RECORD STORE TALES Part 290:  The Vacuum Conflict

You’re always going to get conflict in any work place, and a CD store is no different.  Back in the early days we hired this kid named DJ Donnie D.  He was a regular customer that was well liked, so the boss gave him a chance.

Donnie was a good kid, a bit of a neat-freak perhaps, but that’s not a bad kind of person to have around a store.  As we expanded, we hired another new kid named Jason.  Donnie and Jason did not really get along all that well.  Donnie was often criticizing Jason’s musical selections and work habits.  He thought Jason was lazy, often leaving work undone for someone else to finish.  Donnie seemed to develop a bit of a personal grudge because he always made sure the store was left as he found it:  Clean, things put away, not left out for others to tidy up.

What really chapped Donnie’s ass was that Jason didn’t like to vacuum.   We had to vacuum before closing every night and Donnie was certain that Jason didn’t do it when he was closing.  Jason said he did of course but Donnie had his doubts and took it upon himself to prove he was right.

Taking matters into his own hands, Donnie set an elaborate snare for Jason.

We stored our vacuum cleaner in a cabinet underneath the Classical section.  Before Jason’s shift, Donnie tied a hair to the door of the cabinet.  If Jason opened the door, it would break.  If he did not, the hair would be intact the following morning, thus proving that Jason was averse to vacuuming.

I know you’re dying to know what happens next.  I’ll drag this out a little longer.

Donnie really did take this kind of thing really seriously.  I can’t say anything bad about Donnie, I think he always had good intentions.  For example, his neatness obsession extended to painting the bathroom in our brand new store one night.  He wasn’t told to paint it, he just decided to make it look nice.  I came in one morning to find it neat & tidy, and painted from floor to ceiling!  The bathroom also doubled as a storage room.  He had organized all the supplies and tools, marking their new storage places.  He had even drawn the outline of a hammer and labelled the spot “HAMMER”.  Same with “SHOVEL”; it too had an outline of a shovel where it was to be hung.  The boss flipped on him, but Donnie meant well.  That’s just how he was.

So what about the vacuum cleaner?

The hair was intact, unbroken.  Jason said that he vacuumed that night, but he obviously had not.  Busted!