Those in the North Attleboro Massachusetts area, plan on heading over to Borders Express in the Emerald Square Mall this next Sunday to visit with Retail creator Norm Feuti. Norm will be there to sign copies of his book, “Pretending You Care: The Retail Employee Handbook.” Norm was kind enough to send me a copy which I finished reading on my flight to D.C. today and with his announcement of his book signing, I’ll use that as a segue to review his book.
When I received the book, my first impression was, “I’ll give it a quick read, but I’m not in the retail industry, so I’m not sure what I’ll get out of it.” Having finished it, I think it ought to be standard reading for everyone associated with the retail industry – the employees AND the customers. After reading the book I am once gain reminded that retail employees aren’t the most empowered or paid individuals and when we “express” our grievances with them, they’re typically not the cause of our frustration with the shopping experience, so we should cut them some slack and direct our ire to management.
Norm is very entertaining with his expertise and his own personal (horror) stories. I cringed just thinking about the demeaning work Norm had to do, like clean up an over-flowing toilet with a smile on his face because the customer who caused the “blockage” was too guilt-ridden to walk away. The book is entertaining, informative and a quick read. He has an excellent selection of cartoons interspersed throughout the book. Each cartoon was funny and perfect for the topic of the page and – a trait of all good art – it could stand on its own, not requiring the reader to have read the page to understand the punch-line.
Pretending your Care is for the retail industry what Dilbert is for white collar office humor books. If you’re even remotely tied to the retail industry (have a son or daughter working in retail?), this is an excellent and entertaining resource.
Thanks for the review, Alan! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I would like to point out that, even before he became a famous author, I saw what emmence talent Norm pssessed and begged him to join “Stay Tooned!” Magazine’s line-up of regular contributors. I guess I’ll have to double your rate now, eh, Norm? Seriously though, as I wrote you, I, too, have been enjoying PRETENDING YOU CARE. It’s a hoot.
Norm, my son works in customer service dept. at the local Verizon store, and since I’m going christmas shopping on sunday, I figure I’ll swing by and pick up a signed copy. Hope to see you on Sunday.