Minimum-wage jobs are often undervalued, and because of this they are usually underpaid. They often include no benefits, sick days, paid vacation or flexibility but require a lot of physical and emotional labor. Needless to say, most people who work in fast food or retail would probably prefer to be doing something else with their time. When people shop they have a tendency to mistreat workers or do things that make their job more difficult than it needs to be. Below is a list of things that most retail workers loathe and urge shoppers to think about in order to ensure the happiness of everyone this holiday season:
1. When we speak to you and you don't acknowledge us - we know that sometimes there are language barriers, or there's a possibility that you just didn't hear us, but when you make eye contact while we actively try to engage in conversation...we know you're just being rude. Does it really hurt to say hello before you bombard me with questions about a sweater you saw online.
2. When you have an unorganized return - We know our job is to help you, but could you please read the return policy on the back of the receipt? If it says that you need an ID, we're going to ask you for it. Also, if you have multiple returns the least you could do is put them in order and have the items organized.
3. Trying on 50,000 items and leaving them off of the hanger, and/or inside out - does it hurt to keep things neat? If you didn't find the clothes like that on the sales floor then chances are they're not supposed to look that way. Piles of clothes do look kind of cool and artsy but this isn't the Museum of Modern Art.
4. When you bring up 50,000 items to the register and only pick out one to purchase - I know it's hard picking out gifts for all of your co-workers back at the office, but do you really need to consider every item in the store? Putting it all back is going to take twice the amount of time it took you to place it in your basket, and then across the entire counter.
5. Picking something up and put it back in a completely different area/on the rack the wrong way - just.. why? This isn't your house, don't put a skirt on top of a shelf of notebooks. If anything, hand it to someone and let them know that you forgot where it goes; it makes closing the store a lot easier. There's also no need to stuff product back onto a rack in the opposite direction, wouldn't it take less effort to do it the correct way?
6. Bringing things to the register without a tag - doesn't it make more sense to grab a different one, or an extra? Now your transaction will take twice as long because I have to go find that specific item on the floor. Oh and also, it isn't free just because it's not labeled, that joke isn't and never will be funny.
7. Discounts are not up to our personal discretion - Regardless of your sob story, we aren't allowed to layer promotions. A missing button doesn't deserve 60% off and we don't reward bad behavior; you can't argue your way into an additional discount.
8. Coming in five minutes before we close - shouldn't you be at home with your family or something? When the music turns off that's usually your que to leave because everyone who works here wants to clock out as soon as possible.
9. Using a $100 bill for a $3 purchase - Can you not get angry if it isn't as fast of a transaction as you assumed it'd be? Nine times out of 10 no one has that kind of change, especially, ten minutes after we open. If we ask if you have smaller bills, it's usually to save us both from waiting for someone to find that much change.
10. When you hand us your card to swipe when there's clearly a pin pad - I'm probably bagging your items or doing something pertaining to the transaction, I'm pretty sure you can swipe your card yourself. And don't be one of those people who swipe aggressively two seconds after I scan one of 50 items, it didn't go through and I'm going to have to ask you to swipe again anyway.
11. When you see us fix something and then ruin it - I know you saw me fix those jeans, I know you did. Did you really have to demolish that pile just to examine your size, leave it there, and then, walk away?
13. Leaving food/drink in random places - You're not doing us a favor by leaving your burrito behind the mirror, mice and roaches are real you know. If you didn't want to hold your coffee while you shop, you should've drank it before you came in.
14. SALES:
- No, I don't know when this specific shirt is getting marked down, and I won't know anytime soon.
- Just because it's discounted doesn't mean that it deserves to be on the floor.
- Yeah, I know it's crowded, but if I didn't run stuff back out onto the floor you wouldn't have anything to buy.
- People zoned to sales aren't calculators, they can tell you the promotion but probably can't figure out the exact total without some sort of technology. Don't you have an iPhone?
- Speaking of technology, the computer does most things for us so no I don't know why things ring up the way they do, are you going to buy it or not?
Stores get busy, things get crazy, but you have to remember that we aren't in control of everything. Your favorite brand is much bigger than the workers that you interact with, therefore we don't get to make the rules. If we didn't have a certain level of organization you probably wouldn't want to spend your money with us anyway. The bottom line, retail workers are still people. Chances are our smiles aren't as genuine as they seem. We have families and friends just like you, and we'd appreciate it if you didn't act as if we didn't have feelings.
