A very strange and annoying thing happened to my brother, my mom, and I as we were shopping at TJ Maxx yesterday, on Monday.
I had expressed my desire to my mom during Chanukah for a fire-less menorah. While strolling through the discount-laden aisles of TJ Maxx, we came across a shelf of all things for Chanukah, including a couple of electric menorahs. There was even a sign acknowledging that (since Chanukah was over) the Chanukah items (also including a few dishes and decorations) would be discounted even further at the register. We thought it was a great deal and proceeded to the long check-out line.
When my mom went to pay for the menorah, the discount wasn’t applied and my mom sought out an explanation. We were directed to a few people who couldn’t seem to answer our problem. We finally were taken to a customer service representative who explained to us what seemed to be the following…
The additional discount is only for holiday aka: Christmas items. (Even though the sign clearly said Hanukkah items.) The discount will be applied on Christmas, not now. (So why was the sign even posted?) The Holiday-Christmas discounted items include a Jewish menorah and Jewish items. (This makes no sense.)
What we seemed to have gathered from this employee was that she was thinking that while we pressed that Chanukah was already done, that really, Chanukah is the Jew’s version of Christmas and that it occurs the same time as Christmas. There would then be no such reason why there would be a different discount for different items. Or maybe, they thought that the different spellings of the Jewish holiday meant that there were different holidays. Hanukkah (from the sign) and Chanukah (from the box) could not be the same holiday.
The thing that frustrated us the most was that this employee was getting upset that we didn’t understand (no, it was she who clearly didn’t know what she was talking about) and kept telling us sternly, “you don’t understand.” Listen- if we don’t understand your nonsense, then why don’t you explain it to us, instead of just simply repeating to us how we don’t understand. Of course there seems to be a misunderstanding on someone’s behalf. But if you’re not helping, how do you expect us to figure out what you mean?
It basically seemed that the store’s workers were anti-Semitic and were making things up which were incorrect about Judaism. We still bought the menorah, since my mom insisted on getting it even after the ordeal we went through. I think if I were her, I would have refused to give into the store’s nonsensical and possibly anti-Semitic ways, but my mom’s will was stronger and her patience was not. I am glad about the belated purchase, but I don’t think I will be returning to the store to shop there.
CAPSLove 
yeah, that is just ignorant
You’d think that having the sign saying all Hannukah motif items 25% off would be proof enough to get the markdown from a manager. The manager might choose to take down the sign after applying the discount to your sale and not put it back up until after they deemed the “holidays” over. Pulling out any calendar with holidays marked should have been proof enough that the chosen people’s holiday had already passed.
Hey girl,
At pier 1, we always give the discount if the sign is up and the item is not coming up on sale. We’ll give the specific customer the discount and then take the sign down after the customer leaves the store. That’s what the employee should have done.
-matt
No, TJ Maxx’s behavior not anti-Semitic. Anti-Semitism would be if they implied something negative about Jews or Jewish culture when they were giving you a hard time. Obviously, they were extremely ignorant of Jewish traditions and extremely disrespectful to paying customers who were just trying to get a clearly marked discount. But they didn’t say Hannukah or Jews were dumb, just that you were.
Not that you were. They were.
…Although, I’d be willing to bet that the second after you left the building, a good deal of ACTUAL Anti-Semitism was mumbled under somebody’s breath. I think your headline’s point may still stand.
Not like I needed another reason not to shop at TJ Maxx’s anyway.
quite interesting …. given your interests, would you be able to comment on Islam & antisemitism below:
http://kashifshahzada.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/does-the-qur%E2%80%99an-support-anti-semitism/