After having worked in retail for almost three years, I learned one thing, it sucks. The pay is low, customers are rude, and at the end of the day, it just doesn’t seem worth it. But a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do, so here’s 7 all too real struggles of working in retail.
1. Customers assume that they are always right, but most of the time they just aren’t
No, we do not have your size in the back. No, you cannot use this coupon that expired in 2012. Yes, we do have BOGO, but no the second pair is not free, it’s only half price.
2. Slow shifts are bad, busy shifts are worse
Yes, slow Tuesday night shifts may seem long and boring, but they are nothing compared to weekend shifts where you barely have time to breathe between customers yelling at you for not having something in the right color and cleaning up the same aisle every three minutes.
3. When you smile and greet a customer and they straight up ignore you
Okay cool. Hope you have a good day too.
4. People are just plain stupid
I kid you not, once I measured one woman’s feet to get her accurate shoe size and when I told her she was a size 10 she denied it and swore on her life that she was only a size 8 and would only let me show her shoes in size 8. Alright, that’s fine, but don’t complain when your feet hurt because you bought the wrong size because you simply did not listen.
5. When customers complain about prices and merchandise to you as if you created it
No, I did not build these shoes by hand and then decide the price. No, I did not decide what items your coupon works on. All I do is clean the store and deal with customers, nothing else. Anything more is way above my pay grade.
6. Your co-workers become your best friends and your worst enemies
A real sense of camaraderie is built when it's you and your co-workers versus a stupid customer, but on the opposite side of the spectrum when you desperately need someone to cover your shift and no one will step up, the feeling of betrayal is too real.
7. You know that there is a special place in hell for customers who stay longer than three minutes after close
Get out. That’s all I have to say. We want to leave, do not make us stay longer than necessary just because you have to try on one last pair of shoes or take a few more selfies in the mirror.
