Over the last 14 years, I’ve held many jobs, but the majority of them have not involved taking your money from you at the register. It’s not really something I enjoy doing, so I try to avoid it when I can. Keeping a certain pace and making change, I can handle. What I can’t stomach is when customers choose to be rude to cashiers.
Now, I know not every cashier is a saint. Not many I know would claim to be, either, but they are all people, just like the rest of us, trying to make a living. They are not the mustachioed villains in a hostage negotiation trying to trick you out of your hard-earned money. Maybe I’ll never understand why people get so uptight when it’s time to check out.
Of course, I've been on the receiving end, too. Even the most well-adjusted of folks can turn tense when the transaction total rises, and since I’m the monkey pressing the buttons, it must have something to do with an error on my part. Wishing for a peaceful resolution, I do what I can to diffuse the situation. Sometimes it works, sometimes it escalates.
Frankly, I don’t appreciate the hostile tone of the customer who blames me when “the sign says two for $3,” but the item rings up at full price when I scan it. I never claimed to have any knowledge of what the pricing glitch of the day was going to be. I’m just as surprised as you are, I promise. And yes, as a matter of fact, I can read.
When I’m at the store, that isn’t how I behave. If there’s a discrepancy, I don’t snarl. Sometimes, if the difference is worth quibbling over, I may politely draw attention to the item and have it removed from my purchase. Certainly, there’s no reason for me to blame the cashier for a mistake that was probably mine. And I’m definitely not the type to block a busy register for 15 minutes while looking for coupons online, then demand to speak to a manager with unrealistic expectations that my food will be free or that my self-invented inconvenience will be rewarded with 25 percent off.
Don’t get me wrong, most transactions don’t end in a fight. It’s easy to recall the bad eggs, but in reality, most customers just want to make their purchases and get on with their lives. Sometimes, people are even friendly, and those people are a blessing. They make my day, and when I’ve had a nasty, combative customer, they restore my faith in humanity a little.
That’s why I’m never rude to the cashier. I want to be that rare, friendly person, even if that shirt wasn’t actually on sale. Even if my bread ends up bagged with my bleach. And especially if they quietly fumble through my transaction because the person in front of me treated them like dirt for no reason.
Cashiers are people too, after all. If I’ve learned anything from my years spent on the other side of the register, it’s that we’re all people, and we all deserve to be treated as such.
