It's been a bit, so I thought I would check in... The bleeding at the store has been slowed, but it has not been fully stopped. There are some other issues that are causing our woes that are not financial. I'm not certain how to approach these as they involve elements that are in delicate balance with other parts of my life. I lost one of these parts for an extended period of time a while ago, and nothing has made my soul ache more than that vacancy of being until things got rectified. I'm not certain I can go through that again...
In other news, there was a point very recently where I almost dropped my keys on the floor of the store and walked away. I have never felt more unappreciated in my own place of business as I did at that moment, and I am still not fully recovered from it. I am trying desperately to give our customers more of what they want in the way of events and regular games, but the overall response is that of "no one caring" or "bitching that things aren't EXACTLY as they would like them". I'm not looking for people to be dancing in the aisles, but some acknowledgment that we are trying to make things even better than they have been before would be nice.
Currently I am encountering enough apathy from long-time regulars on some days that it is becoming difficult for me to care as well. Many folks are no longer showing up to things at the store because they are under the impression that what they like will always be there.... until it's not... Then they will whine and cry and moan and lament and they will blame me...
...and that is the point where I will either snap, or just not care enough to get angry...
Now, I am just stirring in the juices of my own self-pity, but there is some meat of truth in my soup of despair, and that makes want to curl up and disappear...
-- GopherDave
