by Marty Smith
(Mr. Danny O'Malia replied to my email about this incident within 48 hours, apologizing and noting that "sagging" has been a problem at that store. A meeting with the store manager had already been scheduled and my email had brought the problem to the top of their agenda. Mr. O'Malia's response, attitude and personal attention is what customers have come to expect from O'Malia's Food Stores... all very much appreciated in a business world that seems to lack common sense and common courtesy.)
Do you know what
"sagging" is??? Likely you do... the fashion among the youth
of today that requires showing off one's underwear with the crotch of the
outer pants allowed to "sag" down to the knees? This is a
story about two respected grocery store chains, the disgusting attire of a
young man and the seemingly apathetic attitude of a customer service
representative.O'Malia's (http://www.omalias.com) has the deserved reputation of being a classy grocery store catering to the comfort and specialty desires of it's customers, offering amenities such as free coffee and carpeted floors. Marsh Supermarkets (http://www.marsh.net) has an equally fine reputation as part of the community and though larger and more generic in nature, the stores and employees are great to do business with. O'Malia's was recently acquired by Marsh and overall, the merger has been good for the customers. Having written all of that, I was shocked by my experiences at the O'Malia's store on 56th Street in northeast Indianapolis.
Both companies have employee uniforms and dress codes but there was one young man at this store who preferred to make a fashion statement rather than wear the approved attire. My attention was first drawn to him as I saw him carrying two bags of groceries out to a waiting customer's car, walking slowly in small steps as the waist of his pants were sagging almost below
his
crotch. Since both hands were occupied he couldn't hold his pants up as he
walked. After the groceries were loaded into the car, the young man turned
to return to the store and as he walked he first pulled up his pants and
then put his hand inside of his pants to adjust his boxer shorts beneath the
jeans. Up to this point, I had assumed he was the customer's son and not an
employee! I personally do NOT want someone who has just had his hands inside
of his pants to handle my groceries.I returned to the store, resolved to bring this to a manager's attention and found a woman in uniform at the customer service desk. I must admit that I was rather harsh when I asked if she was aware that there were out of uniform "thugs" working in her store. I explained that one of the bag boys was "sagging" when she asked what I meant and to my amazement, she asked which one and commented that they were both "sagging". The second young man, seen in the photo, did have his pants low but was wearing a store uniform with the shirt tucked in and a belt holding up his pants. The young man in the black coat and stocking cap was not even close to being presentable as an employee as the photos show.
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The customer service
representative was polite but apparently saw little wrong with the young
man's attire or his action of putting his hands inside of his pants and then
having direct physical contact with customers and product. Yes, she said,
she would mention something to the manager... but her attitude and
expression made it clear that she could not understand why I was upset and
making a complaint.
I suppose that in the context of larger
issues such as winter weather, taxes and the war on terrorism, this episode
is of little consequence. Still, it is sad commentary on the prevailing
attitudes and general apathy of some when a fine store allows it's customers
to be subjected to such disgusting behavior by an employee in blatant
contradiction to the store's own rules and policies.
| This opinion article was also posted on the IndyStar.com forums... generating 8 pages of posts! Click here to read the IndyStar.com forum posts. |
