We got off to a slightly chaotic start staff-wise. One of the part timers left a couple of months ago, after only about eighteen months with us. (Since I am sure she never reads this blog, I will risk venturing the opinion that it was no great loss, as she wouldn't do her fair share of the watering, refused to lift anything as large as a bag of compost, and didn't seem very keen on nursery work generally.) We almost covered the gap in the rota by agreeing that a former member of staff, who has been with the business practically since it started, off and on, would come back for three days a week. This left just one problem, which was that every other Saturday there were only two members of staff on duty. Two people is really not enough at this time of year, and so the manager has been plugging the gap on an ad hoc basis, which I presume we will continue to do until winter arrives and two people are plenty. He worked one Saturday himself, and the plan for next Saturday was for somebody else to do it, and take today off instead in lieu, and for the woman who normally works over on the other side to come in today so that there were three of us. Unfortunately, the person doing next Saturday completely forgot that she was supposed to take today off, and came in as normal, so there were four of us. The manager was worried that the boss would be cross to see four of us there, trade being as it is, and after much discussion she went home again. I thought she was remarkably nice about it. Granted, it was her mistake coming in, but she agreed to alter her working days in the first place to help the business out, and Saturday working is a pain, given that social stuff tends to happen then. Indeed, irregular working patterns are a nuisance. At least with set days each week you know what invitations you can and can't accept, and your friends and relations know when you are free (at least in theory. Some of mine have still not mastered the concept of every Monday and every other weekend after five years.) If I had got to work and discovered that I was not wanted on voyage, and that my efforts levering myself out of bed at six in the morning and burning a couple of quid's worth of petrol (more at current prices) shlepping up to Suffolk and back had been all in vain, I wouldn't have been so good-natured about it.
The manager was very cross to get a phone call from somebody enquiring whether we had a particular Viburnum in stock and if so whether it was in good condition, as a friend of her's had visited us yesterday and been very disappointed that there were plants lying down, and that many of them had yellowing leaves. The manager explained to her that yesterday had been windy, and that unfortunately pots did blow over, and that as it was the second week of September leaves were starting to die back and look a bit tired. Then he grumbled about her to me, and then to my colleague drafted in from the other side. A problem shared is a problem multiplied.
I had just started my lunch break and the phone got very busy. After a while the boss came over the radio, asking whether any of us could get the phone. The manager replied that he was with a customer, and I was at lunch. I kept quiet, but I thought that if you require your staff to help customers in the plant centre, and operate the till, and answer the phone, and you only have three of them, one of whom doesn’t do phones, then when it gets to lunchtime there may not be enough staff to do everything. You had a fourth member of staff first thing this morning, but she was sent home.
The day’s takings were further depressed by somebody returning two moderately expensive conifers, that she had decided were not suitable, and that what she needed was fastigiate yew. She had agreed with us over the phone that she could return the conifers. I think there were several conversations, and I know I was party to one of them, in which I politely suggested that if she didn’t want the plants we would prefer to have them back sooner rather than later, so that we could try and sell them to somebody else. I think she would have like to save herself a drive and hold on to them until we had the yew, but that might not have been for weeks or months, so I was pleased to see the conifers. They were in very good condition, so she had clearly kept them well watered, and I forgave her the fact that she had cut the prices off the labels before deciding she didn’t want them, and the manager had to faff about in the office finding out how much they were, and we will have to print new labels. Some customers who change their minds about plants bring them back in miserable condition, obviously believing that if it’s only a few days then the plant won’t need watering.
The wind didn’t drop all day, and I was rather relieved when it was quarter past five and I could go home.
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