Confessions of a Grocery Store Cashier( How to be a Better Customer)
Aguide to being a better customer and human being.
Confessions of a grocery store cashier.
( tips to making you better customer and human being)
Let me start off by saying i really do work as a grocery store cashier. I encounter people from every walk of life. every ethnicity, color, religion, sexual preference, personality type and so on. in general, i love people. in specifics, people suck. i am completely ashamed of the society of manner-less, humorless, grumpy people we have become. my hope is that this book will enlighten at least one person who walks around everyday with that gray cloud above his/her head. and admit it, we all know at least one and i bet most can name a few.
yes the economy is bad, yes people are out of jobs in record numbers, yes crime is on the rise, yes our futures do not look at all bright right now. but the question isn’t how angry and upset are you, the question is how are you going to handle it? do you walk through the rest of your life acting like walter matthau in grumpy old men, the cup is always half empty?
you, and only you have control over the persona you show to the world. yes you might be having a bad day, but did you ever think about that cashier you were just rude to for no reason? you ever think maybe she might be dealing with the death of a loved one, or her spouse just losing his job, or a house in foreclosure? she stills smiles at you and thanks you and tells you to have a nice day and what does she get in return? maybe a grunt at the least or told to go screw herself at the worst. believe me, I’ve dealt with them all.
so please take a light hearted read, maybe youll realize you have some work to do too…….
Control your children
I’m not sure when it became the new “in” thing to be friends with your kids, or to “reason with a 2 year old” but that is now the norm. if your one of these parents, leave your kids at home when you run errands. the rest of the world should not have your bad parenting shoved in their faces. yes, you heard me! it is bad parenting to not make your children behave in public. it is bad parenting to let them run wild in public. it is bad parenting to let your child say anything they want. and guess what, this includes parents with special needs children. i feel absolutely terrible for ANY child that does not get the benefit of good parenting.
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Post CommentLayla
On December 6, 2009 at 2:55 pm
i really appreciate this article!! people are so rude and they need to realize how rude they can be. but i’ve also had cashiers/baggers be incredibly rude to me! i always smile and say hi to cashiers, yes occassionaly i’m on my phone but i always try to put it down to check out.
but for example, i had a bagger once bag all my groceries, and i was ina hurry so i grabbed them to run out. He starts yelling at me about how I didn’t say thank you and then continues on with a bunch of racial slurs…..I’m white and he was a black man. I can assure you I am in no way racist, I have tons of black friends, asian friends, friends of all races. He started saying I was racist, how all these white people don’t belong in his neighborhood, etc. etc.
I’m like What the hell? Way to freak out over nothing. His job is to bag my groceries, and if I neglect to say thank you, he can’t get mad about it. I don’t have to thank someone for doing a job they’re paid for. More importantly, I shouldn’t be called a racist for not thanking them for doing their paid job. And furthermore, I almost always say thanks, I just was in a hurry and had a lot on my mind…I forgot! Big deal.
So I really just wanted to say, I think we should all be nicer and less judgemental, on both ends of the spectrum.
kristakaye
On December 14, 2009 at 11:23 am
i totally agree with you that it goes both ways. a cashier/ bagger should never be rude to a customer and never, never use any racial comments that is unbelievable!! i just think we all need to be more aware of our behavior and speech and manners, it would be a much nicer world!
Paul Wynn
On December 31, 2009 at 3:30 am
Wow! we can definitely relate. Pretty much everything you wrote, I wrote on my grocery blog… good going girl.. hang in there.
adam
On April 11, 2010 at 11:23 pm
Well as a grocery cashier I can 100% agree that manners and common sense have gone pretty much COMPLETELY into the toilet. I have been a cashier for almost 13 years in a grocery store that sees a lot of business each day. I can tell you that this article is EXTREMELY accurate and sadly unfortunate. I can never understand why people are SO incredibly rude to us cashiers and service people. Yes we ARE paid to be there for you, to serve you in a pleasing manner.. but NOT ONE THING gives you the right to be rude, degrading, snotty, ignorant, inconsiderate, or any of the other crappy things that a good 80% of customers are.. I truly long for a day when common sense, manners, and just plain decency return to the human race and people cop a clue as to how to be a good person and not a total pig. It is NOT a complicated thing to say hello, good bye, thank you, have a nice day, or to hand the money to the cashier, or get off your cell phone when being waited on, or throw your receipt on the floor or counter because you don\’t feel like either taking it or politely asking that we throw it away for you… The WIC and foodstamps and everything else that was mentioned above is ALLLLLLLL true and also sadly a very frequent thing to have happen. People also need to learn to teach their kids manners.. please, thank you, etc.. they are normal EXPECTED responses in life, and if not taught by their parents, where will they EVER learn it??? The human population (in the USA at least) is really sliding downhill and fast.. WAKE UP PEOPLE… lets get back to what is right and good in the world..
Angy
On April 19, 2010 at 7:05 pm
Wow I am really impressed for what you wrote, I am considering a position as a cashier but now maybe I have to think twice if I really I want to do it… I am very friendly and courteous with my customers ( right now I work in deli department ) but now I have to ask to myself can I do it?
vik
On June 15, 2010 at 3:16 am
Hey,
I really like your article! I’m glad it’s not just me that experiences that rudeness from customers. I work as a cashier and get that a lot – people treating me like I am beneath them etc. I have a university degree actually – so don’t judge a book by it’s cover!
I hate the stupid customers who are rude to us and then complain to our manager. I almost lost my job one day because of one – she came to the checkout when I was already serving the previous customer and dumped all her stuff up on the counter mixed in with the previous customer’s stuff! I asked her politely if she could keep her items seperate so that no-one ended up paying for something that they did not want. She shouted at me that “you should be smart enough to figure out what is mine and what is not” and continued to rant at me whilst I was serving the previous lady. When it was her turn I was all polite to her throughout the whole process. At the end of the sale she said that she would be making a complaint to the owner as she felt I had been extremely rude to her. She did, and the owner came and screamed at me for it, when I actually didn’t do anything wrong.
That’s one of many stories. I’m really over getting treated like that by customers. I’d love to go to their workplace and treat them like that and see how they like it. I hate my retail job because the customers suck!
Allison
On June 19, 2010 at 2:52 am
Interesting topic, but is there some reason you don’t capitalize your sentences? When you’re trying to make a point, it’s hard to take it seriously if you can’t be bothered to properly punctuate. How hard is it to press a shift key when needed?
Drew
On August 16, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Allison,
The article is talking about how arrogant, thoughtless, and rude people have become, especially from a cashier’s viewpoint. You are one of those people. You don’t deserve to be posting in here. How hard it is to keep your mouth shut when needed?
As for the article, I agree 100% (I’m a cashier too). Thanks so much for posting this!
Kelly
On September 19, 2010 at 8:29 am
Drew (and Kristakaye),
As a cashier, I would actually argue in Allison’s favor. If the author does not care about her potential readership enough to respect and abide by generally accepted rules of grammar, why should she expect the readership to respect and abide by her advice (read: opinions) on manners? It is my belief that, perhaps, Allison was pointing out that arrogance, thoughtlessness, and politeness all go both ways and (clearly) cashiers are not immune to ignoring accepted social constructs. I really respect the authors frustrations, but the message would come across much stronger if presented with the same respect the author is expecting, nay, demanding of the customer.
And honestly, let’s not forget who is getting the paycheck here. We are. We are being paid to provide customer services. It is our job to be polite. Let me repeat that, it is our job to be polite. Sorry, but as much as it hurts, they are not being paid to be polite to you. In fact, they are handing over their hard earned money from their job where people are probably also rude to them to buy tampons and hot dog buns and motor oil from a disgruntled customer service representative that, unbeknownst to them, is blasting them and their autistic child on the internet. Wow. Seriously, wow, talk about excellent customer service! Think about the consequences of saying most of the things in this post to a real, live customer. We would lose our jobs.
By the way, don’t forget that consumers can buy anything on the internet now. Yes, groceries too. Even fresh produce. From the internet. Very small fee. Do you realize that grocery delivery has the potential to makes the simple service we provide obsolete? We should be grateful that we still have customers coming into the store, because when they start buying their groceries in their underwear, from their couch, we are out of a job, and a paycheck.
Just remember we are there to give to them and not the other way around. Their job description is to consume, not to provide us with warm feelings. Their good behavior is an added bonus – and one which I’m willing to bet a lot of cashiers overlook.
And for the record, I love my job and it loves me back.
Dotcom
On October 6, 2010 at 12:47 pm
“Control your children”
Likewise, if you are a cashier, do NOT give your customers a dirty look if our kids are not perfect—especially toddlers.
Today my 19 month old was trying to grab candy. I don’t scream at my kid and I *do* talk to her (while keeping the grabbables out of reach). You would not believe the fowl look the cashier was giving me. Hello? My kid is getting her two year molars in and we haven’t had a chance to shop in two weeks because we have been sick. I do not need the person I’m giving my money to giving me the stinkeye because I choose not to scream at or beat my daughter. Groceries need to be bought, and not everyone has access to a babysitter.
Dotcom
On October 6, 2010 at 1:07 pm
By the way, the woman with the autistic 5 year old was definitely out of line. It sounds like she was on the way to crazyville—possibly because she had a lack of sleep or had just been duking it out trying to make sure he gets the therapy he needs—or maybe she was just a crazy nutjob to begin with.
That said, you really don’t sound like someone who’s had any experience with disabled kids (you even admit this)—let alone children in general. You make a lot of generalizations and that is very sad. I often find people with such an attitude are either abusive or perpetually self-absorbed/immature. Perhaps you were projecting this, and this could have been why the confrontation with the mother of the autistic kid turned so ugly.
While I was busy wrangling my kid and getting out my wallet, I didn’t have a chance to ask the cashier how she was doing, but I was still business polite to her (saying please and thank you).
I raise my daughter to wait her turn, smile at and greet people, and say “please” and “thank you.” When she’s not tired or teething, she is a delight to be around (and even when she’s not feeling well she is usually fantastic). Sometimes kids have moments—especially the little ones. They aren’t robots, and most people I meet at stores are *very* understanding of this.
When I run into judgmental/rude cashiers I try to remember this can be true of adults, too. Then I remember all the kind store employees we run into (which is the majority).
Dotcom
On October 6, 2010 at 1:18 pm
That said, if I keep running into nasty cashiers, I will be buying even more of my goods online—or I’ll just go to another store.
Frankie
On October 25, 2010 at 12:06 pm
i love this article. i completely feel what you’re saying. Me and my friends decided to make a video about it considering were all cashiers and we have to bite our tongues in situations where customers can be disrespectful and treat us as if theyre on a higher level than we are. You can check out our video on the link below you can comment,rate,and subscribe if you like,were open to all opinions : D
http://www.youtube.com/user/JFKshow?feature=mhsn
patience
On March 3, 2011 at 3:20 am
Hey. My step sister is autistic and honey, I think I should school you on the disorder. First, do me a favor and go onto youtube and look up a day in a autism. Great video. Maybe you have no clue about thetantrums that autistic children have. If you try to tell them no they will scream at the top of their lungs. They are scared of bing in unfamiluar places and the parents of these cildren are easily embarrased in public. It sounds like she took the fustration out on you. Unfair. But at the same time, maybe she is having a bad day. Autistic children are very difficult and therapy is expensive. As a parent and cashier myself, if you tell a kid to stop smething, chances are they will throw a fit. Maybe some people should take a chill pill. I understand sometimes parents are annoying but the fact is that’s their kids and they pay your salary. I can’t believe somebody would insult the parenting of a mother with an autistic child. And I can’t believe nobody has spoke up before this. You should educate yourself on the disorder before putting people down. Those kids will never talk and my sister runs in circles all day screaming. She can’t even say I love you. Sad disorder and you should put yourself in their shoes. I’m sure they get dirty looks all day. And sbhe was obviosly right, u admitted u were annoyed. Ad you shouldn’t be its your job to provide customer service and get over it or go to college. I can say that because I’m a cashier and I DEAL
Stasi
On April 25, 2012 at 1:27 am
Wow, I simply cannot believe some of the commentors on here…
Saying you are immature? That you have no respect for the disabled? How you should essentially bow down to any and all customers, simply because they are *honoring* you with their glorious presence? I actually laughed out loud about those punctuation harpies! The idea that having good spelling, syntax, grammar usage, ect. Is all for naught if you miss capitalization is completely ludicrous! These posters obviously only skimmed your article, and are projecting their own mental oddities onto your very detailed and well written article.
Don’t let these customers OR commentors get you down. I’m 25a with a degree in Business Management, a manager of my local gaming store, and have worked retail since age 17. I know exactly where you are coming from, and I thought you should know there’s at least ONE retail worker who completely has your back. I’m sure you’re doing great…hope you keep your spirits up!
Edie
On June 1, 2012 at 2:35 pm
Wow, I have gotten on the internet to look up some tips on how to be a good grocery store cashier, beacuse I am going to begin this type of work very soon, and I have no experience.
I was an administrative assistant for the past 8 years and hated that I was in an isolated office and never had contact with others, so I thought this would be a fun and easy job. I assumed that customers I would experience, would be similar to what I present when I shop…polite and friendly. I guess that is a naive attitude on my part.
Still, I want to try this and see if I can deal. I’m not good with being treated rudely, but after reading all of this I am at least aware of what may be a daily occurance and it will help me control my face … I hope!