The term "real life" first appeared a longlonglong time ago, I saw it's first appearances and development so to speak, it was a term coined to differentiate quite innocently between online friends and "RL or real life friends" so that when talking to online friends one would say something like... "I'm going to go hang out with my RL's for a while.. ttyl" it was merely a shortcut letting others know you were leaving to attend to physically present friends as opposed to talking to other "Cyber friends" elsewhere and thus warded off the 'is he/she in my guild/forum/online club or someone you know physically?) type explanations.
Since then anything not online is often referred to as RL, it truly only was a way to tell in a conversation if the (store, place, person etc) was a physical or internet location, person or object, however it has gone a little viral often people misunderstand its connotations as they feel it in some way implies that the use of the term or Accronym RL in regards to shops/people etc is slightly derogatory or dimminishes the "realness" when this is not true. I personally don't use it often at all but have done on rare occasion to make a point or explain quickly.
Regarding the Online and physical store/gst issue, Retailers are terrified that their bottom line is going to suffer and the CEO's are scrambling to claw at the $$$ they fear they may lose...funny thing is they WILL lose it anyway if they do not lift their game. Even if GST applied to online purchases the online items would STILL be cheaper than buying from traditional stores currently. The massive markdown trends we are now seeing goes to show just how much they were marking UP! they are still making a profit, the Ceo's may have to forgoe the gold plated back scratchers though.
I find going into most stores an appalling experience these days, I LOATHE going into a store and either being ignored by some Ass on the phone with no acknowledgement whatsoever that you are standing there staring at them from 2 feet away for 10 minutes, or some dimwit that shrugs and says "idunno" with a vacant expression, or some evil tempered harpy that snaps and snarls..... and thats IF and its a BIG if.. you can find an assistant at all (Bunnings/K-Mart/Big W all spring to mind to name a few), skeleton staff indeed, I find the skeletons of customers that got lost searching for assistance in large stores curled up around the bases of clothing racks all the time LOL
Customer service used to be tantamount now its an afterthought,retail knowledge was a must, now it's optional.....Conduct was imperative, now its *whatever*.
Jerry Harvey and other of his ilk need to pull their head out of their collective A$$, bring their severely overinflated prices (like most Australian stores these days) back down to earth, cut that 100%- 300% markup off at the knees and hire some visible staff with manners knowledge and people skills.
I was in a store the other day looking for a specific item in Toys R Us, I asked the woman at the front desk if they had any of the items on sale in the catelogue elsewhere as there were none on the shelf (it was 9am on the first day of the catelogue sale) "I dunno *shrug* lemme call someone" she headed to the phone and got sidetracked by another assistant, they then began chatting about the weekend that had just passed.... my foot began to tap, yep from all appearances I was forgotten.
I endured 5 full minutes of their weekend chat then said "Excuse me miss, you were going to make a call" she looked at me with a puzzled expression, then the light bulb came on over her head "Oh yeah right! sorry!" She made a call and the Assistant manager slowly lumbered over 10 minutes later (said so on his badge lol), I then repeated the same thing.. he scratched his head and said "lemme check" tapped a few keys on a keyboard, peered at a monitor, the origional assistant came and peered with him, what seemed like an eternity later he then said over his sholder, "Nahh none left love, all sold" I looked at him and said incrediously "All sold 30 minutes after your store opened on the first day of a sale??" ......"yeah looks like we only got 6 in".. "But"... I said, "the sale goes for 7 days!!, it's actually illegal to have a sale on items you dont have with no 'while stocks last' disclaimer"... "yeah I know *shrug* sorry love..it's all head office sent us" he then turned on his heel and walked off..
No.... I'll check at another store for you... no.... I am terribly sorry you can do a raincheck.... no apology...nothing but the back of his head as he trundled off to the office..... I was livid.
I ended up asking for and speaking to the Manager in charge of the entire store, he too was wishywashy and seemed a little cranky, I again pointed out the illegality of his "sale" and while i understood all directives come from "head office" and were not his personal decision it was still illegal, I then politely insisted he attempt to find one in another store and have it delivered to the store we were standing in as they had done so before.
End result.... he was on the phone less than 5 minutes he had found one in castle hill and it would be at the local store late tomorrow afternoon..I thanked him very much for his time and effort and left the store frustrated/annoyed and wondering why it was all so bloody hard, the whole scenariotook 30 + minutes... arghhh.
Oh and do NOT get me started on stores that insist when you arrive with laden arms at the checkout that you ...BUY a bag...., petty maybe.. but it REALLY angers me, when I spend money buying items at overinflated prices in a store and they cannot supply a bag..
I just tell them politely with a smile that no I will not be buying a bag, but when I trip and fall because my arms were full of items that are slipping and sliding all over the place, I will be sure to SUE... they always hand me a bag for nothing.. funny that LOL
