Curb(side Pickup) Your Enthusiasm
"As you may have heard, with the preparation of Black Friday coming up, corporate has come up with a new feature to help cater to the increasing demand of our customers...we're going to implement curbside pickup! Isn't that wonderful?" Tai excitedly beamed.
"That sounds annoying already," Koji scoffed.
"On the contrary, it's super cool! Instead of shopping in store, you can shop online in the Cloud 9 app, and once you completed your order, you can pick it up within 1-3 hours!" Tai smiled.
"Hmmm, does that mean less customers coming inside the stores? That's something I could get behind," Rika tapped her chin.
"We're trying to make our customers' shopping experience as convenient as possible! That's why we've even blocked out some of our more premium parking spots and reserved them for customers who are coming in to do curbside orders," Tai proudly said.
"Why do I feel like this is going to backfire?" Henry raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, let's think positively here! I know this is a fairly new concept, but we're essentially creating a whole new department here and we could use some people to see how this will go," Tai paced back and forth in front of the room.
"I volunteer as tribute!" Ken shot up from his chair.
"Absolutely not!" Kari and Izzy shouted in unison.
"I can't have you leave the cafe! We're already shortstaffed, you have to stay!" Kari said.
"Sorry Ken, it's either cafe or maintenance crew. We can't afford you to mess up our inventory again," Izzy crossed his arms.
"It was one mistake!" Ken exclaimed.
"One big one, apparently," Rika snorted.
"If people don't come up, I guess I'll have to pick them myself," Yolei tapped on her clipboard.
"Wait, is there anything in it for us if we do volunteer for this stupid curbside delivery?" Davis raised his hand.
"Just because we're still experimenting with this new idea, the person with the highest satisfaction and accuracy ratings will get a $100 bonus at the end of the month," Yolei smiled.
"Oooh! Ahhh!"
"Why didn't you say that from the beginning? Sign me up!"
"Pick me!"
"Me too!"
"Okay guys, we can only pick a limited amount! If you want to be part of this pilot program, just drop your name into this...empty coffee canister after we wrap up and I'll pick some random names out," Tai shook a plastic container in the air.
"Hold on! Before we go, just one more thing! We're also having a mystery shopper in the store today! Isn't that exciting?" Yolei smiled.
"You mean a mole? What's exciting about a corporate rat?" Rika scoffed.
"Anyways...since we are anticipating a special mystery guest, we ask that everyone be on their best behaviour today! That shouldn't be too much to ask for, right?" Tai loudly asked.
"Minimum wage, minimum effort," Ryo stuck his thumb down.
"This is so stupid...I hate this job...," everyone began to grumble.
"Love the enthusiasm guys!" Tai forced a smile.
"Why did they raise the retirement age to 85? Whatever happened to the French dream of letting us rot in our 50's and die in peace," Gennai grumbled and slid out of the.
"We're not in France for starters," Izzy rolled his eyes.
"If I knew Germany was going to give Paris up to a bunch of flamboyant homosexuals like a bunch of bitches, I probably wouldn't have left. I guess the gays do know a thing or two about human rights," Gennai remarked.
"Are you talking about World War II?" Izzy turned red.
"Read a history book," Gennai glared at him and walked off.
Service Desk
"Hey you two, you're done here," Yolei snapped her fingers at Rika and Ryo.
"Why? What did we do?" Rika made a face.
"Do I seriously have to ask you? Rika, you're never pleasant over the intercom-"
"Or anywhere else," Ryo snorted.
"You're not helping," Rika glared at him.
"Ryo, you're not perfect either. You just let customers return just about everything and anything! Do you even care about this store?" Yolei yelled.
"Minimum wage, minimum effort... Besides, you should be thanking me- if I didn't do this, customers would throw tantrums demanding to see a manager, where you would just tell me to process the refund anyways, and that's a waste of time for both of us, don't you think?" Ryo shrugged.
"Smart ass! You're both being replaced by people who actually know how to follow the rules and make a good impression on our mystery shopper. Meet Kristy and Cody, your new replacements!" Yolei shoved two young kids towards the service desk.
"Whoaaa!" the boy, Cody gripped onto the edge of the tabletop and caught himself. The girl Kristy, however, tripped on her feet and toppled on top of Cody, causing both of them to fall down.
"Violet, can we have a word with you...somewhere away from these chumleys?" Rika muttered from the side of her mouth.
"What is it?" Yolei put her hands on her hips.
"Why these geeks? That dude's got a bowl cut," Rika winced.
"And what's with the girl? She just gives me Lisa Simpson vibes for some reason," Ryo squinted his eyes at her.
"You don't even want to hear what people used to say about you when you first started here, Mr. Optimus Prime," Yolei tapped on Ryo's prosthetic arm.
"Oh my god...," Rika gasped in shocked amusement.
"Who hired you as an assistant manager?" Ryo put his arm behind his back.
"Corporate did!" Yolei grinned.
"Of course they did...," Ryo frowned.
"Well, if these guys took our jobs, does that mean we get unemployment?" Rika shrugged.
"Not so fast! Tai and I decided that since we had to move you from one job, maybe you guys would like to try a newer job...one where you could have an opportunity to make more money," Yolei put her arms around the kids and led them to the stock room.
Pharmacy
"Hey, you...blondie!" a man with disheveled dark hair and facial stubble whistled at Thomas.
"Whatever happened to using complete sentences? I feel like people beckon me like a dog here," Thomas leaned his broom against a shelf.
"Maybe if you're a good boy, he'll give you a treat," Sarah flashed him a small smile and mopped in the opposite direction.
"Ugh...," Thomas walked over to the pharmacy. "By the way, you can call me Thomas. See my name tag?"
"Wow, I try to stay out of work gossip, but you really are as uppity as everyone says," the man remarked.
"What? Who says that?" Thomas turned red.
"I just told you, everyone," the man sipped at a coffee.
"Look, I have a lot of work to do, so what do you need?" Thomas frowned.
"Rumour has it that you have a medical degree," the man said.
"Is this a set up for a punchline? Because I really don't have the time," Thomas pressed his lips together.
"No, I really do need the help. Listen, I just need someone to cover me for a little bit because my more important and better paying job needs a little TLC at the moment," the man yawned.
"I don't think that's of my job responsibilities," Thomas frowned.
"On the contraire, mi amigo! You see, as part of the maintenance crew, you guys are supposed to help foster a clean and healthy environment, and wouldn't making sure the pharmacy is fully stocked and running part of that?" the man tapped at his coffee cup.
"I'm not sure if that-"
"I already took it up with the store manager and he agrees with me. That's why I came looking for you," the man said.
"Really?" Thomas said.
"Look, you already have the credentials and I'm looking to replace my pharm tech. Nice guy, but a bit awkward and nervous. I can't work with someone who has IBS, without the B...if you can handle this shift, I'll see if I can put in a good word with the good man upstairs," the man said.
"You're talking about Tai, right?" Thomas asked.
"Who else would I be talking about?" the man shrugged.
"Right," Thomas said.
"Oh, since you'll be covering me, you should at least know who I am. You can call me Daigo, but to the customers, I'm Dr. Nishijima. I'd prefer to keep it formal with them," the man extended his hand out.
"I'm Thomas. You can call me Thomas," Thomas shook his hand.
"When you work at the pharmacy, you might want to use your last name. Trust me," Daigo said.
"Why?" Thomas asked.
"You'll find out soon enough...let me see if I can find you a spare lab coat to make it official," Daigo led Thomas to the pharmacy supply closet.
Stock Room
"So each of you get have one of these neat scanners that will alert you of any new pickup orders. You just click on any of them here...and a list will pop up with all of the items in the order. Everything should be easy to find, cause as you see, the department and aisle number is right there next to the item. Once you find the items, you can scan the barcode and move on to the next item. Is that easy enough?" Tai asked.
"What if we don't have that item in stock?" a gangly guy asked. He had his spiky brown hair held back with a visor.
"That shouldn't be the case, but if it is, you can either substitute it for a similar item if the item is available, or cancel the original item from the order. Keep in mind we would like to fulfill every item in the order even if you have to make substitutions- otherwise it would count against your score, and hurt your chances of getting a bonus," Tai said.
"Damn...I was just going to say we don't have anything on the list," Rika grumbled under her breath.
"Me too," Ryo whispered.
"Again, the person who fulfills the most orders quickly and accurately by the end of the month will win a $100 bonus! May the best man...or woman, win!" Tai excitedly said.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah...," a bunch of sales associates grumbled.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I would rather be doing returns all day than to walk around a store shopping for someone else," Ryo groaned.
"Same...why do we even have to do this? We're just encouraging customers to be even lazier slobs. All they have to do is press buttons on their phones and we have to actually look for the items," Rika huffed as she pushed a shopping cart down an aisle.
"Look, already. Check out this stupid order...nonfat vanilla vegan ice cream," Ryo played with his scan gun.
"That is stupid...ugh. If it's vegan, is it even ice cream?" Rika scoffed.
"I dunno, but that's what it says," Ryo shrugged.
"Hmmm...it doesn't look like we have that," Rika frowned as she peered through the glass doors of the freezer aisle.
"The managers did say we could substitute, remember?" Ryo said.
"That's right...okay then. This person's getting regular vanilla ice cream. They need to remember they're in the real world now and toughen up anyways," Rika pulled a carton of ice cream out of the freezer and tossed it in the shopping cart.
"Beep beep!" Ryo scanned the barcode on the ice cream.
"Hey, you two! Stop fooling around and scatter!" Izzy yelled at them.
"Whoa, where did you come from?" Ryo asked.
"Hey, we're working here," Rika scoffed.
"Really? Because it looks like you're goofing off," Izzy put his hands on his hips.
"Uh, yeah...Violet made us do curbside delivery, and as you see, Ryo is handicapped," Rika motioned to Ryo.
"Look ma, I have one human hand," Ryo raised his hands in the air.
"It's a shame, honestly. I'm just simply helping him out since you guys can't provide proper accommodation for his condition. I think the ADA would like to have a fair-"
"Nope, I'll stop you there. If this is what Yolei wants, then fine. Any problems, go to her. Not my circus, not my monkeys," Izzy interrupted.
"Okay," Rika smiled.
"Not my circus, not my monkeys!" Izzy rubbed his temples and walked away.
"Nice...," Ryo smirked.
"Thank you, I love when my genius is appreciated!" Rika said in a pompous tone.
Jewellery and Cosmetics
"I think you missed a spot," TK snuck up behind Mimi.
"Don't you have some sweaters to fold?" Mimi gasped.
"That can wait. We just wanted to see how things were going on here," Davis swooped in from the opposite side.
"Everything's totally quiet and perfect. In fact, no one has really come up here, except that girl, the one with the long brown hair," Mimi pointed at a girl with pale skin and a lilac dress on. The girl stood in front of a mirror, twisted up a tube of lipstick, applied it across her lips, and admired her reflection.
"You mean the one who just swiped the lipstick?" TK smirked.
"Oh my god, and she did it in front of us!" Mimi gasped.
"No she didn't. I wasn't here!" Davis ran off.
"Yeah, you're on you're own! Bye!" TK followed Davis.
"You guys!" Mimi gasped.
"I was just about to tell you guys to scatter...uh, what's wrong with you?" Izzy looked at Mimi.
"I-I-I...some girl shoplifted in front of me and I don't know what to do...," Mimi wrapped her arms around him and started heaving.
"Okay, calm down...we'll get Loss Prevention on this. When did this happen?" Izzy awkwardly patted Mimi on the back.
"Literally like two minutes ago...And it was right there, at the Secret Hookup corner," Mimi pointed at a makeup counter.
"Excuse me?" Izzy turned red.
"Secret Hookup? The makeup brand, hello?" Mimi pulled him to the scene of the crime.
"What a terrible name for a makeup brand," Izzy frowned.
"What? I think some of their stuff is clever. Look. There's Bum Raisin, Tonsil Hockey, our newest shade, Nipple Play...which is so funny because it's the same color as my-" Mimi began to pull the neckline of her blouse down.
"No! Not here, you can show me late-uh wait, you know what I mean...," Izzy pulled Mimi's hands back up and turned red.
"We'll set up a date and time. How's after work tonight?" Mimi teasingly smirked.
"Cut it out! Can we get back to business?" Izzy snapped.
"Oh right! So the girl stole...Cherry Popsicle. And I know that because it's my favorite shade," Mimi pulled out a tube of lipstick and twisted it to reveal a pinkish-red hue.
"A name that isn't scandalous?" Izzy raised an eyebrow.
"Said who? I think of you every time I put this on, which is every day. I just love the way it feels so good on my lips. And the taste...," Mimi flirtatiously looked in Izzy's eyes as she slowly applied her lipstick and then casually slipped it back in her vest pocket.
"Okay, I think we're done here...that's all I needed to know. I'll forward this over to Loss Prevention- if there's any updates, they can get in touch with you. Not my circus, not my monkeys," Izzy shook his head and stormed off.
Pharmacy
"So how long have you practiced legal medicine?" Daigo asked.
"Legal medicine? What do you mean by that?" Thomas made a face.
"You know...you've got a doctorate and stuff, so you've had to practice some real medicine, like on Grey's Anatomy, right?" Daigo shrugged.
"How long have you practiced medicine?" Thomas rubbed his chin.
"Hey, don't worry about me! I graduated from Brown," Daigo scoffed.
"Uh huh...," Thomas nodded.
"Sure, it was in business administration, but I was in pharmaceutical sales on the side. Sure, it wasn't necessarily accredited, but I'm an expert in anything ending in '-caine', '-etamine', '-phine',-"
"I think I get the picture...," Thomas closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Look, this stuff will be like easy street! All anyone comes here is for cough syrup, Jolly Ranchers, and Sprite anyways-which I already have in bundles in the corner for your convenience. If people wanted a real pharmacy, they wouldn't go to one in the middle of a superstore, right?" Daigo took a bite of a half-eaten donut and counted some pills with a butter knife.
"Heh...," Thomas nervously smiled.
"Anyways, that's it for me today. I think you've got this, Dr. Norstein. Here. You'll probably need this. If you need replacements, Cafe Europa's got plenty of them," Daigo handed Thomas his plastic knife and patted him on the back.
"Huh?" Thomas held on to the knife.
"You've got this bud!" Daigo flashed him a thumbs up and walked out of the pharmacy.
"Are you my new boss?" a tall guy with neatly combed blue hair pushed up his glasses.
"I guess so?" Thomas put his plastic knife in his pocket.
"Good, because I don't know what I'm doing," the guy breathed a sigh of relief.
"This is an interesting turn of events," Thomas remarked.
Service Desk
"Get ready for Black Friday ahead of time by taking advantage of our daily deals! Today, if you buy one pair of shoes, you can get another pair for regular price! It's the perfect time to get shoes for the whole family!" Kristy leaned into the mic.
"Ahem, excuse me!" an old lady approached the service desk.
"Hi, how can we help you?" Cody sat up straight.
"I have a complaint to make!" the old lady scrunched her face up.
"I'm so sorry your shopping experience hasn't been up to your expectations. What happens to be your concern?" Cody calmly asked.
"Why are all of the good parking spots blocked off?! I want to park close to the entrance, it's my god given right as a valued customer!" the old lady stomped her feet.
"I'm so sorry we made you feel that way. What can we do to help you out?" Cody nervously leaned back in his chair.
"HELLO?! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?! I WANT MY OWN PARKING SPOT- THE CLOSEST ONE TO THE ENTRANCE! MINE MINE MINE!" the old lady screamed.
"I'm so sorry, ma'am, but I'm afraid we can't do that. Is there something else we can do?" Cody shook his head.
"Get me a manager! NOW!" the lady screamed.
"Manager to the service desk, please?" Kristy said over the speaker.
"Hi, hi, hi! What seems to be the problem here?" Yolei ran up to everyone.
"This young man is stupid and doesn't know what he's doing! I want my own parking spot and he won't give it to me!" the lady shook her fist at Cody.
"Now, now...there's plenty of parking. You should be able to find a spot!" Yolei said.
"But I want one next to the door! Are you ALL stupid?!" the old lady grumbled.
"Another manager to the service desk please?" Kristy nervously said over the intercom.
"That's not necessary! We can resolve this! Cody, what happened?" Yolei put her hands on her hips.
"Ahem, disregard what I said earlier...," Kristy said over the intercom.
Sales Floor
"What on earth is going on up there?" Rika looked up at the ceiling.
"Hey, what did Izzy say? Not my circus, not my monkeys," Ryo put his arms behind his back as Rika wheeled through the aisles.
"Iron Man, what's next on our list?" Rika tilted her chin up.
"Diapers, baby wipes, and formula. It's supposed to be in the baby section," Ryo said.
"Really? Let's go find it...," Rika rolled her eyes.
"Where is the baby section?" Ryo looked around.
"I dunno. Maybe we should check the pharmacy? Isn't that where all that crap has to be?" Rika shrugged.
"But Rika, there's a whole baby section according to the app. See?" Ryo pointed at his scanner.
"Why would babies have a whole section to themselves?" Rika said.
"I dunno. I get that this store is run mostly by idiots, but that's gotta be a thing, right?" Ryo said.
"I'm not seeing it anywhere, let's just go to the pharmacy. Hop in," Rika wiggled the shopping cart.
"Don't mind if I do," Ryo climbed in and leaned back in the cart.
"Look, there's a whole aisle of diapers right here!" Rika said.
"But there's a picture of an old man on the package! And his bulge makes me uncomfortable. Do you think it's from...you know?" Ryo reached over for a package of adult diapers.
"The label says they're extra absorbent...so I think that's all just soaked up pee right there," Rika poked at the package.
"Ew...," Ryo grimaced.
"I don't see any baby diapers, but these should be close enough. Scan them through," Rika shrugged.
"On it. One item down, two more to go!" Ryo grabbed the diapers and scanned them.
"I don't see any formula, but protein powder's gotta be the same thing, right? The labels look almost the same," Ryo pointed at large metal canisters.
"Formula, protein powder...it's all nutrition dust, right? Scan it in!" Rika handed him a bin of protein powder.
"Alright, baby wipes...," Ryo pointed his index finger in the air.
"Hmmm...I don't see any of those. However, I think the auto department sells wipes," Rika pursed her lips.
"Close enough! Onwards!" Ryo yelled.
Pharmacy
"Hi, how can I help you today?" Thomas asked.
"I'm here to pick up a prescription...for my back...," an angry looking man said. His button-down shirt had coffee stains on it and the buttons were fastened haphazardly.
"Sure, what's your name and date of birth?" Thomas asked.
"Hiram Ishida, and I'm clearly over 18," the man gruffly said.
"Thank you for telling me your name, but I just need your birthday to confirm your identity as well. You wouldn't want some other person picking up your prescriptions without your knowledge, now would you?" Thomas asked.
"Fine, here's my damn ID. See?" the man took out his wallet and flung his driver's license at Thomas.
"Whoa, why is it red? Is it a fake ID?" the blue-haired guy gasped.
"Joe...stay out of this," Thomas warned.
"I just want to get my prescriptions without any judgement," the man pulled out a carton of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket.
"Absolutely. I just ask that you refrain from smoking indoors. This is a smoke fr-"
"Fine. Not that a little smoke killed anyone. Just hurry up with my medications," the man gruffly said.
"Hmm...all I'm seeing from your recent history is an 80mg tablet for OxyContin, take as need-"
"Yes! That's mine! Gimme gimme gimme!" the man gripped the counter and leaned in close to the pick-up window.
"Oh... I'm sorry, I can't refill it. According to our records, your prescription was picked up three days ago," Thomas said.
"Then refill it! I ran out already!" the man growled.
"I'm afraid I can't do that. You don't have another refill on file," Thomas said.
"What's the problem? Where's the other guy? He refills it for me!" the man punched at the plexiglass window.
"The other guy?" Thomas stepped back from the window.
"The other guy! You know, the certified doctor with the actual degree?!" the man tapped at the window.
"Oh...that...Brown University in Business Management," Thomas flatly read a diploma that was hanging on the wall.
"What? Like you have a Ph. D?" the man growled.
"Sir, let me see what I can do for you. I'm just going to shut down this window right here so we can focus on getting you out of here as soon as possible," Thomas reached up and grabbed onto a metal gate.
"Good! Make it snappy!" the man said.
"Just give us a moment...thanks for your patience," Thomas awkwardly slid the metal barrier down over the plexiglass.
"I don't know why you're thanking me! I didn't give you any patience yet, and I'm not giving it to you now! Hurry up!"
"Thomas, are we going to be stuck here until the end of our shift?" Joe slinked to the ground.
"I hope not," Thomas silently picked up a phone and whispered into it. "Hey, I'm going to need security intervention by pharmacy. Please come ASAP, and be as discreet as possible. Thanks...,"
Security Office
"I don't understand why I'm here," a girl with long brown hair and pale skin glared at Gennai with her piercing violet eyes.
"Honestly, I don't know and I don't care. I'm old, and I just want to die," Gennai groaned.
"Miss Amano, we all know why you're here. You can either admit it, or we'll have to call in a manager and maybe they can help us out," Henry crossed his arms.
"Then get one, because I'm not talking to you rent-a-cops! What, are you guys diversity hires? They needed to fill a quota for a senior citizen and a barely legal kid?" the girl snarled.
"Heh," Gennai scoffed in amusement.
"Listen, we have evidence of what you did. We can do this the easy way or the hard way!" Henry sternly said.
"I want a manager. Now!" the girl rapidly tapped on the tabletop.
"Can't reach Violet or Porcupine...," Gennai held on to his walkie-talkie.
"Can you get the makeup counter girl and the floor supervisor over?" Henry sighed.
"Hi, I'm here," Mimi peeked out from the doorway.
"Come on in," Gennai motioned her inside.
"Hey, is this the person you caught stealing?" Henry asked.
"WHAT?!" the girl exclaimed.
"Yep, that's the girl!" Mimi gasped.
"I didn't take anything!" the girl protested.
"Oh yeah? Check her bag- she took a lipstick!" Mimi pointed at the girl.
"You mean this one? The one I walked in with?" the girl rummaged through her bag and pulled out a tube of lipstick.
"Miss, can we check the rest of your bag?" Henry asked.
"No! Maybe that girl should check her eyes instead! That's why her eyebrows are so uneven," the girl grunted.
"You bitc-"
"Hey, what's going on here?" Izzy walked in.
"Are you the manager?" the girl crossed her arms.
"Floor supervisor," Izzy said. "So what's happening?"
"Great, you guys can't even get a real manager to come, so you sent in this overgrown leprachaun?" the girl snarled.
"Excuse me?" Izzy crossed his arms.
"Trust us, you don't want any of our 'real' managers- they're useless. Heh," Gennai smirked.
"I can leave if you want, but fair warning, it will get harder for you from here," Izzy said.
"He's not wrong," Henry nodded.
"Ugh, fine...I guess I don't have much choice with you bottom of the barrel idiots," the girl crossed her arms.
"Hey Jianliang, we just got a 911 in Pharmacy," Gennai grabbed some batons and pepper spray from a shelf.
"Hey, you guys can take care of this from here?" Henry asked Izzy.
"Really? So I'm not even getting this hired supposed security to stay?" the girl scoffed.
"I can take care of it from here- just go," Izzy dismissively said.
"Ugh! I can't believe you guys are still detaining me! By the time we're done here, I'm calling your corporate office and you're all getting it!" the girl gritted her teeth.
"Mimi, just watch her while I scan through the video footage," Izzy said.
"Great, being babysat by a minimum wage, high-school dropout of a clown who can't do makeup," the girl made a face.
"Uh-"
"You wanted to get out of here fast, right? Don't disrespect my employees," Izzy warned her before going into another room.
"Blech," the girl rolled her eyes.
"I wish I didn't see you steal!" Mimi huffed.
"I didn't steal!" the girl pressed her lips together.
Service Desk
"Excuse me, I have a complaint to make...," a young woman came to the front desk, with tears down her face.
"Oh god, not another one. I hope she's not a mystery shopper," Kristy winced.
"Uh, sure ma'am...how can we help you out?" Cody gulped.
"I decided to try out your new curbside feature that you advertised on your app, and it's the worst thing ever! First of all, I really thought it would be convenient because you promised that we would get prime parking spots, but they're all reserved for like other people! Then I go to pick up this order and it's all wrong! This is what I ordered, you see- baby things!" the woman held up her cell phone.
"Okay," Cody nodded.
"And this is what I got! Protein powder? Adult diapers? Car wipes?!" the lady emptied her shopping bag on the table.
"Would you mind clarifiying? I apologize, but I'm not seeing a problem here," Cody frowned.
"Are you kidding me? I ordered baby wipes, I got auto detailing wipes! Do you expect me to wipe my baby's ass with car wipes?!" the woman cried hysterically.
"It does say that they are lint-free, and won't leave greasy residue on your hands. Also, the wipes are guaranteed to stay moist," Kristy grabbed the container of car wipes and pointed at the labels.
"I am not using car wipes on my baby! Where's the manager?!" the woman yelled in between cries.
"Manager to service desk please?" Kristy said over the intercom.
"Hi, hi, hi! I'm the store manager! How can I help you?" Tai ran up to everyone.
"I'm super upset with my curbside pickup order and these two are not listening to my concerns! My entire order was wrong, wrong, wrong!" the woman pointed at Kristy and Cody.
"That's not what-"
"I'm so sorry to hear that! Cody, please refund this woman her full order," Tai said.
"Okay sir," Cody blankly stared at him. "Miss, I've processed the return for your entire order. Here's your receipt."
"Is there anything else we can do for you?" Tai asked.
"No, because I'm not coming back here again," the woman cried.
"Uh... I'm sorry, but have a heavenly rest of your...oh, she flipped me off," Tai winced.
"Hey Tai...this might be a bad time, but we were wondering, is there any way we can transfer departments?" Kristy meekly asked.
"We appreciate the opportunity, but we don't think this is a good fit for us," Cody added.
"I don't think this is working out for us too," Tai huffed.
Grocery
"Orange ya glad I didn't say banana?" Ryo reached over the shopping cart and grabbed a bag of oranges.
"No, that's not a good subsitution. Put that back. I think there's banana bread by the bakery," Rika gave Ryo a thumbs down.
"Oh, that's brilliant! Let's go!" Ryo dropped the bag of oranges to the ground as Rika wheeled him away.
"Hey guys, is there anything we can help you with?" Zoe peered out from behind a display case of desserts.
"We're looking for some banana bread. Do you have five?" Ryo asked.
"Actually, we only have five left, so you're lucky! That's a pretty large order," Zoe carefully put some loaves of banana bread in the shopping cart.
"Well, they originally wanted five bananas...but we couldn't find them," Ryo scanned the bar code on the label of banana bread.
"But the bananas-"
"By five bananas, do you think five individual bananas, or five bundles of bananas?" Rika interrupted Zoe.
"Who cares? It's not like we could find them anyways," Ryo shrugged.
"But-"
"You're right. Well, thanks for the help, Blondie!" Rika gave Zoe a slight nod and wheeled Ryo away.
"Please don't thank me at all!" Zoe yelled.
"Byeeeee!" Ryo waved at her.
"The bananas were right next to the oranges...," Zoe mumbled to herself.
Pharmacy
"Hey, security here. Coast is clear," Henry creeped in through the back door.
"Really? Really really?" Joe heaved.
"Gennai took very good care of that disgruntled customer. He's gone," Henry nodded.
"Gennai? The old man?" Thomas said.
"Respect your elders. At least he can confront the difficult customers. You're the ones barricading yourselves in here," Henry shot them a dirty look.
"He has a point," Joe trembled.
"Sorry. Thanks for de-escalating the situation back there, and tell Gennai thanks too," Thomas took off his lab coat and hung it on a hook.
"Wait, where are you going?!" Joe gasped.
"I think maybe we should close up shop for today," Thomas shook his head.
"I'd be perfectly fine with that," Joe sighed in relief.
"Of course," Henry said disapprovingly.
"Hey, this wasn't even my department anyways. I'm in maintenance crew," Thomas protested.
"Then how did you end up in the pharmacy?" Henry raised an eyebrow as they exited through the back door.
"Thomas, I've been looking all over for you! Where have you been?" Sarah frantically ran up to the boys.
"Daigo asked me to cover a shift for him at the pharmacy. I guess that's part of maintenance crew," Thomas shrugged.
"Sorry, boys. I hate to interrupt, but I need him right now. He's coming with me," Sarah linked arms with Thomas and pulled him away.
"Take him, please," Henry shooed them away.
"Uh-uh...Sarah, what's wrong?" Thomas blinked in astonishment.
"I guess we had some very, very upset customers, so Tai wants us to replace some of the curbside pickup signs with these ones," Sarah held up some metal plates.
"Wait, so some customers are getting their own personal parking spots? How did this happen?" Thomas took the placards from Sarah's hands.
"I try not to ask too many questions. I don't want to be more involved than I need to be," Sarah sighed.
"Good idea," Thomas winced.
"Speaking of...I don't know what happened back at the pharmacy, but I suggest you avoid going back there. That pharmacist seems a bit shady," Sarah frowned.
"Trust me, I don't think I'll be going back there for a while. You have no idea," Thomas whistled.
Security Room
"Mimi, can you come in here for a second?" Izzy motioned her inside.
"Izzy, right now? You're sooo bad," Mimi teasingly said.
"Ugh, it all makes sense now. I'm definitely reporting you to corporate after all of this is over," the girl pressed her lips together.
"To verify the security footage!" Izzy grunted.
"Leave the door open," the girl crossed her arms.
"Mimi, just go look over the footage...," Izzy sighed as he set up the security feed for her.
"Yeah, this was where it...oh...oh...she was right. I screwed up," Mimi softly said.
"I kind of wish she was guilty, but we have no choice but to release her. I'm sorry," Izzy ran his fingers through his hair.
"She's such an awful person," Mimi bit her lip.
"I know, I don't like her either...but she's innocent. Let's go," Izzy gave Mimi a small squeeze on the shoulder and they walked back to the girl.
"Well?" the girl smirked.
"I apologize for the inconvenience. After looking over the security footage, we couldn't find any evidence of any accusations being made," Izzy said.
"So I'm innocent? Like I've been saying?" the girl stood up from the table.
"Yes...now if you wouldn't mind, can you sign this paper saying you won't sue us and we'll compensate you for your time?" Izzy pulled a form out from a file cabinet.
"No! I'm not signing that! You either fire your little work girlfriend right now, or when I write my review to corporate about my shopping experience here, I'll mention how I was falsely detained by her and how a certain superior is in an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, which I assume isn't on file with HR, is it, Benson?" the girl flicked his name tag.
"Wait, are you the secret shopper?" Mimi meekly said.
"Yeah, and you failed your review big time," the girl haughtily said.
"Fine, go ahead. I'm not firing anyone, that's above my pay grade," Izzy opened the door.
"You're all a bunch of clowns! I'm not coming back, and you're both getting fired!" the girl scowled as she walked out of the room.
"That's what they all say," Izzy droned as he escorted the girl to the exit.
"You're both in soooo much trouble!" the girl yelled.
"Izzy, I'm so nervous. We messed up with the mystery shopper," Mimi clutched onto Izzy's arm.
"Don't stress it. Everything will work out," Izzy said.
"What do you mean? We're soooo gonna get it. Oh, if Tai and Yolei find out-"
*buzz buzz buzz*
"Seriously?" the girl got held up by security at the entrance gate.
"You read my thoughts exactly. Seriously?" Izzy walked up to the girl.
"Fine, just check my bag! I'm not going back to that torture room again!" the girl huffed.
"Gacha bags, diarrhea medicine, batteries? Do you have a receipt for any of this?" Izzy pulled some items out of her bag.
"What?! I didn't buy any of these!" the girl gasped.
"So is this a confession?" Izzy held up the items.
"No! I don't know how these got there!" the girl protested.
"Look, this would be the second time we would have to call you into questioning...unless, you want to let this whole thing go and maybe write a good review for our store. Otherwise, I might have to report you to your employer, and you'll be banned from mystery shopping from here or any other retailers ever again. After all, nobody wants to work with a thief," Izzy shrugged.
"Ugh! Fine, but I am NEVER stepping foot in this location again!" the girl snarled and stomped away.
"Looking forward to that," Izzy smirked.
"Izzy...," Mimi walked up to him.
"Yes?" Izzy raised an eyebrow.
"Did you plant those items in her bag?" Mimi whispered in his ear.
"I'm not going to deny or affirm that. All I'm going to say is that she really was a terrible person," Izzy shuddered.
"Well, thank you," Mimi wrapped her arms around him and leaned in for a hug.
"Uh huh, sure...," Izzy awkwardly patted her on the back.
Breakroom
"Okay everyone, we were running some end-of-day numbers and my god, this had to have been the worst shift we've had since we opened- by a lot!" Yolei yelled.
"Whatever happened to 'thanks for all your hard work' or 'good job, everyone'?" Koji rolled his eyes.
"That's reserved for people who deserve it, which none of you do! You were all terrible! ALL of you!" Yolei yelled.
"Now that's a bit harsh, Yolei. Mostly everyone put in the same effort they did today as they do every other day. Some people just really sucked today, and that brought the whole store down drastically. If you're really crappy at your job, it affects everyone," Tai stated.
"Wow, that wasn't any better," Izzy blinked in disbelief.
"I think the best thing to do to make sure we correct things is to embarrass and call people out on their mistakes in front of everyone else- that way you all can improve quickly!" Yolei exclaimed.
"I don't think that's tr-"
"Tai, do something about her!" Izzy exclaimed.
"Kristy, Cody, get up here!" Yolei whistled at them.
"Yes?" both of them shuffled to the front of the room.
"I am very, very, very disappointed in you both! I expected you to follow the rules, but I've never seen so many unhappy customers until today of all days!" Yolei scolded them.
"But we were following the rules," Cody said.
"I read the announcements word-for-word!" Kristy said.
"I thought Rika was still doing the announcements- it makes sense why they were so boring today," Davis whispered loudly.
"That new girl does sound like her," TK nodded.
"You guys did technically follow store policy, but you don't know how to resolve customer issues. Yolei and I had to keep coming to the service desk to smooth things over for everyone," Tai said.
"Oh poor you guys, managers actually having to do their jobs...," Koji mockingly said.
"You little-" Yolei narrowed her eyes at him.
"Anyways, you two are being removed from service desk duty and we'll find other departments for you," Tai cleared his throat.
"I still need someone for Cafe Europa!" Kari shot her hand up in the air.
"Oh my god, how pathetic," Davis whispered to TK.
"Perfect! Kristy, trade in your blue vest for a green apron! You'll be part of the Cafe Europa staff!" Tai excitedly said.
"Uh-"
"You can have all the cake pops and coffee you want...," Kari said.
"Okay, fine," Kristy slipped off her work vest and sat next to Kari and Ken.
"Hey, with you, me and Ken, we could call ourselves the KKK crew-"
"No we can't," Ken and Kristy said.
"Oh...," Kari pursed her lips together.
"Save the chit-chat for later! We've still got a walk of shame to go through! Rika, Ryo, you're next!" Yolei snapped.
"We're not getting up there! What did we do?" Rika crossed her arms.
"Yeahhhh...," Ryo put his feet on the table.
"The two of you had the worst accuracy and speed with your curbside pickup in the whole district at a rate of 0 percent! Did you even get anything on the list that people requested?" Yolei barked.
"I thought substitutions were allowed!" Ryo exclaimed.
"Yeah! We couldn't find anything that was in the actual order, so we went with the next best thing!" Rika protested.
"Really? Because Kazu and Kenta didn't seem to have a problem! They were the highest scoring employees in our entire district, but you brought our average accuracy rating down!" Yolei screamed.
"You're telling me that these chumleys fufilled all of those orders without a problem?" Rika scoffed.
"Hey!" Kazu and Kenta yelled in unison.
"Listen, I think we all have our strengths and weaknesses, and apparently your weaknesses is not being able to follow simple directions," Tai pitched in. "Anyways, you're both back on Service Desk."
"Yes!" Ryo pumped his fist in the air.
"But they're so rude!" Jeri exclaimed.
"And they're huge jerks!" Kenta said.
"You both literally said the same thing, dumbasses," Rika shot them a disapproving look.
"Sure, they're a bit rude, at least they can take care of difficult customers. That definitely takes a load off of me and Yolei," Tai said.
"I see, so you have time to do other managerial duties, like pass the rest of your responsibilities off to me," Izzy sarcastically said.
"Exactly! And the mystery shopper is gone, so it's perfect timing. Speaking of, does anyone think they ran across the mystery shopper today?" Tai asked.
"How are we supposed to know what she looked like if she's supposed to be a mystery?" Takato asked.
"I just received her profile five minutes ago. Nene Amano, brown hair, purple eyes, interests in makeup, clothes," Tai held up a picture.
"Uhhh...," Izzy and Mimi exchanged guilty glances at each other and turned red.
"Hey, does she look familiar to any of you guys?" TK turned around.
"Hmm, I think maybe I've seen her interact with someone but I can't put my finger on it," Davis teased.
"Can it, or I'll separate the two of you and transfer you to other departments," Izzy threatened.
"Canning it," TK pressed his lips together.
"No, no one has seen her?" Tai raised the photo higher.
"I wish we knew about her earlier, we wouldn't have to assign all of those parking spots to those people who complained at the front desk," Yolei nervously said.
"This is ridiculous...what a waste of time. Let's just go home," the crowd of workers began to mumble.
"Okay, okay! I think that's all for today! You can go home now! Also, we're going to adjust anyone's time clock for anyone who went over their hours on their schedule so they can't get overti- ahhh! Who threw that chair at me?!" Tai dodged out of the way.
"What a day," Thomas pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I'd like to say that we won't get any more shifts like this, but we're only in the beginning of the holiday season," Sarah sighed.
"Please don't say that," Thomas groaned and slumped his shoulders.
"It's okay, honey. Stay strong," Sarah wrapped her arms around him and patted him on the back.
"Okay...," Thomas dumbly sank into her arms and stayed there for a couple of moments.
"Mommy, mommy, mom- hey, who's this?"
"Uh, sorry...," Thomas broke away from Sarah's hug.
"Hi honey, this is Thomas. He works with me in maintenance," Sarah rubbed his arm.
"Hey. I'm Kristy, her daughter...how old are you?" Kristy narrowed her eyes at him.
"I'm-"
"Kristy, let's go home. I'm getting my jacket," Sarah shot her a look.
"I already have mine. I'll just wait for you," Kristy said.
"Uh, it was nice to meet you, Kristy?" Thomas blushed. "I don't know why but I pictured you to be much younger."
"I'm warning you, don't be a creep. My dad's in the military and my brother's been to juvie, and either one of them would kick your ass," Kristy wagged her finger at him.
"Excuse me?" Thomas stuttered.
"I've seen the way you look at my mom. She might not see it, but you're not the only guy who's been like...this. You got mommy issues or something?" Kristy sneered in disgust.
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Thomas blushed.
"Oh yeah? Cause your face is red," Kristy smirked.
"Kristy, ready to go?" Sarah jiggled her keys from across the room.
"Anyways, gotta go. Not a pleasure to meet you," Kristy skipped away.
"Likewise, little brat...," Thomas slid his hand down his face.
"Heh, your stepdaughter giving you issues already?" Ken teasingly snuck up to Thomas.
"She is not my- leave me alone, I have to go home," Thomas snapped.
"Whatever you do, just don't let your new stepson catch you flirting with his mom. He's kinda a tough guy...so tough, they didn't want him working in security," Ken whistled.
"What are you- never mind, I'm not entertaining this!" Thomas huffed.
"It's entertaining alright," Ken smirked.
"I'm done here. Goodnight!" Thomas switched off the lights in the breakroom and walked out.
"Hey, I was still here!" Ken yelled.