Nordstrom was a bust, but I had an interview lined up with Jim from Naturalizer. The next day Homer calls me and tells me that loss prevention determined we were over in checks consistently and under in cash, usually when Vanessa would close by herself.

How she did it

Basically Loss Prevention thought when a customer paid by check, she would void the transaction. Then she would keep the check in the register and take the exact amount of the check out in cash so her register would balance. Hmmmm, my star employee? How disappointing.

To catch her, I have her close again as a test and the next day, I went through the register tape. Line by line and sure enough there was a void for a certain amount, it was a check transaction and she deposited a check for that same amount. Wow…I got her, but it hurt…

Why you Should Never Assume

I called Loss Prevention to tell them what I found and they told me to terminate her. No charges would be filed but they wanted her gone. They put her last check in the mail and when she came in, I fired her. It was a tough one, I really liked her and I thought she was my “star employee”. Guess I found out why you Should Never Assume. And yes like in the “Odd couple” series where felix goes to court to help Oscar he uses it as an example.

“When you A-s-s-u-m-e you make an A-s-s out of U & M-e.

The interview

Friday comes and it was a much needed day off but I also had to impress Jim from Naturalizer in the interview. in Typical fashion, I get to the store early and walked around the downtown area which was very nice. For some reason, I had major butterflies in my stomach.

I had prepared a new resume, made sure I looked good with my best suit and favorite tie. To make sure I looked well groomed, I also went to the barber beforehand, but yet I was extremely nervous.Finally I meet Jim and he was every bit as nice as he was on the phone. He was a jolly type of guy with a great sense of humor and warmth to him. This immediately relieved my stress, It was t like I knew him already.

Independent owner

He was an independent owner of three stores. There were locations in Los Altos,  Palo Alto and Richmond at the Hilltop Mall. Jim told me he would show me the ropes and take me to Las Vegas for the WSA shoe show. Seemed like a good deal so I accepted the position which also paid 5k more a year. I felt like I really wanted to work for this guy. It was a good feeling.

The next day I gave my notice to Homer which he was disappointed to see me go. He was a good guy and I told him that. I just felt the future seemed better with Jim.

Why you Should never Assume

Never assume your people are doing what they are supposed to be doing or they will make you look bad.