retail workers: tell us your stupid customers

[jdcnow]

^ My favorite...there seems to be an urban myth that says if you put your card in one of the store's plastic bags, then use it with bag around it, it will work better. It doesn't. Just go by the bank and ask for a new one. Most banks replace them for free.

My experience has been that that method has a 50-50 success rate - sometimes it actually works with my customers, and sometimes, the card is too far gone that it doesn't.

But still folks - your money and financial instruments, such as credit/debit cards, are one of the most critically important things a person can have on their person, and you'd be surprised at how many people do not take good care of said money/financial instruments.



I think it comes from me spending so many years in retail, but I actually do... "judge" is such a harsh word, but it's the only one I can get to fit here, so forgive me... But I do kinda "judge" people by how they take care of their money/financial instruments. And that's not to say "wealthy" vs. "poor" folks, because that's totally different - how much a person has. But how does a person take care of their money? What kind of care does a person take of what they have in their possession, whether it be a little (poor) or a lot (wealthy). Even if a person doesn't have much, are you taking good and proper care of what you do have? If all you have to your name are five $1 bills, are they neatly folded in your wallet, and you actually know where they are at any given time, or are they crumpled up in a pants pocket somewhere, or god knows where else?

And on that note of what kind of care a person takes of their money - and I know I have to proceed delicately here, for this next part - but what's up with the ladies who keep stuff in their bra? Really? I guess it is kinda smart, because no self-respecting thief would look there. But can I tell you how many sweaty, nasty, groady dollar bills I've gotten over the last 11+ years, and I just wanna go,

EEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!


But what takes the cake is...the friend that I housekeep for, his girlfriend is the store manager over a beauty goods/cosmetics store. And she once told me about the woman who needed coin change. So where does the woman go to get the change? Pants pocket? Nope. In her bra? Try again. This woman went down into her panties, right there in the store. Not kidding, dead serious. The store manager immediately told the woman not to worry about the change, we're good, thanks. What'd she have, like a coin bank down there, or what? Roll of quarters, maybe? Just sayin'...

[jdcnow]

Late last night, I had this one young father come through, with his spoiled-ass young daughter - she was about, say, 7ish or 8ish. I felt bad for him. As he and I began light conversation during me checking him out, he made mention that he was getting his daughter a Nintendo Wii. I mention that I have one as well, and that I'm a huge Super Mario fan. The father also made mention that he had bought her an iPad, and that she doesn't even like it.

In my mind >> "Really? I wish I could afford an iPad."

As I ring up the chocolates he'd bought for his wife, he told his daughter that these were Mommie's chocolates, and that she wasn't supposed to have any. He the told me that everything he buys, the daughter thinks she ought to have. To which the little girl chimed in right on cue, "Yep!" I immediately picked up on how truly spoiled this little girl was - OMFG, JUST WOW!!!

I had no one else behind these two in line, so I figured I'd tell her my personal story, in hopes of getting through to her. For those of you who follow my posts on here, you already know - I come from a small country town with almost nothing, moved to Dallas over a year and a half ago. Got a job, paid off several thousand dollars in doctor bill debt, got a place of my own, I'm in school now. But I told her, that even though I'm enjoying the good life, right now, none of what I have now was handed to me on a silver platter. I worked for every bit of it. I've been with this company for a year and a half, most of it, on the overnight shift, and working hard every night. Nobody waved a magic wand or anything. Nobody said, "Here ya' go!" No. I worked for it all.

I only hope something I said got through to her. Her father said that when she turns 16, he'll personally get her a job. OMFG, yes, please.

[Yooper]

A bit of background: In case you haven't noticed, it is February. I am in Colorado. Occasionally, stuff that is white and cold falls out of the sky and collects on the ground. It can be slippery.

For over a week past, the weather-people (on TV, the Radio, the Internet, the newspapers) have all said it 'might' snow today.

Fast forward to this afternoon.

My wireless telephone rings. It is the Store Manager.

"Yooper, we've had a customer complaint. The parking lot is a little slippery."

I am speechless. Urm, what was she expecting?????

I reply, "I'll call the Mall Maintenance office right away."

Later, I found out the complaining customer was wearing 2-inch heels.

[72-Jay]

Later, I found out the complaining customer was wearing 2-inch heels.

those should be good for at least 2 inches of snow LOL

[jdcnow]

A bit of background: In case you haven't noticed, it is February. I am in Colorado. Occasionally, stuff that is white and cold falls out of the sky and collects on the ground. It can be slippery.

For over a week past, the weather-people (on TV, the Radio, the Internet, the newspapers) have all said it 'might' snow today.

Fast forward to this afternoon.

My wireless telephone rings. It is the Store Manager.

"Yooper, we've had a customer complaint. The parking lot is a little slippery."

I am speechless. Urm, what was she expecting?????

I reply, "I'll call the Mall Maintenance office right away."

Later, I found out the complaining customer was wearing 2-inch heels.

To quote Gomer Pyle, "Sue-Prise, sue-prise, sue-prise!!!"

[Yooper]

Important Disclaimer: I am only speaking for myself and NOT representing any other interest. (Yeah, that's to satisfy the Suits that might see this.)

Background: Because I'm a pseudo-manager (in larger stores, my position is actually a Manager position and not a 'Lead'...which means I get paid far less than others to do the same job with less help...so my job is more pressurized than people in 'larger' stores), and because my location is a more 'upscale' store, I make sure I dress in full dress code...collared dress shirt, appropriate pants and dress-like shoes...no tie because my job would be dangerous if I was wearing one...and my nametag, along with a RF Telephone and a walkie-talkie attached to my belt...so I look the part, anyway...

Event: So I'm walking back to 'my' back-of-house area, and see a customer looking at bed pillows. I smile and say hi.

'Excuse Me,' says the guest, 'Do you work here?' (Instant )

'How may I be of assistance?' I reply.

'Can you tell me how much these (she points at a two-pack of pillows) are?'

(Hmm...there's a 7x5 sign that says 'Designer Brand Twin Pack Pillows, Regular Price $39.99, SALE 50% off, $19.99, use your Credit Card and save an additional 10%)

'Are you shopping with your Credit Card today?'

'No, I don't have one.'

'OK, well, this package is $19.99 on sale for the two pillows.'

'But I only need one pillow.'

(Below the twin packs are singles OF THE SAME THING, on sale for $9.99, clearly signed).

'Well, here are singles of the same pillow, and they're only $9.99 on sale.'

'But isn't it a better deal to get the twin pack?'

Gratefully, at this point, a newbie Sales Associate wanders by, otherwise I probably would have begun hitting myself over the head with something much more substantial than the quite handy pillows.

[Yooper]

I'm on the tippy top of a 12 foot ladder changing a light bulb (dressed in my usual attire). At the base of my ladder is a huge steel cart loaded with light bulbs of various sizes. From my lofty perch I see a non-employee approaching.

Once my light bulbs have been changed and both are working, I climb down. Said non-employee is waiting at the base of my ladder.

'Excuse me, do you work here?'

'Yes I do, how may I be of assistance?'

'Can you direct me to the Men's Underwear department?'

(I look around, I am standing IN FRONT of a waist-down mannequin form wearing only underpants, with a bulge that 90% of the people on this website would be concerned that if they found it in Real Life, the gentleman would be having a SERIOUS medical condition, and next to that is a poster of a nearly naked guy that has another VERY LARGE bulge in his underwear, plus MANY MANY displays full of various brand-name underwear brands nearby).

'Well, I think you've managed to find it. May I help you find something in particular?', I reply, still holding two very large fluorescent light bulbs in my hand.

'No, I'm just browsing, thank you.'

I am now tempted to BREAK one of the bulbs on my lamping cart and shove the broken end through my chest.

[Hard-up1]

Each and all:

How many customers do you attend in a day?

How many customers does your business (your local employer) see in a day's sales?

How many interactions would you estimate are somehow unpleasant? That includes stupidity, anger, and dishonesty.

[glasvegas]

I used to work in a Spanish restaurant and I get a lot of customers asking me "Are you Spanish?", isn't that obvious I am Asian? Some people.

[Hard-up1]

I used to work in a Spanish restaurant and I get a lot of customers asking me "Are you Spanish?", isn't that obvious I am Asian? Some people.

At the risk of turning this into the lame shitstorm that every race thread on JUB becomes, Vince, race is a really variable definition. In some uses, it refers to the nationality, so you could be a Spaniard.

For others, it represented genetic groups that shared certain physical traits, including skin color. That broke mankind into Mongoloid, Caucasoid, Negroid, etc. Those groupings fell into disfavor.

Even so, using Asian doesn't really connote a racial group. Asia has Indians, Chinese, and Caucasian populations. We probably use the term "Asian" to keep from referring to a race, ironically.

[jdcnow]

I used to work in a Spanish restaurant and I get a lot of customers asking me "Are you Spanish?", isn't that obvious I am Asian? Some people.

I understand your point completely, and I go through the exact same thing at my supermarket with people thinking I'm Spanish, and in fact getting angry at me when I tell them I'm not, and that I don't know what I am.

I've had people literally tell me, "Well, you're lying. You ARE Spanish!" "Why don't you speak Spanish? You look like me!"

I am a very patient man - you have to be, in a customer service job dealing with the public. And I've done this all of my adult life - over 11 years - it'll be 12 this coming Thanksgiving. But even I have admit - It's literally taken every ounce of patience and professionalism not to just turn around and just bitchslap the holy hell out of some of these people. I get called a lie to my face when I tell these people I don't speak Spanish. I actually flunked Spanish in high school, and might just still have the old report card at my mom's house to prove it. I am informed by people I have never met before, who seem to apparently know everything about me, and these people tell us what we are. And there's not a good goddamned thing we can say in return, except "Thank you, have a nice day!"

There's this one young black guy at my store, he's a cashier during the day. He catches the same hell I do from customers. Why? Because even though he is straight "Family Matters", "Cosby Show" jet black, his name happens to be Carlos. And these idiots basically take one look at his name tag and assume all this information about him, based solely on what his name happens to be.

It is willfully and belligerently attempting to make us into something we are not, just to suit their need to categorize, index and pigeonhole everyone and everything. And after hearing it over and over and over and over again, day in and day out, it gets old and it gets old fast. It is demeaning. It is objectifying. It is disgraceful. The prosecution rests.

[EuroSoccer]

I used to work in a Spanish restaurant and I get a lot of customers asking me "Are you Spanish?", isn't that obvious I am Asian? Some people.

Europe is multicultural and multiracial, have you been here recently?

[travis82]

I used to work at this video store in a shopping mall.

If anything is missing from the store, I have to pay for it. I felt it isn't very fair to me. My salary as a retail worker is already miserable.

Once I was busy attending to customers, I didn't realise somebody stole a blue-ray dvd.

In the end, my manager insisted that I fork out money from my own pocket to pay for that stolen dvd.

And yes, I paid for that stolen dvd even though I never stole anything from that store.

[Hard-up1]

I used to work at this video store in a shopping mall.

If anything is missing from the store, I have to pay for it. I felt it isn't very fair to me. My salary as a retail worker is already miserable.

Once I was busy attending to customers, I didn't realise somebody stole a blue-ray dvd.

In the end, my manager insisted that I fork out money from my own pocket to pay for that stolen dvd.

And yes, I paid for that stolen dvd even though I never stole anything from that store.

Making a clerk stand by the transactions (Cash Short and Over) is a normal practice. In contrast, to hold a clerk accountable for shoplifting is probably something you could win about in court.

Talk to a lawyer. Talk to the ACLU. Talk to the Better Business Bureau. Talk to the firm that OWNS your mall. Do not accept this.

Be ready to switch jobs.

[jdcnow]

Actually I've heard of retailers doing something identical to Travis82's situation.

In the town I come from, there is a convenience store that still to this day does this - if someone gets gas and skips off without paying, ***the clerks*** are financially responsible for covering the loss. And if that means getting your paycheck docked, then so be it. So then, if someone got $30, $40, or more in gasoline unpaid for, the clerk(s) on duty at the time are responsible. Management will not look at or care if they got busy, or if they were doing something else, etc. Someone steals, YOU are responsible, because YOU were on duty at the time the loss happened.

You'd be surprised at the outright shady business practices the retail profession is allowed to get away with. This is one ugly business.

[jdcnow]

OMG, I ran across this on a Tumblr blog I follow...

[piano1]

Loved reading some of these stories. It's hard to believe that there are people like this out there shopping around. I retired from the phone company and I really should write a book on some of the people that I came in contact with over the past 24 years. I went into their homes and you wouldn't believe some of the things that I saw. I usually tell stories at my dinner parties and sometimes they can't believe it either. Thank goodness the "public" is out there shopping so that we have a job!

[jdcnow]

I just came across this on Tumblr.



To the person who originally made this - whoever and where ever you are, thank you.

[Huntneo(PT)]

^ love it.

[whitedavo]

I generally like to leave my "unfortunate" customer stories at work so that I can relax at home but one in particular still strikes me as someone being too dumb to function.

I had a woman literally screaming over the phone about how she needed to get "the w i f i". I asked her if she had WiFi and got silence. I asked her if she knew what Wifi was and got silence. I asked her why she called about something she doesn't need, doesn't have, doesn't pay for, and doesn't know about. She told me she would call back, but predictably never did because she must have realized just how unfathomly dumb she was.

The most common complaint we get is about cellular reception. People amaze me when they can't grasp scientific concepts bigger than themselves. Cellular uses invisible waves. The fact that you can't understand that means I'm not even going to touch on building materials, visibility, network performance, etc.

[jdcnow]

People amaze me when they can't grasp scientific concepts bigger than themselves.

Try concepts, period. Examples...

Huntneo, you should appreciate this one having worked in the local TV station business yourself. Here in Dallas, one of the local news stations has a daily segment on its news called "Viewers' Voice", in which they read viewer comments on news stories the station ran in the past few days/week. Several weeks ago, one evening, the station ran an evening program from the network it's an affiliate of, that one viewer didn't agree should be ran. The viewer literally wrote in, basically, "Well, can't you just not run that show?" The news anchor politely and professionally shot down the viewer's queston. (Paraphrasing his answer...) The station (I won't mention which one) happens to be directly owned by the network it's an affiliate of. So, except in times of news emergencies - local breaking news or severe weather, when the station needs to interrupt regular programming - the station essentially has NO SAY-SO AT ALL in what is put on their air - it's all controlled at the network level out of New York. Basically it's defense of, "We just work here and we just do what we're told." And, pretty much, the news anchor was exactly right.

Me, myself, at my store, the week before I went on vacation... This guy comes in, about 5am-ish. Looking for some glasses. I showed him to the section in our pharmacy, where we keep them - basically, this side of an endcap - we're one of the small supermarket-class stores, not the big box supercenter-class stores everyone is used to. So he asked me why we don't have a bigger selection of reading glasses. I politely told him, it's because when this store was built, this is the amount of physical space allocated to reading glasses. Why, he asked. I continued to politely tell him, "Because when corporate designed this store, this is how they laid everything out." He scoffed in disbelief.

No sir. I'm intentionally withholding glasses from you just to amuse myself. Because it's 5 in the morning, and there's nothing better for me to do except straighten shelves and actually do my job and what it is I'm actually supposed to be doing right now. It is so hard to be diplomatic sometimes, when people are basically asking you why the sky is blue, and they're honestly expecting a 1st grader-level answer.

[jdcnow]

So I had this one guy come in and try to use our Coinstar machine. Thing is, he didn't read the screen before he stuck his money in. So then, he interrupts me while I'm in the middle of ringing up another customer, and I politely help him get his coins out of the entry slot. All because he didn't read the damn screen before he put anything in. I literally took a pic of said screen with my cell phone...



All his trouble could have been avoided by simply looking up and paying some friggin' attetion. How do some of these people make it this far in life? I'm just sayin'...

[jdcnow]

Highlights and some VERY low lights from the past couple of weeks.

When I answer the phone, I always do so by saying, "24-Hour (Name Of Store Here) Grocery Store (to differentiate us from our supercenter counterpart, as when most people think of my company, they think of the big-box supercenter stores) in (City Name Here). Good evening, this is Joseph, may I help you?"

The variety of Caller Replies >> "Uh, yes, are y'all still open?" "What time do you guys close?" "Are y'all open 24 hours?"

Although the are somewhere between funny and annoying to hear (One of my biggest personal pet peeves is having to repeat myself on ANYTHING to ANYONE. We sell Q-tips you can clean your ears with, if you'd like.), I don't mind them so much anymore - I've found out that some of the newer supermarket-class stores my company is opening up around Dallas County are in some of the more kinda dangerous neighborhoods, and so some of those newer stores have been placed on a 6am-Midnight schedule and are not open around the clock like my store is.

There was the one drunk couple from last night, "Can you buy beer on a food stamp card?" Bitch, please! /facepalm...



There was this one girl last week who came in, who manage to hit on me and at the same time, call me old. This woman walks up to my line complaining that it's cold in the store. So, what I felt as a measure of providing good customer service, I volunteered to offer her my jacket to wear for a few minutes. "Oh, no, you're very sweet, but thank you!" As I continue ringing this guest up, I'm telling my overnight manager which evening cashiers leave at what time, and he gives me instructions on what he wants done. I see one of the evening cashiers pass by, and I reiterate to him, "Mr. (Name), you're here until Midnight. Make sure you have all the returned merchandise put back on the shelf before you go home, please."

The woman >> "You must really like your job. You're good at it."
Me >> "Yes, it's nice."

I chalk that up to 11 years experience, plus - I know I'm in the city - different and superior style of clientele than when I was in the country. Superior, in that they expect a lot more from the stores and businesses they patronize. Plus, when I speak, I know that I need to sound somewhat polished and upscale when speaking to customers. My company especially has a long-standing bad reputation of bad service and people do view us as, frankly, well, rude and somewhat unintelligent. I'm trying to change that image one customer interaction at a time.

So this woman's debit card declined - it had expired November of last year. "Not a problem," I stress gently, to diffuse the situation. She then says she needs to go to her car to get her other card. That's fine, I tell her. She returns and thanks me for being so nice. She told me that she liked my style, then asked me how old I was. Being able to read people pretty well, I could tell she wanted to go farther than she did, but I think she was waiting for me to make the move.

"30," I say.
"Oh, I don't know whether that's young or old."

I simply continue to smile and nod on the outside. On the inside...


Even if I were straight, Aaannnddd No. Now, I know I have to hurry up and find a boyfriend. I'm old, now.

[roadtripboy]

So, this isn't a stupid customer story just a thought I had this afternoon while ringing up some women's wear. Since I started working at the supercenter I've had my hands on more women's bras than I've ever handled in my entire life.

[jdcnow]

Well, highlights and low lights from the past couple of weeks...

>> I love some of the guys the come in. Two of my favorites are this one guy - this gorgeous blonde country boy-type who's actually a firefighter with one of the local fire depts...


The other is this guy who comes in does so late at night. Imagine a guy with a face kinda like Dustin Zito (familiar to all - don't post pics) in glasses, a haircut that's short-cut, but shaggy, and kinda curly, but not so much. But his body. Dear god his body! His body is, like, thick, and chiseled, and omfg!! His arms are like this work of art, and it doesn't help that he comes in this skin-tight white muscle tank top, so you can see EH VUH REE THING!!!!!! I love thick, really built guys. This guy is beyond built!

The sexual frustration inside my head...


>> Now for the low lights - very low indeed. What is with customers who actually get mad when you try to help them - I kid you not. Early this morning, I heard the alarm at self checkout go off. So I immediate go up there to see what the issue is - This woman bought a Sharpie permanent marker - an age-restricted item. She asks what was age restricted. The markers, I say. She scoffs, "Oh, my God." I go over to approve the sale of the item, and the screen freezes. I immediately offer to pull her to a regular register. Most customers, in fact - most of my store's clientele would love for an employee to step in and help. Not this lady. Then, when I ring the stuff back up again, the sharpies come up over $3+. She looks at me like I had jacked up the price on her. "No, it was $1-somthing." I just let her have it and void it off. I just turned the other cheek in closing, "Ma'am, you have a blessed day..." (What I thought afterwards - "...because honey, you need one.") What a grouch!

Retail rule #7 - The ruder people are, the nicer, sweeter, and more polite you get right back. It aggravates the hell out of them.

[roadtripboy]

^ I totally agree...I'm so nice to rude people it must make their teeth ache. Entertains me no end.

[counterspade]

Today, around 2 PM, I was working on some 'picks' for the department — stocking out-of-stock items that the system shows we have, but don't have (if that makes any sense). I hear the bicycle rack metal clanging, so I walk over there to see if it was our assembler adding bikes to the rack, or if it was a customer in need of assistance. As I turn the corner, a punkass guy, about my age, is riding a child's bike up and down the aisles, dodging people walking in his path. I kindly, yet sternly ask the gentleman to get off the bicycle, as it's store policy that they can not be ridden inside for liability issues, not to mention it's a safety hazard. He responded, "well, I was just testing it." I politely, yet in a more annoyed voice tell him that he needs to get off the bike, and walk it to the register if he wishes to purchase it. He proceeds then to say, "man, fuck you, you faggot," hop back on the bike, and ride away from the department. I watch him for a minute, then start walking after him...then notice he's headed to the front door, so I start running after him, to see he turns into the Customer Service department. I made mention of it to our Theft Protection officer in the store to keep an eye on him.

When we're busy, I'm a backup cashier, and was called to help check customers out shortly after that. I have this very sweet woman come through my line and hand me a WIC check. No problem at all, however, if anyone's done WIC in Florida, it's not as easy as swiping a debit card. So it takes a lot of button pushing, writing and verifying the items are correct. We're blazing through it, and this elderly gentleman behind the woman bellows, "can you go any faster?! Jesus Christ!" I politely explain to him that I'm processing a WIC transaction and that I'll only be a few more minutes. He shuts up, I finish the transaction with the woman, and when it's his turn, I instinctively ask, "hello, how are you this (morning, afternoon, evening, etc.)?" He replies, "I would have been better if you weren't so damn slow. Largest retailer in the world and they have shit cashiers." I apologize to him, when in all reality I wanted to clock him upside the head with the price gun I was holding to scan the pack of water in his cart. I finish ringing him up, ask him if he'd like to make a donation to an organization we're apart of, to which he scoffs, "no." He pays, I thank him for shopping with us, and he leaves. I see him thirty seconds later ranting and raving to the Customer Service Manager at the Service Desk, pointing at me. I give him a scowl, then a smile, and proceed to extend my customer service to my next customer, who started to banter with me about his attitude.

I love my job, but my customers are some of the most ignorant and rude people I've ever had the misfortune to serve. Not all, of course, but many.

Another example is: I take my lunch break. It's one thing for a customer to ask me a question about where a certain item is located. It's another thing for a customer to berate me, lunch in hand, as to why I'm not wearing my name badge, which I unhook from my lanyard when I am off the clock walking on the sales floor. Seriously? I explain, "ma'am, I'm on my lunch break. I take it off to avoid having to answer questions that take away the time I'm given." I walk away. She starts bitching about something, to which I didn't bother to respond to.

Lastly, this was this evening when I was leaving. I was walking with a co-worker, both of us off the clock, on our way to the self checkout lanes to pay. Being the gentleman that I am, I extend my arm, signaling that she can go ahead of me. I step behind her, and this lady shouts behind me, "oh, so you won't let me go in front of you, too? Some (company name) employee!" My co-worker and I both look at her like she's lost her mind. I step back and motion my arm for her to go, saying, "I'm sorry, here you are." She proceeds to plop her items on the belt in a big huff, and I turn around and go to the open self checkout lane right behind me, that she could have gone to the entire time.

I give many of my customers the benefit of the doubt. Given the area I live in, they're either very ignorant because they're uneducated hicks or they're elderly citizens set in their 'ways' of how they believe they should be treated.

Oh and Heaven's forbid I should ever make the mistake of going into another store in the area (the same chain), wearing my uniform. I had to do that since the other store was in the area of where I was running errands after work. I walk in, start shopping and was stopped by four people asking where certain items were. I explain to them that I don't work in the store, but I motion that I believe they're in 'this' location (my store's layout is completely different). They scoff at me for being 'in uniform' while at the store and one of them wanted to speak to my manager. My logic is, I don't work there, yet I work for the chain, so I'm entitled to be an ass, yet bow to their command.

"I just told you I don't work here, I don't know the manager, but I'll find you one if you're that pissed."

Not doing that again; I'll make an effort to change my shirt at least next time. -_-

[jdcnow]

^ Counterspade, Thank you very much for your private message. I will be getting back with you in detail ASAP. But in the meantime, the short answer I can tell you now is this - Sometimes the grass is greener on the other side, and sometimes that's actually just mold. The old adage, "Be careful what you wish for..." absolutely fits here. Will get back with you soon. TTFN!

[jdcnow]

When we're busy, I'm a backup cashier, and was called to help check customers out shortly after that. I have this very sweet woman come through my line and hand me a WIC check. No problem at all, however, if anyone's done WIC in Florida, it's not as easy as swiping a debit card. So it takes a lot of button pushing, writing and verifying the items are correct. We're blazing through it, and this elderly gentleman behind the woman bellows, "can you go any faster?! Jesus Christ!" I politely explain to him that I'm processing a WIC transaction and that I'll only be a few more minutes. He shuts up, I finish the transaction with the woman, and when it's his turn, I instinctively ask, "hello, how are you this (morning, afternoon, evening, etc.)?" He replies, "I would have been better if you weren't so damn slow. Largest retailer in the world and they have shit cashiers." I apologize to him, when in all reality I wanted to clock him upside the head with the price gun I was holding to scan the pack of water in his cart. I finish ringing him up, ask him if he'd like to make a donation to an organization we're apart of, to which he scoffs, "no." He pays, I thank him for shopping with us, and he leaves. I see him thirty seconds later ranting and raving to the Customer Service Manager at the Service Desk, pointing at me. I give him a scowl, then a smile, and proceed to extend my customer service to my next customer, who started to banter with me about his attitude.

OMG, I remember when I first got out of high school, and my very first job was at a Kmart Supercenter. I still remember when Texas had those paper check format WIC vouchers. Every item had to be its own transaction. You had to ring the item (or copies of that exact item), look on the WIC voucher, verify the item, and the quantities of that item. Then, you had to validate the WIC voucher through the check/receipt printer. Then move to the next item in the purchase. Different items MUST be different transactions. Different types or sizes of the same item (say a gallon and a half-gallon of 1% milk) WERE REQUIRED to be two separate transactions, because WIC made you account for EVERY SINGLE LAST ITEM! A customer with a large purchase could literally take an hour to check out.

I remember those WIC vouchers well. Royal. Pain. In. The. Ass.