When one enters into their teenage years, it’s considered the norm to attain a part-time job in order to gain a better sense of communication skills, a bit of extra spending money, or in order to make ends meat. For me, my parents gave me an ultimatum. At the age of 16 in order to be able to get my permit and learn how to drive, I first had to get a job. I myself didn’t want to work in the food industry so I chose retail. But let me tell you, I think I would’ve been better off making food than dealing with countless amounts of rude customers on a daily basis. Based on my personal experience, I’ve decided to depict what it's actually been like to work in retail for the past few years in a series of unique GIFs.

1. You can be rude to me all you want, but an employee has no control over the price points, sales, and coupons administered by the company. Yet some customers do give you the slightest bit of hope for humanity.

2. The customer isn't always right, even when they believe that they are. They'll even resort to screaming in your face every once in awhile.

3. Those customers that walk in at 8:59pm but the store closes at 9 o'clock, and then they'll walk around the store for 15 minutes to shop even though the lights go dark.

4. When the customer proclaims that they saw an item in the store a few days ago but it's no longer available. Although, they demand you check all over the store, and in the warehouse even though you know right well that it's not in stock and never will be again.

5. When the customer complains about the long checkout lines but there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. I mean it's not like you can just check customers out with the snapping of your fingers.

Granted, working in the retail industry isn't always sunshine and rainbows. But despite it's many downfalls, there is an upside. It has taught me some valuable life lessons that I will take with me as I progress into the next stages of my life. I've strengthened my backbone, brushed up on my communication skills, and worked long shifts to save up for my pending future. Sometimes you have to fight off the curve balls and deal with rude customers on a daily basis, to take the time to appreciate how far you're willing to work for that weekly paycheck. Yet it's shown me what the true value of a dollar actually means. There are thousands of other situations that make working in the retail industry so challenging, but these are the few that I could come up with, that would fit into a short article that wouldn't quite bore people.