I suppose like most proper jobs, it can be almost tolerable on occasions, and when things are going smoothly it can be quite a rewarding experience. Nothing is better than having some intelligent repartee with a wily old literate who speaks in metaphors and listens intently, with his eyes wide open, analysing your every word. There are a number of such worthy conversationalists that seek me out when visiting the store and believe me, at times I am so glad of their company. Being non-confrontational by nature, looking for trouble (Yes, that's what I do) is not my strongest natural instinct and by swapping anecdotes with an amiable, honest wit it makes each potentially incident filled day a fraction more bearable.
The major problem in the early days concerned the staff, or more precisely most of the non Irish staff's misunderstanding of the role of a Retail Security Officer. In their own countries it may be deemed acceptable to manhandle, search on suspicion or chase down the road after possible offenders and by using force, reclaim any goods thought to have been stolen. Our little corner of the civilised world thankfully prohibits the use of such archaic behaviour. Unless I have actually witnessed the thief taking an item and am 100% certain it is still in their possession on leaving the store, there is little or nothing that I can do!
Drunks, or the local alcohol dependant fraternity as I prefer to call them, were the cause of many unpleasant confrontations (and occasionally still are!) during my naive baptism into retail security. A valuable lesson on day one taught me how to gain the respect of and thus pacify an aggressive, pitiful 'wino' simply by asking his name. Most of these problematic alcoholics have good reason to fear authority and being confronted by a uniformed officer (me!) can often trigger a hostile reaction.
The majority of these untasteful, aggresive encounters follow an all too familiar pattern:1. The drunk
2. Me
3. Mild swearing
4. The bottle/bottles
5. Swearing and cursing
6. Relieving drunk of bottle/bottles
7. More swearing, cursing and possible death threat
8.Respect given
9. Respect gained
10. Problem solved until he staggers in again tomorrow
In extreme cases, and only when the above method has failed to effect his departure will I attempt physically, to bundle him out of the store.
Being thrown in at the deep end was for me the ideal introduction to the job as I ad-libbed my way tentatively through the first couple of months.
