All The Excitement Happened In The First Half-Hour Of Work Today. Then It Went Back To Normal.

When I entered the mall this afternoon I noticed the “plant people” (AKA the company who services the greenery) were changing out the shabby-looking plants. Fifteen minutes later, when I’d clocked in for my shift at the Customer Service desk, a customer came up and asked how to get to one of the loading docks. The plant people had told her the plants were getting tossed out there, and she wanted to take some home.

I don’t know anything about the behind the scenes parts of the mall, but I asked someone from the cleaning department who happened to be walking by. She had some information, but said a security officer would know much more. In the midst of all this, a second customer came and asked the same question. I explained if she could hang on we were working on getting an answer.

An officer came and explained that for security reason customers weren’t allowed in the dock area without permission from the mall office. (People sometimes do it, but it’s unauthorized.) I called the office, who verified what I'd been told; the customers were out of luck. They said they’d follow up with the plant people so they weren’t giving out the wrong information.

I could tell the customers were irritated--as I would be. The officer said if they could wait a bit he’d finish his task and then accompany them to the dock. He didn’t say it, but I knew he was going WAY over and above his job description. The customers got comfortable in the nearest seating area and waited. It looked like they were having a great conversation.  Eventually I got a call from the officer, who asked me to send them to the nearest exit where he was waiting for them.

I suspect the story had a happy ending, but I'll never know.

Five years ago today: New Thing #181--Skivvies