turned and saw a gallery that contained all of Sherman Toyota’s retail sales permit photo IDs. Stepping closer to the board I couldn’t help but notice that Robin Baitz’s ID was above all the others. Robin Butler Baitz, aka Rhett Butler, Sherman’s new GM. Apparently Rhett Butler was a nice, spiffy, fake sales name.
I sat down in the back row next to Woody. He was sipping from his Pete’s Coffee espresso cup. “Welcome to the shitstorm,” he said.
“Thanks,” I said. “Yesterday Max filled me in about the management shake-up. He also said they pay every other Friday. I gotta tell you, Woody, I’m a happy camper.”
“You won’t be, pal. I met with Butler yesterday afternoon and had a talk with him. Your new boss is a one hundred percent gold-plated ball-breaker. He bumped five of the old staff while I was out on the lot talking to a customer. Just walked in with his huge belly, holding that dumb-ass pink coffee mug he carries that’s shaped like a pair of tits, and points at the staff: ‘You, you, you, and you, and you, too. See me in my office.’ Half an hour later their desks were cleaned out and they were gone. Ba-boom. All bumped on the spot.”
“How come?” I asked.
“It’s the car business, pal. Heads roll. Max let me know that Rhett is changing the schedule too. I guess he’s trimming the fat by cutting the staff. That’s how a dealership can fire five people in one day. Charming shit, right?”
A FEW MINUTES later, as the wall clock got to eight, the room was populated by the rest of the sales staff: four more guys and one girl, the ones who had not been fired in the latest show-of-power car-business purge. Then, the great man himself entered with Max behind him, carrying a clipboard to make notes and Butler’s coffee cup with the tits.
“I’m Rhett Butler,” he snarled with a capped-tooth grin, “for those who don’t know me yet. I’m here to increase sales. My goal and Max’s goal is to up our gross by twenty-five percent in the next thirty days. That’s what they pay me for. You’ll soon find out that I’m hard on salespeople. But I have another side too—I’m also a greedy son of a bitch. I’m here to make you and me a shitload of money. If you produce, we’ll get along and you’ll make bigger bucks than you ever did before selling iron. If you don’t, you’re down the road. Understood?”
Most of us nodded.
“Next thing you should know: all days off are canceled as of today. Max has your new work schedule. Do it, Max.”
Max handed Rhett his coffee mug with the tits, then pinned the new schedule to the corkboard by the door.
Rhett kept talking: “Bottom line, no more weekends off. No more banker’s hours. No more split shifts. One shift a day for everybody. Bell to bell. And from now on, everybody works weekends. All salespeople will get one day off a week. A weekday.”
Next to me, Woody groaned.
“You! You got a problem? Let’s hear it!”
Woody rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything, so Rhett snarled again: “Right, that’s what I thought!”
Then he went on. “Also, now hear this: if you have to come in on your day off to deliver a car, then you’d better be here at the store to deliver it! If you are a no-show for a delivery and your customer arrives to pick up his vehicle, the salesman who delivers your car will get credit for the sale and also get your commission. Understood?”
Moans and grumbling from the asses seated in the classroom chairs.
“And here’s the new dress code. This includes all managers: no more casual dress on weekends. From now on it’s dress shirts and ties for the guys, skirts or dresses or slacks for the women, seven days a week. If you arrive out of uniform you will be sent home. Understood?”
Dead silence from the staff.
“Last thing, the demo car you are driving is not your car. That vehicle is for sale like everything else on this lot. It belongs to this dealership. Just because you drive it for your
I sat down in the back row next to Woody. He was sipping from his Pete’s Coffee espresso cup. “Welcome to the shitstorm,” he said.
“Thanks,” I said. “Yesterday Max filled me in about the management shake-up. He also said they pay every other Friday. I gotta tell you, Woody, I’m a happy camper.”
“You won’t be, pal. I met with Butler yesterday afternoon and had a talk with him. Your new boss is a one hundred percent gold-plated ball-breaker. He bumped five of the old staff while I was out on the lot talking to a customer. Just walked in with his huge belly, holding that dumb-ass pink coffee mug he carries that’s shaped like a pair of tits, and points at the staff: ‘You, you, you, and you, and you, too. See me in my office.’ Half an hour later their desks were cleaned out and they were gone. Ba-boom. All bumped on the spot.”
“How come?” I asked.
“It’s the car business, pal. Heads roll. Max let me know that Rhett is changing the schedule too. I guess he’s trimming the fat by cutting the staff. That’s how a dealership can fire five people in one day. Charming shit, right?”
A FEW MINUTES later, as the wall clock got to eight, the room was populated by the rest of the sales staff: four more guys and one girl, the ones who had not been fired in the latest show-of-power car-business purge. Then, the great man himself entered with Max behind him, carrying a clipboard to make notes and Butler’s coffee cup with the tits.
“I’m Rhett Butler,” he snarled with a capped-tooth grin, “for those who don’t know me yet. I’m here to increase sales. My goal and Max’s goal is to up our gross by twenty-five percent in the next thirty days. That’s what they pay me for. You’ll soon find out that I’m hard on salespeople. But I have another side too—I’m also a greedy son of a bitch. I’m here to make you and me a shitload of money. If you produce, we’ll get along and you’ll make bigger bucks than you ever did before selling iron. If you don’t, you’re down the road. Understood?”
Most of us nodded.
“Next thing you should know: all days off are canceled as of today. Max has your new work schedule. Do it, Max.”
Max handed Rhett his coffee mug with the tits, then pinned the new schedule to the corkboard by the door.
Rhett kept talking: “Bottom line, no more weekends off. No more banker’s hours. No more split shifts. One shift a day for everybody. Bell to bell. And from now on, everybody works weekends. All salespeople will get one day off a week. A weekday.”
Next to me, Woody groaned.
“You! You got a problem? Let’s hear it!”
Woody rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything, so Rhett snarled again: “Right, that’s what I thought!”
Then he went on. “Also, now hear this: if you have to come in on your day off to deliver a car, then you’d better be here at the store to deliver it! If you are a no-show for a delivery and your customer arrives to pick up his vehicle, the salesman who delivers your car will get credit for the sale and also get your commission. Understood?”
Moans and grumbling from the asses seated in the classroom chairs.
“And here’s the new dress code. This includes all managers: no more casual dress on weekends. From now on it’s dress shirts and ties for the guys, skirts or dresses or slacks for the women, seven days a week. If you arrive out of uniform you will be sent home. Understood?”
Dead silence from the staff.
“Last thing, the demo car you are driving is not your car. That vehicle is for sale like everything else on this lot. It belongs to this dealership. Just because you drive it for your
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