The Retail Circle of Hell

In the early 2000s, I visited King’s Chef Diner (the original purple castle on E. Costilla St. in Colorado Springs. Uncle Robb and I ordered and were sitting at the counter closest to the grill. A couple with a small child sat at the counter and it was a pleasant meal. Then a large man barged in, filling the small space with his bullying demands and profanity. Gary leapt over the counter and physically dragged the much larger man out. It was beautiful.

That moment has come to define a certain type of manhood and to set a standard for the kind of protection I hope for from the management of places I go to eat or to purchase goods.

This does not seem to be a part of the modern way of doing business. In fact, the most-badly behaved clientele seems to be allowed to behave any way they want, to the detriment of the rest of us.

““[They are] The ones who chose to live free of inconvenience by tolerating the agony and degradation of others.””

— Fool’s Quest: Book II of the Fitz and the Fool trilogy by Robin Hobb
https://a.co/i7xqKFk

The customer-bully cannot be confronted, refused service, or in any way spoken to. Simply bring them their food or ring up their purchases. If they assault staff or customers verbally, the well-behaved must tolerate it in silence. Staff are forced to be docile or threatened with losing their jobs.

Thieves know that store policies forbid any action to stop them from stealing. They won’t even look up as the exit alarm sounds. The alarms are for the accidental missed purchase or for the timid thief. Most are emboldened. Customers will ask staff why stores bother with alarms, as they are becoming aware that no one stops thieves.

People take their frustrations out on retail and service people, making these jobs an absolute nightmare for anyone with a good nature, and the policies force brave men and women to stand silent in the face of abuse toward others and themselves.

A frail, elderly couple were deliberately hit by the items hanging off a large cart by the abusive customer behind them, while being told to “Hurry it up. The rest of us haven’t got all day.” When the shaken cashier suggested patience, she was subjected to verbal abuse, as were the customers behind them. According to policy, the cashier was in the wrong. She is to take the abuse of herself and others with a smile.

You know what? Screw that! How are decent human beings supposed to stand by when these things happen? How can you consider yourself decent if you do not go to the defense of the elderly? The bullied? How can a society stand this?

What happens when no one will defend the defenseless? What happens when the brave are muzzled? Hamstrung and hogtied? When lawyers determine that selfless bravery is wrong? We become this. A place where a man is not allowed to be manly, where a brave woman must quit rather than continue to be silent and meek.

Beneath the Evergreens

Past cities, then towns, past villages and hamlets, past slowly winding rivers, over mountain passes and down the twisting road, past the place where the blacktop turns into smooth gravel roads, and to the place where the road is a rocky trail that halts our vehicle procession. Past there to trails, then to the land of no trails, beside the winding creek, higher and higher and further and further in. On foot, the son, son-in-law, grandson, granddaughter, and great-grandson leave two generations of women in a valley beneath high Rocky Mountain hills.

The aspens glitter and sing in the wind, as the marshwillows sway. Purple asters, white cow parsnip, and mountain bluebells form the bouquet. For this trek is the final trek for my father.

We who cannot make the final hike sit and wait at the “base”, as near as we can get to the place where my father’s ashes will be spread, wanting to be close.

And while I think about him resting in the place we loved so much, some inner turmoil calms and is set to rest as well. Dad is where he wished to be. Beneath the blue skies, high in the Rockies, where deer, elk, bears, and a lone wolf roam free.