Hosting evacuees

Many may know of the Santa Barbara fire just now under control. SB is @ 90 minutes freeway north of me, in California terms my nieghborhood.
Interesting experience this time around on my part. I had just started a badly needed PT job at a major retailer.We boast the largest concentration of motels to 5 star hotels unless you go on into Los Angeles.
Lady walks in wearing jeans over a nightgown, no makeup, tired looking. It didn't take Sherlock Holmes to guess she was from SB. So I'm ringing up $500 in clothing and toiletries asking if she is a relative of the California Arts and Craft
movement artist bearing her name ( great grand daughter)and the store manager rushes over.
The store LP ( loss prevention, aka insecurity guard) was watching her and decided it was a scam.
So he takes the sale AND my 10% commision, runs the C/C and stares at it trying to spot a fake.
She leaves after thanking me and rolling her eyes. I am ORDERED to discourage ALL TRANSIENTS from SB from shopping there.
I think ( and apologies to residents who share his hometown)I replied he 'was dumber than a Kansas City steak side potato boiled in aluminum foil' before my retail career abruptly ended.
Many of our retailers hurting in the economic slowdown received a much needed boost and it was interesting to see what sells out, even short term.
Many convoys of various Fire units returned home this afternoon. We drove past several, people waving at them with upturned thumbs.
The fire seems to have started from power equippment CLEARING BRUSH. A videoed Hiker in blue, with full backpack( also blue) seen leaving the inital fire area is suspect becaue HE WAS WALKING QUICKLY FROM THE FIRE.
Note to self- if confronted by a California brush fire, dawdle around so as not to attract attention.

Wow...

This guy really wants to shoot himself in the butt, doesn't he. I'd have done pretty much the same thing, Chris.

I have to agree with IronRaven.

I had a step father who once went into a car dealership and the sales person snubed him. Granted he was in a pair of jeans and a disheveled Plad shirt (it was Maine after all). The kicker was that my step father was serious about buying a new truck. Angerly he went away. later that day he bought a brand new truck in cash. Some VERY rich people, just don't look it.

Also, no one running for there lives looks there best! and ditching from a fire,, I constitute as running for your life.

One of my docs from my ER went to A BMW dealer in "blue jeans, t- shirt and tennis shoes" said I want to buy a car a black ..........
The sales guy demanded a $2500 deposit and "Gary" said no I just want to test drive before I buy, dealer refused Gary walked across street to Porsche dealer walked out with new car drove across street honked at dealer waved and drove off.

Moral: don't pi$$ off any customer you never know it is.


Mike

These accounts remind me of Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman."

Salesclerk at a chic boutique in Beverly Hills treated Roberts' character badly because of how she was dressed going into the store.

The saleswoman lost a big commission.

Some businesses do have problems with vagrants and many more have trouble with fraud and theft. But anyone who deals with the public needs to know how to be diplomatic, especially at the outset.

And everyone deserves to be treated with dignity, at least until they are proven to be undeserving.

Love the story of the Porsche buyer.

:-)

RE Cars and you never know
Dad knew a guy who had been a cars salesman - a very jr guy at Rolls Royce.

In comes a kid, maybe 18, jeans, etc, and the "up" salesman looks at Dad's friend and says "You take it"

To make a LONG story short, the kid was there for his Dad - to buy 3 new cars for the limo company - yes, he didn't sell 1 car that day, but THREE

Dad's friend said the Sr guy never forgot THAT lesson

The day after Christmas, 1975, a 19 y.o. Marine on leave walked into a Salt Lake City Chevy dealership with his grandfather and a fat bonus check in his pocket. Slow day, so a salesman was willing to spend time showing us vehicles.

I didn't really like the Chevy pickups, so walked across the street to a Ford dealer. That salesman wouldn't even talk to me.

Long story short. I said cash when the salesman asked me how I was going to finance. That opened his eyes. When grandpa added "I take the same, cash also." His jaw dropped.

I've been buying GM ever since...

"And everyone deserves to be treated with dignity, at least until they are proven to be undeserving."

+1 We had a local businessman who actually owned about half the County and was a leading investor in more businesses than I can name. He drove an old run-down Chevy sedan and routinely wore overalls around town. People who didn't know him probably thought he was a down and out farmer coming to beg a loan at the local bank. He was actually the majority shareholder probably going to a board meeting! He died about 10 years ago, and his estate still isn't settled.

My father's uncle came over from Italy in the early 1900s. He spoke english well enough, though he understood it perfectly.

He bought land to start a farm and held onto that land until the offer was too good to refuse. He had several million in the local bank. He continued to dress the same and live frugally.

He walked in one day to get a cashier's check to pay a bill and the teller wanted to charge him a fee. Great-uncle asked the teller to "talka to Bill". "Bill" was the manager/president of the bank. Needless to say, Great-uncle didn't pay a fee for the check.

Never judge a book by it's cover.

Sounds like Sam Walton...

It is sad that some people turn so cold in times of great need, but I am not surprised.

Just after Katrina, the church across the street from ours in Baton Rouge (both just a block off one of the major evacuation routes out of New Orleans) turned away several folks because they looked like bad people. (I never heard of them actually taking anyone in.) Our church ended up with 20-40 people, depending on the day and the need, and more than a few came to us after being turned away across the street. We never turned anyone away.

.....CLIFF
(like, who else?)