The Coolest Experience I Had as an Apple Store Employee • Hacker News Board

Re: The Coolest Experience I Had as an Apple Store Employee

#61

Post by nolok » Sat, Mar 02, 2013, 2:13 AM UTC

joejohnson wrote: post #12

That was a sweet story. Now let's turn to the comments and hear all of the cynical reasons I should be mad.

Not sure if you realize it, but comments like yours are also part of what's going wrong on hn. Ignore the low quality comments and upvote what adds to the discussion. Don't add more low quality comments.

Re: The Coolest Experience I Had as an Apple Store Employee

#62

Post by johnpowell » Sat, Mar 02, 2013, 2:15 AM UTC

charlieok wrote: post #38

I'm surprised that a whole class of kids who were not deaf knew enough sign language to convince the author that they were deaf.

I took a year of sign language in high school to satisfy the language requirement. This is the sort of thing I could imagine a instructor doing. It was a public school so our outing would have probably been to Burger King.

Re: The Coolest Experience I Had as an Apple Store Employee

#63

Post by concerto » Sat, Mar 02, 2013, 2:18 AM UTC

pud wrote: post #56

The kids knew sign language? The kids went and bought stuff (incl laptops) at multiple stores? And wasn't there a long line at Apple? How'd they make it to so many other stores? The kids physically go to the store to buy school computers? The kids are such good actors that they fooled the author & all other salespeople? A teacher would actually allow kids to pretend that they're disabled? No bulk discount or pre-arra…

My first thought too. What kind of budget did the kids have on this day out? How do I get my kids into that school?

Re: The Coolest Experience I Had as an Apple Store Employee

#64

Post by webwielder » Sat, Mar 02, 2013, 2:29 AM UTC

pud wrote: post #56

The kids knew sign language? The kids went and bought stuff (incl laptops) at multiple stores? And wasn't there a long line at Apple? How'd they make it to so many other stores? The kids physically go to the store to buy school computers? The kids are such good actors that they fooled the author & all other salespeople? A teacher would actually allow kids to pretend that they're disabled? No bulk discount or pre-arra…

And why were there tears at the end? Was everyone so moved at the theoretical plight of real deaf kids that they broke down?

Also, I imagine real deaf people don't have a habit of walking up to salespeople and assuming they know sign language.

Re: The Coolest Experience I Had as an Apple Store Employee

#65

Post by artursapek » Sat, Mar 02, 2013, 2:32 AM UTC

jballanc wrote: post #28

artursapek wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, Apple Stores stay open that late on Christmas? They stay open that late at all?

I worked the overnight shift at the 5th Avenue Apple Store. I got to spend two Christmas mornings (and two New Years Eves) in a row with some of the best people I've ever worked with...hell, some of the best people I've ever met!

Wow. NYC brings enough traffic in the middle of the night that it stays open, huh.

Re: The Coolest Experience I Had as an Apple Store Employee

#66

Post by thejsjunky » Sat, Mar 02, 2013, 2:33 AM UTC

A little tangential to the story but a good thing to be aware of is that the barrier of communicating between deaf people and hearing people is not always that they simply can't hear the sounds you are making. Many deaf people (especially those who are born deaf) are illiterate or have low literacy in written language; so you can't expect to always be able to just pop out a pencil/paper and write back and forth normally as you would with a hearing friend while playing "the silent game".

Re: The Coolest Experience I Had as an Apple Store Employee

#67

Post by darkchasma » Sat, Mar 02, 2013, 2:33 AM UTC

69_years_and wrote: post #60

pud wrote: post #56

The kids knew sign language? The kids went and bought stuff (incl laptops) at multiple stores? And wasn't there a long line at Apple? How'd they make it to so many other stores? The kids physically go to the store to buy school computers? The kids are such good actors that they fooled the author & all other salespeople? A teacher would actually allow kids to pretend that they're disabled? No bulk discount or pre-arra…

I am sorry to have agree with you, but yes the contradictions did start piling up. As they say, photos, please, or it didn't happen.

A picture of a bunch of kids and a teacher would prove what exactly?

Re: The Coolest Experience I Had as an Apple Store Employee

#68

Post by webwielder » Sat, Mar 02, 2013, 2:36 AM UTC

pud wrote: post #56

The kids knew sign language? The kids went and bought stuff (incl laptops) at multiple stores? And wasn't there a long line at Apple? How'd they make it to so many other stores? The kids physically go to the store to buy school computers? The kids are such good actors that they fooled the author & all other salespeople? A teacher would actually allow kids to pretend that they're disabled? No bulk discount or pre-arra…

Come to think of it, this story isn't about Apple or the Apple Store at all. A better title would be "The Time I Wasn't Mean to Fake Deaf Kids and Felt Great About It".

Re: The Coolest Experience I Had as an Apple Store Employee

#69

Post by pseut » Sat, Mar 02, 2013, 2:41 AM UTC

guptaneil wrote: post #45

chrischen wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea imagine if they sent them all to a car dealership...

To be fair, a more apt comparison would if they were all sent to a car dealership, and the dealer was told they will all buy a car and just need help picking a color. I'm sure they'd get fantastic service. Having said that, Apple is pretty well known for offering great customer service, even when it's clear you're not purchasing anything.

I've been in that situation at a car dealership and the service was pretty poor (AAA pre-negotiates prices with many dealers; if you call in advance you get the car at AAA's price without haggling). Basically, they know you're not going anywhere else, so they don't feel any urgency. It was much less stressful overall, but not because of the service.

Just an FYI. I don't know that the innate economics of Apple are any different.

Re: The Coolest Experience I Had as an Apple Store Employee

#70

Post by lilsunnybee » Sat, Mar 02, 2013, 2:48 AM UTC

artursapek wrote: post #25

jballanc wrote: post #23

The coolest experience I had as an Apple Store Employee was saving Christmas...no really, we literally saved Christmas. It was about 1:30 AM on Dec. 25th, and a man comes in to the store out of breath. He needs two iPod nanos. "My wife thought I was getting them, and I thought she was getting them..." he explained. Not a problem. We got the nanos, and sent him on his way. That was fun...

Wow, Apple Stores stay open that late on Christmas? They stay open that late at all?

Is it really worth not letting employees be with their families on Christmas so a forgetful dad doesn't have to wait an extra day to buy mp3 players for his children? Is cheap electronic shit really more important than allowing people to spend time with loved ones?