I have worked in retail for the past six years and from this experience I have come to some conclusions:
- Everyone should work a retail job in their life: It will make them be a lot more money conscious as well as conscious of how they treat people after leaving this job.
- You lose you faith in humanity so many times: People are stupid, just like beyond dumb and retail makes you realize that much more.
- The customer is never right: Mr. Selfridge, Mr. Wanamaker and Mr. Field had no idea what this really meant. The customer is 99% always wrong and sometimes when they are right it is a major fluke.
Retail is able to open your eyes to many different things, not only because of the people you meet and the situations you are put in but because of the work you have to do and the shit pay you get. Some places will pay their employees well (like over $12 an hour) and some places will try and cheat you out of your pay because they think they can do that. I have some amazing stories from my six years of experience, and some of them I will share with you.
The first story is a continuous one it is the dreaded 2 for $5 sign or any 2 for... sign. This is obvious but clearly not to the thousands of customers I have put through. The sign clearly states you can get two cans of soup for $5 and then underneath states 'Or reg. price: $3.29'. But sometimes people come up with one can of soup and are like oh the sign says 2 for $5. My face drops and I look at them losing the last bit of my soul and say you have to buy two to get the deal. It honestly amazes me how idiotic people can be when it is literally laid out right in front of them. It literally states everything on the sign, there is no reason as to why someone should not understand the sign.
Another one is "If it doesn't scan it's free", my god. The last bit of my soul I had left in me has just escaped from that one statement. NO it does not mean it is free, and NO I do not find it funny. This laugh that I am currently laughing is only there because I can do nothing else without being fired. I hear this daily, and most of the time multiple times a day. It honestly surprises me so much how many people actually say it and how many people actually find it funny. Cashiers DO NOT find this funny. In fact, we hate it and if you could just stand at the till and not talk to us that would be great.
The workload of someone who runs a department is startling. I run the fashion department at the store I work at and it is honestly one of the hardest things to do. People who work in offices or in construction or whatever else really have no idea what it is like to run their own department, while also knowing how to use a till, and cleaning up after every single person who walks through the store. I, myself, simultaneously do every single job in the store at the same time, while some people in office buildings can barely do their own job properly. If I don't do my job right things don't run smoothly and customers get angry which makes me pissed off. I do a lot in one day; I have price changes, I have markdowns, I have over 30 boxes of fashion to get out even though are racks are so packed you can't fit anything else, I also have other responsibilities like jumping on the till when it gets busy, letting the cashier go for their breaks, going for my own breaks, doing returns, running to the bank to get money, and the list goes on and on. And people just think I'm standing around waiting to help them. That is definitely not the case.
Anyway, that is my first of I'm sure many rants. Retail rants are endless as people just become dumber and dumber. Good luck out there to anyone in retail and everyone else who isn't, remember a few things: we are the people who stock the shelves for you, clean up after you, and put your items through the till, if you piss us off we can make your life a living hell. And also we are human beings like you and deserve to be respected.
Another one is "If it doesn't scan it's free", my god. The last bit of my soul I had left in me has just escaped from that one statement. NO it does not mean it is free, and NO I do not find it funny. This laugh that I am currently laughing is only there because I can do nothing else without being fired. I hear this daily, and most of the time multiple times a day. It honestly surprises me so much how many people actually say it and how many people actually find it funny. Cashiers DO NOT find this funny. In fact, we hate it and if you could just stand at the till and not talk to us that would be great.
The workload of someone who runs a department is startling. I run the fashion department at the store I work at and it is honestly one of the hardest things to do. People who work in offices or in construction or whatever else really have no idea what it is like to run their own department, while also knowing how to use a till, and cleaning up after every single person who walks through the store. I, myself, simultaneously do every single job in the store at the same time, while some people in office buildings can barely do their own job properly. If I don't do my job right things don't run smoothly and customers get angry which makes me pissed off. I do a lot in one day; I have price changes, I have markdowns, I have over 30 boxes of fashion to get out even though are racks are so packed you can't fit anything else, I also have other responsibilities like jumping on the till when it gets busy, letting the cashier go for their breaks, going for my own breaks, doing returns, running to the bank to get money, and the list goes on and on. And people just think I'm standing around waiting to help them. That is definitely not the case.
Anyway, that is my first of I'm sure many rants. Retail rants are endless as people just become dumber and dumber. Good luck out there to anyone in retail and everyone else who isn't, remember a few things: we are the people who stock the shelves for you, clean up after you, and put your items through the till, if you piss us off we can make your life a living hell. And also we are human beings like you and deserve to be respected.
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