Very hypothetical...
But also very interesting.
Say you are a store clerk. You are just a minimum wage employee, and you are not in a position of power in the company, nor are you a manager. You just follow instructions. It is the dead of summer. Outside, it is scorching hot day . Basically, you wish you could have worn a bathing suit to work. No one is wearing anything but shorts and a t-shirt, and the AC is cranked to the max.
A young person (let's go with "male" but it doesn't matter what their gender or nationality is) approaches you to buy a pack of razor blades (or any item, like a box cutter, etc...). For our purposes, let us say they are around 25 years old, at least. He is wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt. You can't be sure exactly how old, but you're positive that he is an adult.
You notice hundreds, say 300-400 cuts and gashes all over his arms. They look linear and clearly NOT accidental. To make it worse, you see he is carrying a bag from a pharmacy and inside you see bandages and Polysporin. This confirms your suspicions even more!
You are not 100% certain, but you are 99.999% certain he plans on using the razor blades for self injury.
1. What do you do in this situation? Do you sell him the item? Do you ask your manager, or do you just proceed forward with the transaction?
2. How do you treat this young adult male? Do you say anything or do you just treat him like any regular customer?
3. If you choose to proceed with the transaction, how do you feel about it later on? Would it stick with you all day? Would you doubt yourself? Or just feel that business is business and you can't do anything?
4. Any other comments about this situation, or any other ideas on how you would react?
I will post my answer in the comments -- I bet some of you will disagree, but I'd love to hear what you have to say!!
Say you are a store clerk. You are just a minimum wage employee, and you are not in a position of power in the company, nor are you a manager. You just follow instructions. It is the dead of summer. Outside, it is scorching hot day . Basically, you wish you could have worn a bathing suit to work. No one is wearing anything but shorts and a t-shirt, and the AC is cranked to the max.
A young person (let's go with "male" but it doesn't matter what their gender or nationality is) approaches you to buy a pack of razor blades (or any item, like a box cutter, etc...). For our purposes, let us say they are around 25 years old, at least. He is wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt. You can't be sure exactly how old, but you're positive that he is an adult.
You notice hundreds, say 300-400 cuts and gashes all over his arms. They look linear and clearly NOT accidental. To make it worse, you see he is carrying a bag from a pharmacy and inside you see bandages and Polysporin. This confirms your suspicions even more!
You are not 100% certain, but you are 99.999% certain he plans on using the razor blades for self injury.
1. What do you do in this situation? Do you sell him the item? Do you ask your manager, or do you just proceed forward with the transaction?
2. How do you treat this young adult male? Do you say anything or do you just treat him like any regular customer?
3. If you choose to proceed with the transaction, how do you feel about it later on? Would it stick with you all day? Would you doubt yourself? Or just feel that business is business and you can't do anything?
4. Any other comments about this situation, or any other ideas on how you would react?
I will post my answer in the comments -- I bet some of you will disagree, but I'd love to hear what you have to say!!