Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Recently, I discussed an overview of things I learned in the years of being a comic shop employee. I mentioned one story where a customer belittled me because I told him he couldn't read in the shop. That got me thinking. I've got a few stories from my tenure working there, so maybe I should give you guys some more. While I have tons of stories about work, this is the first one that comes to mind and the best one I have, so why not waste it on the first time I do this. In fact, this story is so near and dear to my heart that it became part of my stand-up comedy act for years.
About 6 months or so after starting at the comic shop, my manager was transferred to a bigger store and the assistant manager took the reigns. At this time, there were only three of us working at the store, so we had to change things up quite a bit. I was designated to work alone on Sundays, a role I would take on for the next four years. Of all the things I learned about working on Sundays, "we close at 5" was the one thing I got consistently right.
Sundays are a different beast than any other day at the store. It's almost all regulars, with the few random walk- ins. Every Sunday, Comedian Bob came in around 2pm, Nate came in from 3-4:50 (mainly to hang out), and Thor Guy would come in at 4:55. He always called before coming in to make sure we didn't close early, which we never did. Thor Guy was a character who started off really cool but eventually became quite unbearable. He always smelled but was cool to talk to, unless Thor was brought up. He then became a total nightmare and would yell at me and other customers for not having read certain runs of the book. Needless to say, I brought up Thor as little as possible.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
One week, while chatting with Nate, Thor Guy calls. It's about 4:30 and I'm cleaning things up while talking before answering the phone. Thor Guy tells me that he's going to be late and if I'll keep the store open a couple extra minutes. I tell him that's fine and he gets here at 5, grabs his stuff and leaves. This continues for weeks: he calls, says he'll be late, buys his things, leaves. About four weeks into this, he's starting to come in later and later, and I tell him to try and get in before 5 because we're supposed to close then and he says that's fine.
The next two weeks, he doesn't call nor does he come in. I assume he decided to come in on another day and think nothing of it. One Sunday, it's 5pm, and I start closing up the store. I lock the door and turn off most of the lights. Normally, during this time, a person or two comes up, notices the store is closed and leaves. This day, I hear a pounding on the glass door. I don't look up because I'm in the middle of counting the money. However, the pounding gets louder and I look up. It's Thor Guy. At this time, our clocks, which we open and close the store to, say it's 5:05pm, which is the same time my phone says it is.
Thor Guy isn't about to leave, so I walk up to the door, unlock it, and open it a little bit and tell Thor Guy that we're closed for the day. He says he's come in past close before, and it shouldn't be a problem. I let him know that he's called in the past and while I usually say yes, I am not willing to do that today. Mainly I say this because his attitude is awful this particular day and because I just don't want to be open past closing time, like every other retail employee on the planet.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
At this point, Thor Guy raises his arm and pulls back his jacket sleeve to reveal the glory that is an LCD watch from circa 1990. He points to his watch and says in a booming voice "my watch says it's 4:59! You're still open!" I explain to him that our hours are based on our computer's clocks and not his watch. He doesn't get it and demands to come in. I once again say we're closed.
He accepts his fate and turns around to walk to his car. After muttering to himself that he drove to our shop from 5 miles away, he then stops and gains a bit of courage to face the brick wall of tattoos and bad temperament that stood before him moments earlier and says, "You haven't seen the last of me!" I try my best not to laugh at what can only be described as the most super-villain statement I've ever heard anyone say in their life and lock the door up. Thor Guy's attitude and LCD watch could easily make him into the greatest Great Lakes Avenger super-villain of all time: The Timeskeeper. Thor Guy leaves and I begin to wonder what was so important in his pull box that he had to argue with me. I look in his box and see one or two books. Both of them came out weeks ago and neither of them were landmark issues.
Apparently, he called the owners to let them know I closed early, like a bratty four year tattling on the other kids. In fact, I got a phone call as I was stepping out of the shop at 5:30. One of the owners wanted to know if I closed early and I told him "no" and that was that. In my days of working at that comic shop, the owners always had my back, even in the times where I majorly screwed up. Thor Guy never came back in on a Sunday again, but he did start going in on Saturdays. I learned a valuable lesson that day... Just kidding. I didn't.
We'll see you guys again when I recount the time I was delivering pizzas 25 miles away from the pizza restaurant I worked at and was tipped 9 cents! Or I'll tell you about the time I screwed up big time during a sale, since that has more to do with comic books that delivering pizzas does.
Do you have stories about the times you visited your local comic shop let us know in comment section below! You could even follow me on Twitter to tell me I'm wrong about things or follow Comic Vine to get our super-rad tweets.