Shopping For Pain

Masa lepas STPM dulu, bermula bulan Januari 2004, pakcik keje kat Department Store Pacific Ngiu Kee sebagai Pelayan Nafsu…eh silap Sales Assistant. Pakcik in-charge bahagian stationery, gifts and toys. Dengan gaji RM2 sejam (celaka tak Management Department Store nih?), pakcik biase keje 9 atau 12 jam bermakna pakcik dapat gaji total RM18 atau RM24 sehari. Compare to jadi weekends promoter kat Semenanjung ni, sehari dibayar RM80, langit dan bumi kan? Gunung dan lurah kan?

So burnlah harapan nak hang-out dengan member every weekends sobab cuti pakcik on weekdays tu pun sehari, tapi memang jarang pakcik cuti. Have to work 7 days a week sebab nak cover staff yang memanjang cuti. Yang lebih kasihan, kalau pakcik lambat datang keja seminit, gaji akan dipotong RM2. Bayangkan kalau lambat 9 minit for a nine hours shift, ertinya kau kerja free takde gaji untuk hari tu, sebab gaji kau telah dipotong semuanya.

Masa pakcik dicampakkan di lembah kehinaan tu, stationery department tu memang cam tongkang pecah. More likely cam store bahan terbuang. Staff yang in-charge (Hadizah) bahagian tu memang pemalas nak mampus, asyik nak cuti je memanjang. Keja beborak je, tempat cam tongkang pecah dia tak peduli. Dia siap kata “Tak payahlah nak kemas, nanti customer datang, semak semula.”

So first week pakcik keje, pakcik revamp, restore and rejuvenate satu department non-stop (some helpful benefit living with my nagging mild OCD mother). Kalau sebelum ni department stationery tu orang luar tak tahu kewujudannya compare to competing stationery store Eaton’s. Dalam masa seminggu pakcik berjaya menukarkannya menjadi functioning department that actually generate sales. Sebelum ni department tu cam gangrenous part; nak di amputate, sayang; nak dibiar pulak, takut necrosis merebak. Such a waste of space. The changes actually impresses the management staffs.

Second Floor manager pakcik (Mr. Seller Ampuling <-- serious nama dia memang ni) personally come to me and thanked me sambil tunjuk sales report yang naik. He actually suggest me to apply for permanent staff status instead jadi part timers. Tapi pakcik terpaksa tolak sebab pakcik bercadang nak further study. So Mr. Seller ni make use of the 3 months I planned to work there untuk memeras tenaga pakcik secukupnya. It was hell of months and months of suffering.

Nak tahu apa yang dia buat? Dia gi order separuh kontena stationery stock by the end of the first months. Aku dapat tahu, dah lama department stationery to tak order stock sebab sale tak jalan. Betina Hadizah tu plak dah tahu bulking stock nak datang, dia buat diam je. Tau-tau je dia gi apply cuti. Macamlah dia tu penat keje sangat. Sepanjang first month, aku kena cover dia jer memanjang. Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Haji, I have to go to work. I knew about new stock just sehari sebelum menda alah tu datang. So, nak lari ke mana?

So aku yang takde pengalaman handle stock kenalah belajar on the spot (sape suruh letak kat application form “I’m a quick learner” kan dah kena). Turun punggah stock kat loading bay ground floor berkotak-kotak dengan muka blur, kena suruh sain dokumen order form sana sini, check stocklist, berebut naik lift barang, angkut like what…40 boxes all by myself, and it wasn’t small boxes. Some of it can actually be an adult coffin. I wouldn’t complain kalau I have a luxury of guna trolley. The thing was I have to push all this boxes in and out the lift. Semua trolley digunakan sebab stock supermarket department pun datang dengan banyak the very same day. Heyday.

Tak cukup lagi tu, kena turun naik office print barcode, stick them to the products, tu tak kira kena buka balik barcode yang salah print. Make sure SKU sama dengan stocklist dan list down barang rosak untuk di return. Tak cukup dengan tu, kena fikir pulak mana nak squeeze this newly arriving stock kat gondola-gondola yang ada. Lagi nak fikir mana nak gantung all this stupid wind chimes and place for gifts. Yup, selain dari bahagian stationery and toys, pakcik kena handle bahagian gift jugak. All of this I have to figured out myself in one day. Tak boleh nak mintak tolong kat staff lain, sebab stock diorang pun sampai juga. Supervisor? They are just walking pain in the ass.

At the same time the new stock arrived, mana pulak ko nak melayan customer minta wrapped their gift. Lagi nak jaga expensive pen (Parker, Sheaffer, Unic, Rally etc.) counter, toys, shoplifter, etc. I couldn’t keep my white shirt clean masa stock baru ni sampai, dah tu pakcik kena tegur oleh floor manager sebab baju kotor dan selekeh. Bodoh tak? Kalau pakcik dah kena berlari sana-sini angkut barang semua, dia boleh expect aku nyer baju cam kat dalam iklan Fab tu. Dia best ar, duduk kat office jer memanjang. Dia boleh verbally suruh aku clearkan stock and display them ASAP dalam nada mengarah. F**king bastard!

All of these…for the sake of making RM2 per hour. Pakcik kerja macam hamba abdi for the sake of RM2 per hour. Hujung bulan, gaji pakcik cuma RM464.60. Yup! Pakcik masih ingat my first salary of my first job. Semua ni bahana Free Trade Area (FTA), our government offered kos buruh termurah semata-mata nak attract foreign investors. Yang merana semua pekerja-pekerja cam kitorang ni.

So korang kalau gi department store, janganlah korang selongkar barang-barang cam cari harta karun tok nenek korang. Kalau ada yang di display, belek jelah yang kat display tu. Aku dah rasa tu semua. Aku paham perasaan kena susun benda yang sama berpuluh-puluh kali sehari.

By the end of first month alone, pakcik keja kat situ, berat badan pakcik masa tu turun dari 53kg kepada 48kg. Keja kat store yang aircond macam kat bilik daging, pas tu lunch setakat makan dua keping roti canai everyday (nak jimat duit punya pasal)…every single fucking day (yup I said the F word because up til now I still pissed off), at my height, I was walking skin and bone.

Sebelum pakcik habis kat bulan ketiga, management suruh buat major changes. Department stationery and toys kena pindah ke tempat lain. Kitorang kena tukar tempat dekat dengan second floor entrance to invite customer in. Ni semua Mr. Seller keparat tu nyer idea. Dia nak stationery, gifts and toys department generate sale lebih banyak. Hasilnya kitorang kena move semuanya dalam masa 3 hari. It was like turn over a new leaf, like moving into a new place. Kena angkut bertan-tan barang dan susun semula kat gondola. Kali ni department stationery dah semakin besar. It was about another 3 kali stock datang pakcik kena handle sampailah pakcik berhenti to further study. About 10 new gondolas kena pasang untuk memuatkan stock baru.

Sempat juga pakcik terlibat dengan Maestro-Mattel fair, buka exhibition floor untuk Hotwheels dan Barbie. Pakcik juga jadi mangsa memasang litar-litar hotwheels customer yang anak-anak mereka tak reti pasang. Paling susah nak pasang litar Octopus, berpeluh jugaklah. Yang penting exhibition tu berjaya. We actually cleared out almost 90% of stock barang yang dihantar khas just for that exhibition. Tu tak termasuk in-house stock produk yang sedia ada kat situ. By the end of 1 month exhibition, we were generating more than RM 100K sell. Tapi pakcik tetap juga dibayar RM2 sejam.

Why did I stay? Sebab pakcik nak kumpul duit nak further study kat Shah Alam ni lah. My dad was kinda disappointed with me because my exam result was not so good. He practically had given up on me. So I have to deal with my future all by myself. Pakcik diminta untuk stay for another 1 month for the same rate of salary (no way!), tapi pakcik tolak sebab bulan April 2004 pakcik dah kena register kat KUTPM kat Shah Alam ni for DMLT course.

Up till now, once in a while kalau balik K.K, I will drop by the store. The floor manager still recognized me, all the second floor staff still know me and I was flattered. It was me, the RM2 per hour paid Sales Asisstant (not event permanent staff) who turned the dying Stationery, Gifts and Toys department into what it was now. It all started with a pairs of underpaid hands and legs.

Sorry, I don't mean to be downright vulgar.