A Public Service Announcement from a Retail Worker

From someone who has worked in the industry for 7 years...let's just say there a lot of things that really grind my gears.

1. First of all, we are just employees, we do not make the policy. So please, stop yelling and telling me to do something that is out of my control. I just work here okay?!

2. Speaking of which, if you are in search of an item that we do not have, nor do other stores have in the area, what do you want me to do about it? My bad, forgot my sewing machine today and am unable to sew you a new sweater, maybe tomorrow.

3. Let's be clear about something, I would be more than happy to assist you. However, I am not here to be your personal butler. I cannot follow you around for 2 hours listening to you mumble to yourself about things, contemplating what to buy as I carry around your clothes.

4. If I close at 9:00 PM, please do not continue to shop after we have locked our doors, and turned off our music. We want to go home. Expect dirty looks and obvious gestures that say "We are closed, LEAVE!"

5. We all hate misleading coupons, but I'm sorry, there is nothing I can do about it. And if you think yelling at me is going to change things, it won't. You have a better chance at getting the word out by going straight to corporate yourself. Have fun on that 3-hour long hold.

6. I am not your babysitter. I am not responsible for your children, so dropping them off in my store or ignoring them completely as they run a muckus is going to really piss everyone off. Oh, and tell your kid to stop coming up to me and asking me how much everything is. Ain't no one got time for that.

7. If you are too lazy to neatly pull an item out of a stack or off of a fixture, just ask an associate. They would be more than happy to do it for you. Really.

8. Stop getting mad when you can't return an item past the "90-day/or whenever" return policy. Example: Buying clothes, and attempting to return it 7 months later, and saying it doesn't fit. You had that long and just now decided to return it?! That isn't my problem. And you aren't getting your money back, sorry about it.

9. How about when parents return kids shoes that have clearly been worn (in dirt of all kinds), and say, "This part of the shoe ripped, I want to return it for a new pair." OF COURSE it ripped, it looks like you took your kid through a patch of dirt, through the sewage, and to roll around in a pile of rocks.

10. We know you are taking a million selfies in the fitting rooms, and are judging you so hard for it. But don't you dare leave that enormous pile of clothes there and not put them away.

11. Shame on all you customers who leave your TRASH all over the store. Especially the customers who spill a drink/food, and leave it there. Y'all are savages.

12. Stop complaining about how everything is so expensive compared to other places...We have no control over it, and can't fix it without committing fraud. And if those other places are so much cheapter, go shop there. #ByeFelicia

13. Just ask us to put something away for you. We would much rather do it then watch you attempt to do it. We end up following you around the store cleaning up your horrid trail of clothes/accessories.

14. It's great and all that you trust to tell us your entire life story and all those gritty personal issues ...but just don't.

15. We hate doing returns, but we will (fake) happily do them. However, waiting for you to find your reciept for 20 minutes is limiting our patience to make you and the 12 customers in line behind you happy. And when you give me a giant stack of receipts for a return you cannot locate on them, It will not guarentee you a fast transaction. You did this to yourself.

Overall, especially during that holiday season, understand that us retail workers deal with the worst kind of people (lots of thieves, and plenty of grinches!). We don't mind helping you, really, but have some manners. The nicer you are, the more likely we will give you the best service possible (Didn't you get taught the Golden Rule?). I enjoy working retail, but only when the customers that come in, have a sense that I am a human being who wants the same thing as everyone else. To be treated with respect.

xo,

Christine

#retail