Rise of the 203

MND169

Ok kids, here's a little headsup for everyone. I work Retail. It is probably my number one calling in life. I'm good at it. It makes me happy over all. I enjoy my work and i don't have to take it home with me at the end of the day. So.

To All You Dear Consumers;

The "holiday season" is upon us once again. As a retail associate, I understand that - for most of us here in the western hemisphere - and many who are elsewhere - this is prime shopping time. It's time for us to all go out and start buying things to give to family, friends, and people we hardly know because a few thousand years ago, a baby was born and we like to think about it sometimes. (Not to closely, understand, because the religious undertones could upset our consumer-based ideas of the holiday, but you know...)

Now, take a moment to stop and think about the last time you went into a store, be it clothing, grocery, or entertainment (electronic, games, toys, etc) based. Were the shelves neat? Could you find what you were looking for? Was there someone available to help you find that special something?

Now think about how you behaved while you were there. Did you leave the things that you touched where you found them or did you just casually drop them wherever was convenient for you? Did you brush off the associate who tried to help you because you knew what you were there for, and you didn't want to bother being polite to a complete stranger? Did you thank your checkout clerk when they rang you out? Did you organize your coupons and discounts, reading all the fine print so that when you did get to your turn at the checkout you knew exactly what discounts you had and were all set to go? Were you polite to the other shoppers? Did you push them out of your way because you finally found that "special something" and they were between you and it?

I do not mean to offend, and certainly hope that none of the more unpleasent scenarios there are true. However, working in multipule retail establishments, I've seen several of them happen on more than one occasion. So i know there are people out there who behave this way.

What i feel i must stress is this: If you cannot find something, if you feel you are being ignored by an associate, if you feel that the store is messy, PLEASE do not blame the associate. If the store is messy, it is because someone has just come through and messed it up and the associates have not yet had a chance to clean up after them. If it looks like the associate is ignoring you, it is much more likely the the associate is trying to clean up the trashed mess the last person left, and not intetionally slighting you. If you ask politely for some help, they will most likely be delighted to stop cleaning like an under-paid maid and walk all over the store with you looking for your "special something".

And just because you cannot combine coupons does not give you the right to throw a hissy fit. If you read your coupons when you recieve them, you will know what you can and cannot use on them. Every coupon I've ever rung through as a cashier has been carefully detailed on the back exactly what it is applicable to, and what is excluded. Do not wait in line for 20 minutes, get to the register, and then get mad at the cashier because you couldn't be bothered to actually read your coupon. It is not our fault. We will do our best to help you, but we are not your mothers or your maids. When we have to stay an hour or two hours after our store closes to clean up after you because you just dropped stuff where you were standing instead of walking the three feet to put it back on the shelf where you got it, when we have five customers in a row try to use the same coupon on the same gift set, even tho they can all see that we won't let the customer ahead of them use that coupon on that gift set, when we try our best to be helpful, energetic and supportive and are told repeatedly throughout the day that our store is horrible and that the customer can't find anything and that we were useless and didn't help at all... Believe me it does not inspire us to continue in this line of work.

Also, even tho you may have the weekend off, remember someone else does not. For many of us who work in retail, our weekends are more often monday's and tuesday's because those are the days when people do not stampede into our store, throw merchandise around and yell at us. Those are the days when we can come into work, straighten a few crooked items, and work on making sure our store is pretty.

Please remember your retail associates as you shop this holiday season. We do our best for you, and we appreciate the kindness of a "thank you" as you leave our store. Thank you for stopping and shopping with us, wherever we may be.