Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Ambiguous Sentence
I work at a tea shop in San Jose and lately, sales haven't been that great. I've only been working there for about six months but from what I'm told by senior employees, sales used to be over-the-roof up until about a year ago. I guess because the economy's been suffering, people haven't been buying drinks at the store as much as they used to. Anyway, all of the employees (myself included) give away free drinks to family and friends or even take as many as we'd like and because there are at least ten employees on staff, all of the free drinks we've been giving out or taking have started to become noticeable, or so I heard from one of my coworkers. During a conversation, he told me that our boss was looking at inventory and that we were for some reason, running out of straws so quickly but they weren't matching up with the sales from day to day. My coworker then told me that our boss said, "I guess people are stealing straws..." I wouldn't say this sentence is vague but more ambiguous. She could have meant that people (customers or people who are just walking around) are actually stealing straws from our store (straws are located on the outside of our counter, meaning anyone is free to take as many straws as they'd like) or that people are stealing straws, these "people" being us, the employees.
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NDSJ91, I’m sorry to hear that things are not going too well at your work. I totally understand how you feel. I’m a swim coach and my hours were cut because not enough kids signed up to come back for the next season.
ReplyDeleteIt’s really interesting how your boss realized that the amount of inventory has significantly decreased. Your response was not only a good one, but it was also vague leaving your boss to think that the customers who were coming in to your shop were the ones to take the straws. I hope that more people come to your tea shop soon!
I really hope you get more customers. This past week has been very hot. I think the tea shop should be getting more customers. What is a tea shop? Is it where they sell Boba? Those are so good, especially caramel snow bubble. Yum:) Anyways, yes part it is true, that sales have not been going up is because the economy. Another reason is that maybe someone else opened up a tea shop and everyone likes that place better. Not that I am saying that your place is not because I never been there, but that may be one of the problems. If there are not any new tea shops that opened, then I do not know what the problem could be. The sentence is ambiguous because she could have meant it in another way. I hope the store find more customers. Try placing ads or even having a Tuesday 15% off kind of thing. Maybe it will bring in more customers.
ReplyDeleteI can really relate to your post a lot. I work at a restaurant as a waitress and I have worked there for about two years now. When I first started working there the sales were outrageous and the waitlist on the weekends was unbelievable. Recently, the company and the employees have noticed a big drop in sales and the amount of people that come through.
ReplyDeleteI like how your post relates to a lot of people’s situations right now. I hear comments such as the one you explained at my work all the time. I then try to determine the true meaning of the comment since it could mean a few different things. I hope that things get better for your shop! :)
Thanks everyone!
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