In my many years of working retail, I can honestly say I have heard it all and seen it all. Every type of customer you could imagine I have had some sort of an interaction with - some good, a lot bad. Granted, there are benefits of working retail, like that employee discount that you use to deplete your next paycheck, the minimum wage that you make (if you're lucky enough to live in PA, then it's $7.25), and the co-workers that you actually really like/ don't mind spending the next four to eight hours with. But perhaps the most agonizing aspect of working in retail are the lousy customers that you have to help even if it is the last thing on earth that you want to do. I have decided to write a letter to any type of shopper out there and list a few of the things that they may do that annoy the employees the most.

1. "40 percent off is not on the tag, but there is still a discount on this shirt right?"

Maybe it's just product placement or the advertising that makes the customers confused and think that everything in the entire store is on sale, but if it doesn't say it on the tag, then sorry you can't try to bargain with me. Honestly, ringing the clothing up at the register for a "double check" won't make a difference but I'll do it for you so I don't have to fight with you.

2. If I'm smiling at you, it is most likely fake.

Unless you are a genuinely nice person who's goal isn't to completely ruin my day, then that "Hi! What can I help you with today?" is a phrase that is not very pleasant to say once I have gotten through the half-way point of my shift. No amount of bad jokes will turn this fake smile into a real one.

3. "Do you need any help?" "No that's OK, thank you." *proceeds to ruin entire shelf to find a single size*

It is my job to provide the best customer service that I can. I can find you that size you need so that you don't have to wreck that entire shelf of jeans that I precisely folded a few moments before you came and decided to destroy it.

4. "Who is the manager here? I would like to speak to them."

I can't help but laugh internally at this. Yes I will go ahead and grab them even though they are extremely busy so you can speak to them, but they will tell you exactly what I just said. You can't return that bathing suit that was obviously well worn and has sand all over it because it "no longer fits". I'm not an idiot, I'm just following the store's policy.

5. I get it, it didn't fit. But please don't leave the fitting room a mess.

Please come find me and give me the items that you don't want. I will gladly put them back where they belong. But leaving clothes all over the floor, inside-out, and without their correct hangers is not polite. I am not your mother that cleans up after you.

6. Talking on the phone or texting at checkout.

Please, just don't do it. It's incredibly rude. The last thing I want to hear is you conversing with your husband about what you are having for dinner that night.

We appreciate you and your business, we really do. But we are human just like you. A general plea to all customers who decide to shop at one of our stores: please be respectful to us, for the sake of our sanity.