Jefe's House

Angel Street Thrift Shop

“Beware the moronic staff

Beware the snooty staff who think they work in Bloomingdale’s, or that they own all this stuff and wish you’d leave quickly. It’s a THRIFT STORE, people. Wake up. I’ve lived near it for years and have liked shopping there knowing about the social programs they support, and have tolerated the silly little staff, but really, lose the attitude, today you went too far. You’d think their motto might be Love Thy Neighbor, but Berate Thy Neighbor or Loathe Thy Neighbor would be more appropriate. Won’t be back after my experience today; there are many other charities in the city who don’t try to gouge me on the prices, don’t shower me with pretense, and don’t yell and pitch a bitch fit because I dropped some nuts, SOME NUTS (egad!) onto their DOORMAT an inch from the front door, had the kindness and maturity unusual in New York (most people would have walked on out and thought nothing of it) to go let them know I’d spilled some nuts on their mat –

‘Guys? Sorry, I made a little mess up here.’

Middle-aged bitch comes over and stares down his nose at the nuts on the doormat, then stares down his nose at me, rolls his eyes, and walks away, presumably to get a broom.

‘Do you want some help cleaning it up?’ I offer, this clearly being a two-second cleanup job, and hey, I felt bad about making someone else have to clean up my spilled nuts from their doormat.

‘No. That’s why you shouldn’t bring food into a store,’ he added smugly, on the verge of a full-on hissy fit. Golly thanks, Mom. Get parental on your customer; way to get repeat business and spread good word of mouth.

‘Well, now, I did look before I came in and there’s no sign saying Please No Food or Drink,’ I pointed out, because if I’d seen a sign I certainly would have put away my nuts before this man got a look at them.

‘You shouldn’t need a sign. It’s courtesy.’  Oh, now the customer who sought out someone to point out his spill and offer to help clean it up himself is not courteous but DISCOURTEOUS. Brilliant answer. You’re batting a thousand with the customer service skills, bud.

‘Oh, like you’ve never eaten food in a store before!’ I yelled. I was done being polite. ‘It’s on a mat an inch from the door! You open up the door and you shake it out, it’ll take two seconds, I even offered to do it myself!’  No response. I stormed out. You know what else stormed out the door with me? My money, my partner’s money, my friends’ money, and my neighbors’ money.

Way to go, coolio! Golly, you must be the MANAGER! Neato! You’re so IMPORTANT.

• Pros: only occasionally will you find something worthwhile here
• Cons: pretentious prices, snooty staff”