Everyone who has ever worked in retail can tell you that it is truly awful some days. There are days when thing go flawlessly, then there are days where nothing goes well and you are left in a bad mood. Now, these moods are not always caused by customers. Not even close. But, customers do cause them occasionally. So, here are some reasons to be nice to retail employees.
1. They are usually high school or college students trying to make extra money.
They usually come in for their shift happy and ready to take on whatever they have to, but sometimes people come in and ruin that good mood. Just today, I had multiple people come up to the register and literally throw things at me. There is no reason to throw things that you wish to buy at a person standing less than three feet away. There is no reason to throw items at that person at all. There is a counter for a reason.
2. They have a lot to do and might be very overwhelmed.
I can't tell you how many times I have been working the register and walk away for a minute to stock shelves and then suddenly there's a line halfway through the store. It can be very stressful to have to do a lot of different things and then be treated rudely.
3. They are not the person you should be mad at.
Seriously, there is no reason to get mad at people who are just trying to do their jobs. I've been yelled at multiple times because customers didn't buy the correct thing and had to come back and exchange it for whatever it is they actually wanted. I understand that you're frustrated, but please don't take it out on anyone who is working. They don't deserve it.
4. Sometimes they might be uncomfortable or nervous, don't perpetuate it.
There are often older men where who shop where I work, and that is fine. What isn't fine is when they hit on the women who are working, or any woman who doesn't want advances in the first place. Recently, one of my coworkers told me about a man, who shops at our store, coming to see her at her house. She only knows this man because he shops there, and he found out where she lives and went there. That is not OK.
All in all, be a decent person. There is no reason to make that person's day any worse than it might already be.
