. Although made of wood, the Bridge is not a literal bridge. It is a conceptual bridge between the people getting money and the people spending money.
  12. Every day the baler destroys a hundred possible forts. The baler is philosophically opposed to architecture.
  13. The back room is never big enough, and neither is the store, and neither is the break room. Quiet your mind. Today will pass.
  14. If they can hold it in one hand, they will hardly notice they are buying it. – Impulse Item Motto
  15. A trashcan should not be a fire pit. But if it’s not hurting anything else then there’s no need to get super pedantic about it.
  16. The store is the brand, but the brand is TOS.
  17. Dukkah: The nuts-on-bread solution!
  18. The Dried Bananas team has figured out another type! Get Dan on the phone!
  19. Today’s customers want gluten-free soy products with added omega-3s, sold by Crew so charming that they might be expected to be wearing pinstriped vests and bowties. This is why you were hired. Sorry if that wasn’t clear.
  20. The Crew: keeping you safe by enduring crazed rants from unmasked customers since 2020
  21. Could eucalyptus soap do a better job of disseminating eucalyptus scent than putting actual eucalyptus in your shower?
  22. The Filler plant takes many beautiful forms.
  23. The rain is coming. Prepare the yellow cones.
  24. Water is shiny, but heavy.
  25. Although thieves may eat strawberries in the bathroom without paying for them, rest assured they likely can’t eat the New York Strip Steak before leaving the store. They’ll put that one down their pants.
  26. Organic or regular, bananas are chosen by color.
  27. Brown, red, and gold potatoes have codes, yet green potatoes have no code.
  28. Consider how many products are used for making tacos. Consider it over a margarita, and make a shopping list.
  29. Pallet wrap solves a transportation problem.
  30. Clipboards usually hold bad news.
  31. The chocolate bar you seek is unclear.

Kaizen This Shit

  • Kaizen the world’s opinion of retail workers, using only a t-shirt, name tag, and your mouth.
  • Kaizen the organic banana visual clues, get Ecuador on the line.
  • Kaizen mahalo.
  • Make today special, kaizen yourself!
  • Kaizen your strategy of dealing with difficult coworkers, with unconditional love and aggressive avoidance techniques.
  • Kaizen the Mango Shaving Cream, quick while the Section Leader is away!
  • Kaizen the pine needles still lurking in all the corners of the register. It’s spring already, come on!
  • Live the kaizen story again! Create a kaizen history log!
  • Kaizen your ratio of hand moving to mouth moving.
  • Kaizen the music playing in the store, but wait until after close.
  • Kaizen the pull-out spice shelves, using only the tools available or a phone capable of getting an outside line.
  • Kaizen the chocolate shortage in the break room.
  • Kaizen the ugly temp sign for the Soffritto Seasoning Blend by putting in a sign request.
  • Kaizen the empty paper towel holder.
  • Kaizen your gluten intolerance. Maybe with Calrose Rice?

Numbers Game: Everything But the Bagel

72    Number of people looking for Everything But the Bagel today

3      Number of people who began their search by asking “Do you have something called Everything Seasoning?”

6     Number of people who had passed right by it

1     Number of Crew who checked the backstock and found an unopened box on the boat even though the shelf was empty

37   Number of seconds that elapsed between bringing the full box out to the floor and having and having it picked clean by pecking customers

8   Number of seconds before another customer asked if there was any more in back

2     Number of times someone checked its status in QIL today

16    Number of times some Crew member shot from the hip and told a customer that more was “coming in tonight” without even knowing, because of course more is coming in tonight

1      Number of Crew members who deeply wanted to tell the customer asking about it that it had been discontinued, but didn’t, because when the emotional stakes are this high you could lose your job

7,000,000,000    Number of people that Crew members assume are aware of Everything But the Bagel seasoning

6,301,844    Actual number of people aware of it

8,700    Number of Instagram accounts devoted solely to promoting uses for Everything But the Bagel

3     Number of accounts that pumped the well so dry that they had to claim to use it as an ice cream topping

“A Bunch”     Number of people who think it’s fine, but don’t really get what the big deal is