It was one of the best McJobs I've ever had - I stayed there for 6 years - all through undergrad and my masters.

And the all important disclaimer: I have no rhythm nor can I sing. It was still fun.

HAH!!!

I'm sorry, something about h3llc4t the herpetologist doing line dancing lessons makes that absolutely f'ing hilarious. But I swear I'm laughing *with* you.

@RogerTheAlien: It looks more like any high school/college science lab classroom if they had a lot of money and space.

And really? Dancing the Electric Slide to a Black Eyed Peas song??

But this is probably ok, because I doubt it's something they're making a habit of. I would have left *this* store, but I might have come back some other time when they weren't being ridiculous. (Assuming I'd ever go to a MS store in the first place; I wouldn't, but it's not because of the *dancing*.)

In the end just a waste of time when all you want is help with trying to find out why you have 50 pop windows showing up and multiple virus's in your brand new system even though you're running 3 virus software programs together.

Thank goodness I use Mac and don't have even a slight interest in visiting one of these stores.

Then again, if this video is anything to go by, you could totally parlay those lessons into a job at the Microsoft store!

@kathyl: Or, how about the fact that they DO have that attitude, and turn it off (or turn the fakery ON) when they have to perform? Which is worse to you?

@Zanorfes: I don't understand why stores think this kind of "zany and wacky and 'fun'" bullshit makes us want to shop there. If anything, it makes it awkward because I'd feel rather embarrassed for the employees who probably REALLY don't want to be making asses of themselves in front of strangers, and are probably embarrassed themselves. I highly doubt Microsoft pays these people enough to look like total tools.

And, yeah, that kind of does look like a wannabe Apple Store. They've just replaced all the white surfaces with oak. Pretty lame overall.

I wonder if the Microsoft store thought people were going to join in. Maybe that's why it was so long.

P.S. No, we never went that far.

I live near to this store, and actually went to the mall to check it out (come on, you slow down at car wrecks too). They had way-too-cheery people at the door handing out goodies and it just looked like 1) It would have been one of those multiple "HiSirHowAreYouCanIHelpYouFindSomething" experience--there were about 25 employees in there, and about 7 shoppers (this was Halloween, 2-3 days after opening) and 2) It would have just been depressing--it really does look like an Apple store with wood instead of white plastic, and they're desperately trying to be as hip without actually knowing how, and being classically Microsoft, in that they're doing it in desperately wrong and overwhelming fashion.

Apple stores make sense because Apple sells hardware and software, along with accessories and whatnot. MS sells Windows and Office, some crappy mice and joysticks, and Flight Simulator, every single one of which you can buy online, for less money, and every single one of which has to run on some other computer maker's hardware. There is no tactile advantage for their products unless they're planning on blowing people away with the Zune experience.

I blame the recession for this humiliation. Managers know employees will do just about anything to keep their job. And they're clearly testing what "anything" might be.

No really, WTF.

I don't even know where to begin with this.

@magic8ball: Oh, definitely. My synagogue offered them as part of bar/bat mitzvah preparations. They called them dance lessons, but other than some slow-dance etiquette, it was all line dances. Electric slide, achey breaky heart, many others that I don't remember. It was co-ed, and made even more fun by following 2 hours of prayer lessons. My 12-year-old self dreaded few things more than Wednesday night Hebrew + line dancing lessons.

I am trying to be open-minded about Microsoft going into retail.
They are trying to prove my initial instincts were right.

@Julius Seizure - Canuck: Being only half evil, I watched 2 minutes and 22 seconds of it.

I wish businesses would quit forcing employees to do things that are clearly not spontaneous or genuine. Don't ask them to make it look more believable, just stop doing it. This was cute in maybe the 1970's. Please let this trend die.

@Julius Seizure - Canuck: Yes, but usually flashmobs are something interesting. This . . . this was just sad.

I almost hope they got robbed blind during those 4 minutes, so they will never do it again.

This is so sad. I mean, I know the economy's tight and jobs are hard to come by, but have some self-respect, people.

Unless they all got paid $1K or more to dance that one time. Then whore away.

I don't think they are required to sing anymore. At the very least, no Cold Stones in Philly had the signs this season, and I don't think last season either.

I bet they do this everytime they sell a Zune... so maybe once a week? It's also way longer than necessary for an "impromptu" celebratory dance.

@temporaryscars: John Wayne died and Eastwood is right behind him

Of course Coldstone is a better alternative. A cold, sweet, delicious alternative, my friend.

@pecan 3.14159265: I even forgot to add that at least the people at Coldstone get tips! These MS store people don't get tipped at all! I mean, I guess they could but the mall probably has strict nudity laws.

The difference between this dancing and Coldstone is that even if you were required to sing, you could at least mumble it or mouth it, or duck into the back really quick. The dancing is overt, and you can't fake the movements. Coldstone is a much better alternative.

@kathyl: See, I don't think that's right. If it was part of the job description and they were clear about it when you were hired, that's another thing. But making people dance with the threat of being fired held over their heads is grounds for some kind of complaint to someone. I'd be mad as hell if I was threatened with a firing if I didn't dance in public in front of complete strangers and make myself look like an idiot. Selling extended warranties is selling the product and all that it entails - that's part of the job description. Putting on a musical in a store is not.

I'm thinking someone in Redmond saw one to many "flashmob" vids on Youtube the other week.

@Brain.wav: There's a tip jar, but you're not forced to give tips or anything. There's a tip jar at Starbucks too.

@MisterE: See that would actually make sense, as Best Buy employees wear blue. And that song is pretty maddengly catchy.

@CaptainSemantics:

at 2:00 min two girls run in the store. at 2:10 the girl with the white top appears to wrap something in her magazine and put it into her bag.

at 3:47 a boy picks up a copy of windows 7. I can't be sure but it looks like he took off too

I don't mind if a restaurant does this for some kid's birthday, but not a retail store.

Next Up: Best Buy employees dancing to Eiffel 65 "BLUE"

I agree that it would be better if employees who were uncomfortable doing this kind of thing were exempt from it, but if I had to choose between getting a suggestion from a store manager to dance occasionally or having them tell me my job was on the line if I didn't sell X amount of extended warranties this week, I'll dance. The point of that is, there are worse things to be asked to do at work than engage in a little frivolity.

@discounteggroll:
filipino

@t0ph: Yeah, that's why I don't tip when I go in there...sad as it may be. Other people singing when they are not in a performance venue is simply embarrassing.

@Meg Marco: Yay!!

A: No, and it looks like that stores shrink rate just went up.

You know, maybe the next time the MS store employees leave their day jobs and join an impromptu dance troupe in the store, Improv Everywhere could have people waiting in the store to put on those little badges and work as store employees. You know, so people can actually do what they went there to do.

and one of them actually cross-dressed

@AbsoluteIrrelevance: They did it to avoid confusion. If they did the electric slide to the right music, people would start thinking they had walked into someone's wedding reception.

They could have gotten a litle closer with "Fantastic Voyage," but they probably would have screwed that up by using Coolio's version, which would have accentuated their rhythmlessness.

Excuse me, my mind is about to explode.

This would make me feel very uncomfortable, and I would leave almost immediately. (Agreed, about 30 seconds of this video was more than I could take.)

@t0ph: I applied to work there once (cold stone)... that stunk and turned me off to the company. 4 hour group interview, it was more of a performance in the mall... I never got called back. To this day, nearly 2-3 years later never got the call they said they would do if I was hired or rejected.

We also never got any 1 on 1 time with anyone...

@t0ph:

If you listen carefully to the tapping of the scoops, the morse code spells out P-L-E-A-S-E-K-I-L-L-M-E

And I'd run from the store too. I don't even like it when I'm subjugated to clapping and singing at restaurants for peoples' birthdays.

Could you guys link directly to the video in the future? I can't watch videos from my computer here but I can use the YouTube app on my phone. But it took me forever to find the right video because there were at least three dancing Microsoft employees videos, which is kind of weird. If I had the URL I could just search for that instead.

Remember when we Americans used to be tough as nails? What happened?

Please. The Phillipino prisoners did it better.