The next time I’m down in LA, I totally want to visit Galco’s Soda Pop Shop. He knows his soda!

Via Jon Ursenbach.

Now that the holiday shopping season is underway, I was recently reminded of an experience I had while working in Apple’s retail division during the holidays a number of years ago.

A customer came in and wanted demanded an iPod nano in a specific color and capacity that we didn’t offer. I told him that this product didn’t exist, and helpfully pointed him to the area where our iPods were on display.

He became rather irritated, and then yelled at me.

“You guys are nothing but a bunch of fucktards!”¹

And he stormed out.

Happy holidays to you, sir!

Addendum: The guy was in his early fourties.

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¹ According to the Urban Dictionary, a fucktard is a contraction of “fucking retard.”

One of my coworkers, Sam, just tweeted about this essay on what working for startups is really like. I think it really nails what it’s like and highlights the benefits of working for one.

Some choice quotes:

Unconsciously, everyone expects a startup to be like a job, and that explains most of the surprises.

It’s surprising how much you become consumed by your startup, in that you think about it day and night, but never once does it feel like “work.”

I’m surprised by how much better it feels to be working on something that is challenging and creative, something I believe in, as opposed to the hired-gun stuff I was doing before. I knew it would feel better; what’s surprising is how much better.

Everyone said how determined and resilient you must be, but going through it made me realize that the determination required was still understated.

Read more at What Startups Are Really Like.

Off to New York City this week to help out with gdgt’s east coast launch party on Thursday. It’s been awhile since I’ve been to NYC (last visit was in 2007) and I’m looking forward to it. Unfortunately, there will be little time to play this time.

Weather is supposed to be good though!

And apparently, I do need to make time to check out Shake Shack. Their burgers are supposed to be pretty good.

Posted via email from Dave Schumaker’s Posterous