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doyce

Take this job...

by doyce at 01:51 AM on December 31, 2002

So I felt a little ripped-off with my Christmas bonus from work, but I tried to see the bright side.

I mean, my company's pretty small -- just a handful of people, so when I opened the card and saw a couple decently-sized gift cards for Blockbuster, I was actually pleasantly surprised.

I mean, yeah, it wasn't really money per se, and I never go to Blockbuster at all, but my bosses don't know that -- they do know that I like movies, and furthermore the bosses themselves (the company is run by an married couple) do not watch movies or television, so at the very least I could appreciate the effort they went to in going to a store they'd never normally frequent.

So, with nothing else to do tonight, I dropped by a nearby Blockbuster and hit the 'previously viewed DVDs' section, which the store was promoting with a 'buy two, get a third one free' sale. I walked up to the counter with six picks (Orange County, Sexy Beast, Ali, Memento, etc) that came to within three bucks of the gift card total, which I also handed to the clerk.

He scanned the cases, checked some prices, rang everything up, then swiped the cards. A frown appeared.

"Umm... this..." he peered at the back of the card, then picked up the other and peered at it as well. "These cards are expired."

I came up short, simply confused. "I just got them a few days ago."

"They expired on the 31st of December." He peered at the cards again. "2000."

I blinked. "You're kidding me."

He nodded and pointed at the back of one card. "Yeah, this one says you can use it here or at Blockbuster Music and those, like," he shook his head, "went out business at least two years ago. These were probably off the shelves in '99 or '98 or something."

I can't help but grin. It's quite a night, supplying me with both a story and the perfect metaphor for my job all in one neat package.

I wasn't really expecting to get anything -- getting something was nice, but if I'd gotten nothing, that wouldn't have rocked my world. Somehow they managed to do both.

comments (9)

I called up a coworker tonight to see if he'd also gotten the same sort of cards. He hadn't (toaster oven), but he did get some last year.

He didn't know if they'd been expired, though, because he immediately regifted them to someone else, who hadn't said anything about them not working. (I suspect that person might also have given them away.)

How many hands have these cards passed through? Have any of you gotten them and passed them on before they got to me? Am I the first sorry bastard who's actually tried to use them?

by Doyce at December 31, 2002 2:10 AM


That couldn't have been 'verbatim' what the Blockbuster employee said right? The most well informed, well spoken Blockbuster employee I could ever imagine. My saviour. I recommend you keep those expired cards and 'frame' them. They'll be worth more than Blockbuster stock certificates when the geopolitics kick into high gear again. Ali and Orange County aren't worth the bother anyways. If it were an Audrey Hepburn boxset, then I'd be pissed off. Man how I miss her... :(

by LOCKHEED at December 31, 2002 3:02 AM


My company has an infuriating policy whereby about 30% of employees get what's known as an "incentive bonus" @ year's end. Except you don't know till late January whether you've been deemed worthy. Which leaves one in a quandary as to whether to run up credit card balances in December, not knowing if funds will be forthcoming or not. F that.

by Anna at December 31, 2002 9:05 AM


I'd be more pissed off at Blockbuster, personally. They were able to make interest off the money from those cards the whole time -- they should honor them even if they are 'expired' -- Cash is cash. Maybe that's just me, though.

by Tonya at December 31, 2002 11:06 AM


I'd be more pissed off at Blockbuster, personally. They were able to make interest off the money from those cards the whole time -- they should honor them even if they are 'expired' -- Cash is cash. Maybe that's just me, though.

by Tonya at December 31, 2002 11:06 AM


So what's the worst damn gifts anyone's ever gotten during the holidays from their jobs?

The expired gift cards are almost the winners for me, although one year there was this absolutely vile gift basket full of bad cheese and nasty summer sausages...

by Doyce at December 31, 2002 10:40 PM


i don't know about worst, but how about most unsettling. i was working at a small company and the owner bought the three female employees lingerie. not cheesy but really sexy bras and panties. and she had my size dead on. O_O

by laura at January 1, 2003 1:19 AM


Two gifts, not bad, but not good either, unless anyone other than myself recieved them:

Christmas 01: The Red Book (mao tse tung's quotations)
Christmas 02: Chicken Soup for the Jewish Soul

This coming from a Jewish Bond Trading firm that I work for. All I got's to say is... Unholy water, sanguine addiciton...

by lockheed at January 1, 2003 2:55 AM


How 'bout worst gift ever given? See my post. Don't give live gifts.

by Anna at January 1, 2003 1:08 PM