A Letter to Neopia's Slushers

At a recent Yooyuball Tournament, I volunteered to help man the Slushie Shop and support my Altador Cup team. Once at my post inside the shop, I was shocked to see the chaotic array of disgruntled customers, frantic workers, and discarded slushies going to waste. As the current state of the Slushie Shop now stands, I believe it is up to the citizens of Neopia to help the pandemonium of slushiness subside. It is in this letter that I provide the following suggestions to aid in the management and ease of the Altador Cup Slushie Shop:

SUGGESSTION 1: CUSTOMER REORGANIZATION

Currently, customers bombard the shop through three different entrances, all demanding one of three different slushie flavors. The slushie machines are located directly to the right of each entrance. The worker sometimes has to dash from the blue slushie machine to a customer who came in from the farthest back entrance, then back to the front to deliver a green slushie to a customer who entered from the closest entrance, creating quite a bit of scurrying for the worker. Not only this, but customers also have to wait extra long for their random order to be filled, and, as peak hours dictate faster and faster serving, many often end up with a different slushie than the one they desired.

My suggestion is to have all customers wishing for a blue slushie come in through the closest entrance, all those wishing a pink slushie through the middle entrance, and all those desiring a green slushie through the farthest entrance. In this method, workers would be able to dish out the closest slushie to the customers, reducing traffic, time, and temper.

This suggestion also gives way to

SUGGESTION 2: SELF-SERVE SLUSHIE MACHINES

With the aforementioned reorganization of customer lines, slushie serving could never be easier. All it seems to take is turning toward the slushie machine and pressing a button. Surely the fine citizens of Neopia would be able to handle this task without any workers involved.

In this method, workers would be eased of all work, customers would be able to fill their own orders as they like them, and ease of use would increase.

SUGGESTION 3: MORE WORKERS

If customers don’t like the idea of certain entrances or serving themselves, the Slushie Shop always has the option of hiring more workers. As far as I can tell, the establishment has spent a great deal of neopoints already on Instant Slushie Clean-Up for empty slushie containers workers can’t get to quickly enough and Advanced Mind-Reading Technology to reveal each customer’s slushie preference. Surely they can hire more workers, especially since many of those manning the shop have been volunteers like myself.

Three workers instead of one means each worker could either be in charge of all the customers who walk in through a certain entrance, or they could each be in charge of one of the slushie machines. Although it would increase worker traffic and some spills may occur with three different workers simultaneously attempting to serve three different drinks to three different customers, it would still be less frantic than one overworked volunteer serving three different drinks to three different customers.

SUGGESTION 4: TRASHCANS

With the exception of Meridell’s Rubbish Dump and a startling amount of discarded shoes in Maraqua’s waters, Neopia has never seemed to have much of a garbage problem. After volunteering at the Slushie Shop, I began to see why: The workers of Neopia are currently working twice as hard as they need to, simply because citizens don’t seem to know how to properly dispose of their own trash. Not only do Slushie Shop workers currently serve delicious slushies, but once the containers are empty, customers merely set them on a conveyer belt and leave it up to the worker to pick it up and take care of it.

I suggest that during peak hours, Slushie Shop customers should be asked to drink their slushies outside rather than inside the shop. Once finished, they will be provided with ample garbage cans to get rid of their own trash all by themselves.

Not only will this reduce messes and take a giant load off workers, but Neopians may finally learn how to dispose of their own trash. (Warning: Confused customers may cause increased empty slushie cups at the Money Tree.)

SUGGESTION 5: BETTER WORKING CONDITIONS

How about a window or two? Surely workers would be able to do better if they weren’t cooped up in a tiny room with nothing but machinery and disgruntled customers walking in every second. Workers should also be given a free slushie at the end of each shift, and customers should be required to walk in with a smile instead of this whole scowling and glaring business we currently have going.

Most importantly, I think I was most shocked to see that in the whole slushie-drinking business, there was not a single neopoint transaction. I understand more than anyone that workers are quite busy with delivering the correct slushie and picking up customers’ trash, but shouldn’t there also be some sort of paying method? Perhaps neopoints are procured by the Slushie Shop in another room, perhaps the payment is left in empty slushie containers, but as far as I can tell, the Slushie Shop appears to be making a net profit of zero. If customers began to be charged for slushies, business may subside, but this would actually help workers by decreasing traffic in the store. Also, there is the obvious benefit of the Slushie Shop actually making some money.

This method would entail paying workers. By taking money from customers in exchange for a refreshing beverage, a part of that money could go toward the laborers. It could also be spent on special, longer conveyer belts, more slushie flavors, or the aforementioned idea of more workers. However, if slushies continue to be given away free to Altador Cup fans, then I especially see no reason why these “customers” can’t serve themselves and throw away their own trash.

With this, my humble suggestions for a more efficient Slushie Shop draw to a close. Though some volunteers may get a rush out of the current difficulties and frantic hurry, though some may be willing to go to any length to support their Altador Cup team, surely we can all agree that there is something in the Slushie Shop that can be improved. Good day, and get back to playing!