Fry's Electronics is a classic example of the "love it / hate it" dilemma. The exasperatingly low quality of their staff is well documented elsewhere, so there's little need to go into that again. If you happen to be in a Fry's in Silicon Valley, it's not an exaggeration to say that you are more likely to get help from the consumer standing next you in the aisle than the service rep. I have witnessed, and participated in several interchanges where an engineer responsible for some aspect of the product in question happens to be shopping there, answers questions from customers.
But like I keep trying to say, that's not the point of this post. This post is about your civil rights. In 1788 Patrick Henry said "You ought to be extremely cautious, watchful, jealous of your liberty; for instead of securing your rights you may lose them forever." Here's a tiny little thing you can do at Fry's to be a patriotic defender of liberty: stop fricking showing you receipt at the door!
Fry's is not Costco -- it is not a "club," you did not pay any money or sign a contract to "join" Fry's. Shopping at Fry's does not constitute an agreement to give up any of your rights -- it's a public establishment. When asked for your receipt at the door, just (politely) say "no thanks!" and keep walking. Not having a pink mark on your receipt doesn't mean you can't return an item -- I've easily done this many times. (OK that's a lie, returning things to Fry's is never easy, but you get the idea).
I have been doing this for years, and I have never had a single issue -- in fact the employees at the door have always been polite. They understand that they can't stop you -- you should too.
I walked passed them for years. I used to give a 'no' but then I would just ignore and walk past. Then, one day, I realized I felt sorry for them. Here is a job that is so worthless that people just ignore them. So... lately I've been letting them validate their existence by checking my bag. Like I'm doing a good deed.
But then it gets more confused ... now I kinda feel self conscious when getting my bagged checked as all the other folks just walk out. I know the other customers are thinking 'doesn't that guy know he can just walk past them?' ... or I guess now 'doesn't that guy know that his civil liberties are being violated!'.
And so lately, not normally given to feelings of guilt or self conscious thought ... I'm starting to get offended by the Fry's pink marker guy again ... and this time for his role in giving me a head trip.
You know the scene in Airplane where the airport lurkers keep offering the Captain flowers, pamphlets, salvation, etc, and he just starts kicking their butts? There should be a scene in a comedy where 'let me check your bag' gets answered with an comically timed upper-cut strong enough to send the name badge and pink maker flying in different directions.
It's lunchtime in Silly Valley ... I think I'll head to Fry's on Lawrence.
Posted by: Dominic | January 05, 2009 at 10:49 AM