1. When you say, "Hi, how are you?" and the customer starts giving you their phone number for their rewards card.
This is SO rude. I understand that you don't know me and I don't know you, but this is why our world is so divided; no one makes an effort to act humanly or treat anyone with respect anymore. Just because I am your cashier does not mean you should treat me with disrespect. Ugh.
2. When you are at the register with your light on and the customer asks, "Are you open?".
No. Nope. I am not open. I just love to sit here and look at the pretty light. Of course I am open, people. Please have some common sense. It takes everything in me to not reply with complete sarcasm.
3. When customers decide the last minute that they need one more thing and leave all of their belongings on the belt.
I have a line out to the isles of the store, and you decided that it was okay to hold up the whole line just because you forgot something? I understand that we forget; it happens to me everyday. But please have the decency to remove all of your belongings from the belt and proceed to collect what you forgot, or just wait until after the order and I will happily take you on my line. Whenever a customer does this, the customers behind that customer look at me like I committed a crime, and I am pretty much crying on the inside.
4. When the price isn't right, but it's the cashier's fault.
No people. I do not make the prices up for your items, nor do I want to. Believe it or not, I am a customer when I am not working as a cashier, so I don't think I would want overpriced items, since I buy some of the same items you buy. The company makes mistakes; it's a normal life happening, as we are not computers but only humans. Just tell me, and I will call over my manager to fix it for you. Ta da. No need to call me an idiot; that's just rude!
5. When you ask them if there is anything that they forgot underneath their cart, and they get mad at you.
Yeah, this happens all of the time. If you think about it, I am literally trying to help you not get in trouble with security just in case of the instance where you accidentally forgot that pack of Gatorade underneath your cart. I get answers such as, "Yeah, a dead body", "Air", or "Are you accusing me of stealing?! How dare you!", or "Just wheels". The jokes get really old after a while, people. Just answer with a simple "Oh my goodness, yes, I am so sorry" or "No". And with the rude comments, just gain some common sense; I am not accusing you of stealing, I am just trying to help and it really is a part of my job.
6. When customers say, "You look bored, were you waiting for me?"
I don't really have much to say to this other than, nope. No I was not waiting for you. This is another joke that gets super old.
7. When you can't figure out the math of their discount in .5 seconds because you are so overwhelmed that they just yelled at you about the price of their item, so they call you uneducated for not knowing how to figure out simple math.
Actually, I do know math, and I am, in fact, very well educated, but the fact that you just screamed at me about the mistake in the price of your item has me a bit shaken up, and I am finding it very difficult to concentrate on figuring out how to take off the $0.10 you want taken off of your item.
8. When the customer whips out the coupon binder.
Oh my goodness, when this happens, your heart instantly drops because you immediately know that there is going to be a problem with all of them, and you're going to have to call over your manager for an override every single time or else the customer will sit there and argue about how their coupon should be accepted. Also, when the coupon doesn't go through, apparently it is my fault. No people, the computer doesn't accept your coupon, not me.
9. When the customer completely disregards the "10 items or less" sign.
I am not sure how much bigger or in your face you'd like the sign, but the express lane was specifically made for people with 10 items or less and who want to quickly get out of the store. Honestly, I would not mind taking you, but when you have 60 items and a person with 2 items is waiting behind you, they are going to get very angry and then probably get mad at me for taking you. I am not always observing who comes on my line, since I have 100 other things to worry about while focusing on the current customer, so by the time you load your 60 items on the belt, I can't really tell you take them off and go somewhere else because you will probably scream at me. Moral: just read the darn sign, and be attentive to your surroundings!
10. When you are trying to escape from customers on your break, but it is just impossible.
I mean, I would think the phone in my hand, the lunchbox, and my car keys would be a clear indication that I am not currently on the clock, and you shouldn't ask me to escort you to find the milk. The best part is when they know you are on break, and they say, "I'm sorry if you're on break, but can you quickly help me find the pancake mix?" Really? This is my 15 minutes to get away from you, and you want to bother me in that measly 15 minutes out of 8 hours that I get to myself? No. Wrong.
These are 10 of my biggest pet peeves while working at the grocery store. Sadly, there are so many more, but these are 10 that most accurately sum up a typical 8 hour shift at work. Moral of the story: please be a good customer, and have some respect. Please?
