When I tell people that I work in retail, a look of pity crosses their faces because they know that it is not an easy job. Sometimes customers are unbelievably rude and we have to accept it, sometimes we have to stay extra long hours on the weekends instead of spending time with our families, and sometimes we have to work on important holidays. When people come into a store to go shopping, they don't really think about the employees and managers who run the store to perfection. The reason I know this is that even though I work in retail, I still have to remind myself to hang the clothes nicely on the hanger and to thank employees for their efforts. It is a tough job that requires patience and a heart of steel, and listed below are just a few reasons why this is the case:
1. People ask for help when you are clearly busy.
Whenever I am helping ring up a customer or carrying a load of unfolded clothes to their appropriate department, people think that I am available to give my undivided attention. There is nothing that upsets me more than when someone stops me as I am on my way somewhere with my arms full of clothing or boxes, or when someone asks me to help them when there are 10 people waiting for me to ring them out. We can only do so much. Please do not get mad if we cannot immediately attend to you.
2. People hang clothes inside out on the hanger.
It is my job to hang the clothes properly and put them where they are meant to be, but it would be much appreciated if people could at least try to hang the clothes the right way. Instead, many people forget that there are very busy employees who have to clean up the mess and decide to hang the clothes inside out, making it even more of a chore than it needs to be. I understand that people may not know how to properly hang the clothes, but it would be nice if they at least gave some effort.
3. Your hands smell like dirty money for hours.
For someone who hates germs and carries a tiny bottle of hand sanitizer with them everywhere they go, having to touch money all day long is not a great feeling. At the end of the day, even if I had hardly touched any money, my hands always smell like dirty dollars and coins. It's pretty gross.
4. You're constantly getting sick.
They say that being around a lot of people—especially young children—will help build your immune system. I'm sure this theory is true to a certain point, but being around hundreds of people a day does not free me from catching a sickness every couple of months.
5. The work is back-breaking.
Depending on where in retail you are working, it could lead to back-breaking work that takes a toll on your feet and your overall posture. If you see that an employee is bent over and looks exhausted, don't ask them to carry something for you if you can do it yourself. Don't ask them to do it just because they are an employee. We are humans too, and our bodies can only handle so much.
6. The pay isn't always stellar.
For all of the things that people in retail do—from folding hundreds of clothes a day to dealing with unhappy customers—people in retail do not get paid enough. Even when an employee is not in the mood to please an unpleasant customer, they do it because they have to. They deserve better.
7. You have to fake it to make it.
When it comes to retail, it's all about faking it to make it. You have to pretend to be friendly to rude customers, and you have to pretend to care about customer problems. Sometimes we care about a few of the things we hear day in and day out while on the job, but we usually have to fake caring so that the customer feels appreciated and listened to. It does get a bit tiring and the only thing that makes it worth it is when the customer leaves happy, and my manager is happy. Faking attitudes and opinions for the customer's pleasure is our actual job.
8. You fold an entire table of clothing just to have it all ruined after a few minutes.
This one is probably the worst thing about retail, especially if you are working with a lot of folding. When I work in a clothing department, it usually takes me about 30 minutes to fold a table that is full of clothing. What is most irritating is when you are either in the middle of folding or you have just finished folding that table beautifully, and someone comes over and ruins it. This frustrates me mostly when you can tell that the person is mindlessly browsing, and they don't even intend to buy the item.
9. The store playlist is repeating.
Do I even need to explain this one? For department stores and bigger stores, the playlist is created by someone higher up, and you have no choice in the music. It's absolutely awful when they constantly play the exact same playlist of music for months and months without changing it. This aspect is especially terrible during the holiday season when you are forced to listen to Mariah Carey at least 15 times a shift.
10. You get scammed.
Being scammed or tricked may be the most disrespectful and upsetting situation to happen to an employee in retail. An example of this would be having someone ask to use a coupon or a return that is not valid, and then leaving the counter to ask another employee instead. This has happened to me way too many times to count, and the customer has gotten away with it. Another scamming situation would be when a customer replaces the tag of the item to return it, and the item does not even belong to our store. There are so many more situations of scamming out there, and none of them feel good to us because we know we could have prevented them if we had known.
