An Intriguing Tale Of Being An Owner

Fella came in to rent our internet services at $5 an hour.  He paid upfront – but after an hour .. he didn’t leave.  2hrs later, we gave him a gentle reminder that he was already up to 2 hrs, but he went on using it.  3 hrs later, he was still on msn .. and facebook chatting with his friends.  So i told him we were closing for supper for abit and if he wanted to use the computer again, he can come back.  In which he asked if he needed to pay for it again..??? *slap forehead*

Nevermind, he finished up.. and i told him he still owes us $10 and he replied he didn’t have the money . .and that he was sorry.  He continued to blame the other co-worker for not reminding him that his hour was up.. in which the boss replied .. he already informed him 2 hrs ago.  He said he was gonna come back when he has the money to pay.  *slap forehead*!

I took a picture of him.. and told him.. in the meantime, he was going up my blog.. till he pays up.  Another customer who was in . . then told me that it was illegal for me to take his picture without getting a written permission. *slap forehead* .. and that he would use his own ways.. “intimidate him” .. instead of taking his picture.  So it’s alright to intimidate him.. but not alright to take his picture..?? what kind of meaning is it.. here in Canada.. that ppl can rip you off.. but we can’t take evidence that they had cheated us..??  Donch you think this is ridiculous..!!!  If i was making the law.. i would be flogging him. And some ppl should just not say anything.. if they donch own their own business.. !!!

This country has gotta be the busiest when it comes to voting.  It’s the federal voting this time though.. but having voted last year for the town and its town council .. and see that it didn’t really make a real difference .. i really donch wanna waste my time. Like all parties.. they promise you just about anything.. before they get into politics.. after they are in there.. you never hear nor see them.  So nah.. i’m not gonna waste my time.. and closing the store .. to go vote.. for someone who probably wouldn’t come by at all to see you .. during the time he is in office.

Ppl are very strange in this town.  A few years ago.. i make the spouse go loan some money to a customer.. who said.. she needed some money to get toilet papers and food for her kids.. because her basement got flooded.  When welfare check came.. she didn’t come pay us back..  we had to hunt her down.  *slap forehead*

Ppl would come into our store.. and try to sell us stuff.. when they still owe us money for ripping us off.. by not bringing a movie or several games back on time.  Some keeps them for a few months.. and owe us as much as $50 for lates.. and still got the cheek.. to come sell us stuff.  They must think we don’t know.. or trying to take us for a ride.  Well, you know what..??  for ppl like that.. instead of paying our usual.. we usually pay them much less.. or worst.. donch buy from them.. ever again.  But donch get me started on why… the boss still do good stuff .. and help out those who had ripped us off before.

There are just some ppl .. whom you don’t even want their money .. knowing that they are either crazy.. or had been ungrateful or unreasonable towards you .. in the past.  But these ppl got no shame.. or something.. after what they did to us.. they still dare show their faces .. in our store.

Today.. one such person came into our store.  She must have thought i was smiling at her.. when i went to get coffee.. and saw her with another customer.. whom i liked.  Freak that…!! even if she had a million bucks to give me i won’t be smiling at her..   why..??  she called immigration on me.. when i first arrived here in Canada.. and claimed that she was fired.. because the boss (my spouse) fired her to hire me on .. the illegal immigrant.  And what had i done for her..??  loan her money .. when her b/f ran out on her.. and her daughter.. so that she can pay her rent.  Make the boss send her home.. when it was snowing bad.  Let her bring her kid to work, if she can’t find the sitter.  Never even fired her .. when she didn’t show up for work.. because she claimed her b/f was gonna kidnap her kid.  *slap forehead*.  Gave her a bonus.. even though she only worked 3 months before Christmas.   Because of ppl like her.. i lost confidence .. in treating anyone good first.

Luckily, only 10% of our customers are this way.. else I would have moved home to Singapore.

Running a business in this town is not as easy .. today we just had a visit from the cop with regards to a hard drive for an xbox 360 that we bought from a 17 yrs old a few days ago.  Yes.. it wasn’t a lot of money .. but $30 .. but i won’t even buy eye cream at that amount .. because i need to be thrifty .. but than these crooks would come and  sell us stolen stuff.. and we prolly never see our restitution money at all.  *sigh*  Sometimes, i wonder why i am so thrifty .. when these crooks are just ripping us off.. whenever they can.

We have been having some crooks in the store of late .. and these are the ppl who would rent our movies or games.. for $3 and never brought it back.  Calling them did not bring us any closer to getting our property back .. yet there is nothing we can do about it.. because according to the darn law here.. they did pay to rent it.. and not returning them is not against the law.  Sleepness night we are not getting because we have a sleep number bed but why should we always be the one losing money.  So we finally put up the Most Wanted List to shame them.. with their name and amount they owe us.. and telling everyone that they ripped us off.

Hallelujah..!! more loans for the fishermen..!!!  NOT..!!! the government is willing to bend backwards, forward .. and sideways.. and will not hesitate to give money to fishermen.. and i have no problem with it.  But what about young entrepreneurs like us..?? who was there to help us when we first opened our store..?? no bank would entertain us.. even the CBDC .. who professes that they helped small business to expand.. didn’t even wanna help us.  GREAT JOBS GUYS..!!!

So yes.. i hear the planes flying regularly when i am driving somewhere around town.  I heard they had a soft launch the other day.. and guess who were invited for the flight..?? the town councils.. and some other “important” people.  But how come .. none of us were invited..?? ain’t we taxpayers too..??

Like always .. the town is still full of old boys.. and refuses to give us the change that we had elected for.  4 yrs .. of service to this town.. was what they were voted for..  and who are they looking out for so far..?? themselves.. as far as i can see.   Yup that’s the small plane for the town of Yarmouth.. yet they need to spend $15K to send 5 town councils.. for a “meeting” in Whistler, Vancouver.

When you own a business as long as we have .. you think you see all sorts. But everyday, you learn something new.. and everything.. ppl still try to con you.  It’s not even the older crooks.. that tries it.. it’s the young kids.  They know that if they get caught, they are too young to be charged.. so they dare do stuff.. like cheating, stealing and breaking in. One even tried to sell us stuff today.. and claimed that he was helping a friend who has cerebral palsy. Of course, we try to do the right thing.. and didn’t wanna chance that he was not telling the truth.  But later this evening.. we found out the things that were sold to us were stolen.. *sigh*.  How do small businesses like ours stay open..???  *sigh* .. when you have so much crooks in this town.

Today .. another competitor opened its door in the mall.  Like anyone who has small businesses .. one cannot help but wonder how this is gonna affect us.  Of course, we survived Walmart, Staples and Zellers as well as SuperStore when they renovated and put in a huge game department, and of course good old Movie Gallery .. but competition is competition.

There are certain things the competition cannot compete with us.. but there are things we can’t compete with them.. like the quantity of the used games.  But having said that.. i know that we do have a long standing loyal customers.. and someone needs to share that piece of pie for sure, thus making it a lot harder for small businesses like ours.  But we survived .. the big boys.. so we are hoping to survive one of the biggest game store in the province.

I have a constant need to do good .. it seems.  And truth be told.. i’m quite zealous about it.. unfortunately, I can’t seems to find a good place to fund raise for.  Truth be told.. this year.. i had wanted to start early instead of just during Christmas time.  And the spouse and I had chosen a plafe to help fund raise for .. but little did i know that the place we were planning to help had someone who cheated us ome 7 yrs ago.

How can we work with someone who cheated us.. ?? when we were struggling so hard to keep our new business afloat then.  Would you .. do good for an organisation. when you know that someone working for them.. cheated us..??  I just can’t get pass it.. so I wasn’t gonna put myself out.. what about you ..?? would you ..??

About 1.5 weeks ago, i had called the high school here to inform the principal that Chinese New Year was just round the corner and if he would like me and the Chinese restaurant owner to collaborate with them.. to cook up a reunion dinner for the foreign students here.

The principal had said that he was gonna get the foreign student coordinator to contact me.. and sound very enthusiastic about it.  As you all know.. Chinese New Year is a huge deal.. for us Asians.. and I had explained this to the principal.  Till today.. Chinese New Year is over.. i’ve yet to hear from the school.  I guess .. like the town. .they don’t really care too much.  I’m sad and devastated.. that the teachers and the so – called nurturers of the next generation is so “tidak apa” .. showing no respect for the foreign students culture nor their well-being.. since they are away from home so far.   I don’t need the best diet pills while staying here in this awesome town… and if you want to know if you should send your kids to this part of Canada to study.. please don’t ..!!!

You spend so much money to send them here.. and what do the school do..??  BOCHUP..!!!  better off.. in the school elsewhere.  If you are about to send your kids here .. please write and let me know.. and i’ll let you know which school not to send them to.

There are a lot of dishonest people everywhere but when you do own a business like we do, you probably get to see a lot more than any others . .just because.  We have many good customers of course.. and that’s the only reason .. why we are still in business.. but there are those whom we have recently come across.. that one don’t really know what to think of them.

They come in one day and sell stuff to you .. a week or two later.. comes and buys it back from you .. and that goes on . .for a few months.  Finally the other day.. a woman called to say that the things they had sold us ..  belong to her.. and the guys had not paid her for it yet.  A call to those “guys” .. actually was quite funny.  While one made it sound like they had never heard of us.. the other was so quick to jump into defence.. to say they didn’t steal anything from us..  and we never said anything about stealing.

So today .. one of the two came in with some headphones.. in a box and not even open .. and tried to pass it off as something he had gotten.. but he already had one.  So why did you buy it then..?? come on..!! we weren’t born yesterday you know.  And nope. .not gonna buy anything from them no more.. because obviously .. they shoplifted it from somewheres.

Today, we were really busy at the store.. Christmas rush.. and welfare day as well.  So yes.. folks were coming in constantly.. and lots of computer for repairs today too.  Boy..!! we were so busy.. the man didn’t even get to eat.  He sure don’t need no alli this month.  But guess what..??  a $20 speakers were stolen from our store this evening.. while we were busy.  It was at the end of the day.. when we realised that it was missing.   Why are ppl so dishonest..?? it’s just some crappy speakers.. that PB bought from some guys..outta good will.. and i suspect it was the guy who sold it to us a few days ago.. who came in to steal it.  What an awesome town eh..??

2 months ago, a new tenant moved into our old store.  If you recall, we moved outta our old store.. because of how cold it gets .. in the winter.. because of the two huge display windows.. at the old store.. that wasn’t double paned.  We could literally feel cold air coming in.. and i’m not even talking about draft.. cold wind.. coming thru’ those display windows.  As our cashier counter was next to the display windows.. we needed a small heater on all the time.. on top of having to crank up the heat in that store.. and still the store wouldn’t warm up.

Well.. my wonderful landlord offered not only lower rent to the new tenant.. but changed the display windows.. as well.. as repainted the walls.. and also changed the carpets.  What an awesome landlord..!!! Yes.. royally pissed..?? yup. for sure..!!  Now why would he do that to us right..??  Maybe he thinks we are not doing that well.. to continue..?? oh well.. ! nevermind.. we are doing so much better in this new location..!! i like it here better..    donch feel so spooky.. like our last place.  Feng Shui just not good enough.  Here feng shui is fantastic.

Yes.. for any business, locality is very important.  But what businesses and things that surrounds your business is very important as well.  So there is currently a big debate here.. for the people who runs the Y’arc and the downtown.  We want it downtown.. while the people at the Y’arc wants it on a street away from town.. and not friendly located for the tourist.. or to help the downtown people.

Sure the people from the Y’arc is probably saying.. it’s none of my business.. whether.. it helps the downtown businesses or the people who owns properties around that area.  But if they are asking for money from the taxpayer to built that darn thing.. on that darn street.. well.. i’ll say THEY BETTER CARE..!!

This Y’arc i’m talking about is a art center..where plays are staged.. and this is in a location right now.. that is not getting maximum exposure at all. .and to spend a few million to put another new one up.. is ridiculous.. if it does not benefit anyone but themselves.. and those arty farty types.   And if they don’t come to town.. i’m gonna be mighty pissed..!!

I had a customer come in yesterday to our store and wants to exchange 2 games that he had bought 2 weeks ago, for another 2 games..?? *slap forehead* ! And the reason..?? he played it before in another system..and he beat it over and over again already.  *slap forehead*!

So when we buy games from Walmart, 2 weeks later, we too can return it to Walmart because we are done playing with it..?? and exchange it for another 2 games..??  And to think that he insisted on doing the exchange.. and didn’t even blink an eye .. when he told us the reason.. only makes me wonder what has  he got in his brain..??  was he sitting on it the whole time..?? The JOYS of owning your own business..!!!

PS: Yer wondering if we did do the exchange..?? yes. .!! the man did..! i wouldn’t..!!  but outta goodwill he did..!!!  oh my God..!! if i had been alone..!! i would have jumped over the counter . .and smacked him with the 2 games.. he tried to return..!!!

So I told you about PB getting a subpeona to court right..?? So yes.. we being the good citizen.. and law abiding people of this town.. who already pay so much taxes.. and gets nothing in return went to court at 8.50am.  When we arrived there.. we tried to ask the cops who were there.. and they too didn’t know.

Anyhow.. 45mins into court.. the judge called the name of the defendant.. and of course he is nowhere in sight.. and of course the case was adjourned again.. and only when we were leaving court .. did we clued in about what was going on.

Apparently, the defendant’s name.. wasn’t even someone we had met.. it was his g/f who had sold us some break & enter stuff.. from like a year ago.  According to the court .. or the cop or his lawyer.. he did not contact them for about 2 months now.. and may not be in town.  But let me clue you in on a secret.. that afternoon.. PB saw the defendant.. and couldn’t resist asking him.. how come he wasn’t in court.  Guess what he said..??  HE DIDN’T EVEN REMEMBERED THAT HE NEEDED TO ATTEND COURT.

Yup..!! screwed up system.  You would think the cops or his lawyers would try and contact him .. a day or two before eh..?? and not waste good tax payer’s like us .. and our time.

PS :  I’ll have to say the judge seems like a nice fella.

The law enforcement ppl in this town is certainly a wonderful bunch to be around. First they want to visit you at home at 8.30pm.. even though you already told them.. you are putting your kid to bed… and that it was a business matter.. so shouldn’t they be visiting us at the store.. and had some courtesy .. not to come over to our house .. at nite..??  given that we are the witness..!!! and not the one being prosecuted.

On top of it.. they don’t know what the subpeona was for.. what case.. nor anything about it.. because he was doing it for another officer.  JOY..!!!  and then.. he told us.. that a warrant of arrest would be issued if we didn’t turn up..!!!  WTF..???!!!!???  LIKE WE WERE THE ONE .. IN TROUBLE..!!!!!

This law enforcement fellas.. are amazing .. donch you think..??

Yes.. ! that was the phone call i received this afternoon .. when PB was out on an errand for a customer.  How would you feel .. if you were in my shoes..??  While we try so hard to do everything by the book.. and never burnt a game or movie in our store.  Absolutely not..!! and never even thought about it.

Don’t you think that was an insult..??  Customer sent her sister.. and a man.. with 2 kids.. to exchange a game with us.. that they had bought a week ago.  I had asked for the receipt for it.. so that i can change the game for them.  But nope. .they didn’t have the receipt.  They called the sister .. who supposedly had the receipt.. but as soon as she got onto the phone with me.. she said “Isn’t it illegal that you are selling burnt games..??”  in which i took serious offence to that statement. .and accusation.  I then told the sister on the phone not to insult me.. or my business.. and before i could finish .. the bitch over the counter .. told me to stop shouting at her sister.  In which . .i returned the phone to the man.. who was with the bitch.. and told them.. i can’t hear her.

The bitch over the counter.. told me.. that they are the customer.. and that i should “stop”.  I tried to explain to her.. to put herself.. in my shoes.. in which she replied.. she is not her sister. So she went on saying that all she wanted was an exchange. .and i kept telling her.. that i want the receipt.  You see I would definitely  had done something for her. .if she wasn’t so rude in the first place.

And guess what..?? she stared at me so hard.. as if to tell me.. she would fight with me. .physically for a $10 bucks game.. which prolly didn’t even cost her $10 because we have a buy 2 get 1 free promotion on. .the whole week.  You don’t go into ppl store.. and insult and accused ppl of selling illegal stuff..!!!!!  what kinda person are you. …..???  ya.. i guess a very stupid one.. and plus .. i shouldn’t get too upset with someone that stupid right..? She even had the nerve to ask PB to get me to stop talking. .muahhahahaha!!!  in which PB replied..  “she is my wife.. i’m not gonna ask her to stop”.  Well. .he knows better i guess.

And no.. that’s no way to behave .. at all. .whether she was in my store.. or at someone’s else store.  My mother would say.. “what a low class” .. if she was around.