I understand how most people feel when they walk into a store and see it crawling with other customers and small, snotty children. The first thing I think is: "how many of these creatures touched my cart before me?" After maneuvering my way around the other customers and getting lost in the salsa and chips aisle for the fourth time, then finally getting to the checkout and seeing lines stretching to the store's produce section, I think: no, I do not deserve this. I have a life and a family who I deserve to be miserable with during the holidays. I don't want to spend all my free time here between a whiny toddler and a chain smoker.
When I get to the end of the seemingly endless line, I start to have an anxiety attack about the checkout; what if the cashier is slow or just wants to talk? I'm mentally exhausted and if I have to pretend to like one more person I'm going to faint. Yet, it's always the cashier that brings my spirits up.
Whenever I have the chance to talk to somebody that works in a big chain store, I always get hit by a tractor trailer of friendliness. I certainly have had bad experiences with rude retail workers myself, but I find those experiences they are far outweighed by the number of good ones, some of which I remember very well.
I have a fond memory, for instance, of customer service desk worker helping out my mom with a return. I must have been about 8, at the time, but I still remember her rosy cheeks, 50s-style southern haircut, and bright blue eyes as if she had corrected our purchase for us yesterday. We must have waited in line for about 30 minutes, but we left happy just because she gave us the time of day.
I'm a cashier myself, and I've personally seen how much I can impact a person's day simply by interacting with them. I like to think that I add a human touch to their experience. A lot of what retail workers do is not meant to make you, as customers, feel like less or to take your money. It's the golden rule: we wouldn't do to you what we wouldn't want somebody else doing to us. We all know what it's like to be a customer, waiting in a line. Honestly, our goal is just to make your holiday shopping trip a little less painful. I apologize if you, as a customer, ever had difficulty finding an item in the store or getting the sale price you were expecting. A lot of us will do all we can to help you. All that I ask of you, in return is to not make rash decisions or use passive aggressive anger towards us while you're at the register. It doesn't make your checkout go any faster and it makes us feel like we aren't doing a good enough job.
Please, be nice to the people that fix the broken scanners and the service staff that sometimes disappear trying to take care of multiple problems at once. Appreciate the people stocking the shelves, who sometimes have to rearrange entire rows of products after a long night of sales or because corporate wants them to look better, and who sometimes make mistakes because of it. Be cool to us. Remember that with every interaction, you have the opportunity to brighten our day, as well.
