You need to learn to plan better
So, it's time to bitch about Me some more. This entitled 'better/more important than you' attitude is just ridiculous. It's total bullshit. The event I'm referencing happened last night closing at work, but I was too tired to write about it then. I'm tired now too, but I want to get this out so here goes.
So, about 11pm a lady comes back to me (at the fitting rooms). According to her, the line has literally *not* been moving and she has to go and pick up her daughter from work. She's wondering if she can put her things on hold, which is done at the fitting room. The problem is that she's not sure she'll be back before we close (12:30) and wants to know if we can hold it until the morning. We cannot and tell her that store policy means all holds and go backs get put away at the end of the night.
So here's where the problems begin. She again complains about the line and the wait and that she has to leave to get her daughter. I again tell her policy, as does my coworker who happens to be there, and I let her know if she can get back near close there is usually no line in the last half hour or so. She asks *again* explaining her daughter lives in TownX and she might not get back in time. I'm already like 'fuck it lady what do you want?' so I just stand there with my best 'sorry that sucks' expression. She asks if there's a manager she can see so I give her the manager names and tell her to go up to the registers where they should be. She has to confirm or ask another question at least three times in the twenty steps it takes to get her out of my earshot.
I did not see her again. I'm guessing that in the 10 minutes she was arguing with us, whoever was with her stuff in line got to the front and she just paid and left. It's also possible she decided not to buy the stuff and just left anyway. Whatever, I hope her night went well.
But now is when I start my bitching.
1 - You are not more important that anyone else in line. I completely understand her problem and why she was annoyed and/or concerned. It's the week before Xmas and during busy times like this, the line was a half hour or more. But you still have to stand in line, just like everyone else, and we cannot change our policies just because you have an emergency and especially not just for poor planning.
2 - We're doing the best we can. This lady didn't overtly complain about the cashiers, I think she understood this fact. Despite the line being so long it is often stretching down the aisle all the way to the *back* aisle, at my current store specifically and at all retail stores in general, the cashiers are moving absolutely as fast as humanly possible. Sometimes to the point of multi-tasking, bending rules, and losing our voices. And let's not forget the fact that it's cold season and we're being exposed to *hundreds* of strangers every shift, many of whom either are or have close contact with children. I'm getting over my cold now, and still have to go in because I need this money and if I didn't go in, the store would be even more short handed an slower.
3 - Learn to fucking plan better! One of the things this lady mentioned more than once was that this was holiday shopping that she needed. So if you need it that badly, why are you ducking into the store without enough time to actually get it? She had somewhere else she needed to be, she obviously hadn't given herself enough time and hadn't accounted for the holiday lines. But, again, this is a unique time of year, maybe the length of the line honestly surprised her. But then, why is this vital holiday shopping being put off until the week before Xmas at all? We barely even have any holiday merchandise left in the store, you should have all your holiday shopping done by now! And if it was gifts rather than decoration, then 1-my argument still applies and 2-they aren't as vital and could have easily been put off until the next day.
4 - Your daughter is a fucking adult. I think what honestly annoyed me the most of all this is that she kept referencing her daughter as if it were a toddler out in the car that she had to get back to. This was 11pm at night and the daughter was just getting off of *work* so by CA law she had to be at least 18 years old and judging by the age of this woman, I would guess the daughter was early to mid 20s (this lady appearing late 40s or so). So, as an adult, the daughter would have been completely fine having to wait a little while. And in this modern age of cell phones, it is very unlikely that they couldn't have communicated this delay. If mom had called or texted daughter, then daughter could have waited in her store to stay safer while she waited. Or if she was truly concerned, she could have gotten the daughter and come back to buy her things. She was driving to TownX to picker her up, the daughter worked somewhere nearby an was being taken home to TownX. So why not wait in the car? Speaking from experience, it sucks when you have to wait for your ride or if you have to do some unexpected chore. But that's life! You fuckin shut up about it and deal! See also, I would be much more understanding if the daughter had been complaining - but I still would have told her (if not on the clock) to suck it up and move on.
So, about 11pm a lady comes back to me (at the fitting rooms). According to her, the line has literally *not* been moving and she has to go and pick up her daughter from work. She's wondering if she can put her things on hold, which is done at the fitting room. The problem is that she's not sure she'll be back before we close (12:30) and wants to know if we can hold it until the morning. We cannot and tell her that store policy means all holds and go backs get put away at the end of the night.
So here's where the problems begin. She again complains about the line and the wait and that she has to leave to get her daughter. I again tell her policy, as does my coworker who happens to be there, and I let her know if she can get back near close there is usually no line in the last half hour or so. She asks *again* explaining her daughter lives in TownX and she might not get back in time. I'm already like 'fuck it lady what do you want?' so I just stand there with my best 'sorry that sucks' expression. She asks if there's a manager she can see so I give her the manager names and tell her to go up to the registers where they should be. She has to confirm or ask another question at least three times in the twenty steps it takes to get her out of my earshot.
I did not see her again. I'm guessing that in the 10 minutes she was arguing with us, whoever was with her stuff in line got to the front and she just paid and left. It's also possible she decided not to buy the stuff and just left anyway. Whatever, I hope her night went well.
But now is when I start my bitching.
1 - You are not more important that anyone else in line. I completely understand her problem and why she was annoyed and/or concerned. It's the week before Xmas and during busy times like this, the line was a half hour or more. But you still have to stand in line, just like everyone else, and we cannot change our policies just because you have an emergency and especially not just for poor planning.
2 - We're doing the best we can. This lady didn't overtly complain about the cashiers, I think she understood this fact. Despite the line being so long it is often stretching down the aisle all the way to the *back* aisle, at my current store specifically and at all retail stores in general, the cashiers are moving absolutely as fast as humanly possible. Sometimes to the point of multi-tasking, bending rules, and losing our voices. And let's not forget the fact that it's cold season and we're being exposed to *hundreds* of strangers every shift, many of whom either are or have close contact with children. I'm getting over my cold now, and still have to go in because I need this money and if I didn't go in, the store would be even more short handed an slower.
3 - Learn to fucking plan better! One of the things this lady mentioned more than once was that this was holiday shopping that she needed. So if you need it that badly, why are you ducking into the store without enough time to actually get it? She had somewhere else she needed to be, she obviously hadn't given herself enough time and hadn't accounted for the holiday lines. But, again, this is a unique time of year, maybe the length of the line honestly surprised her. But then, why is this vital holiday shopping being put off until the week before Xmas at all? We barely even have any holiday merchandise left in the store, you should have all your holiday shopping done by now! And if it was gifts rather than decoration, then 1-my argument still applies and 2-they aren't as vital and could have easily been put off until the next day.
4 - Your daughter is a fucking adult. I think what honestly annoyed me the most of all this is that she kept referencing her daughter as if it were a toddler out in the car that she had to get back to. This was 11pm at night and the daughter was just getting off of *work* so by CA law she had to be at least 18 years old and judging by the age of this woman, I would guess the daughter was early to mid 20s (this lady appearing late 40s or so). So, as an adult, the daughter would have been completely fine having to wait a little while. And in this modern age of cell phones, it is very unlikely that they couldn't have communicated this delay. If mom had called or texted daughter, then daughter could have waited in her store to stay safer while she waited. Or if she was truly concerned, she could have gotten the daughter and come back to buy her things. She was driving to TownX to picker her up, the daughter worked somewhere nearby an was being taken home to TownX. So why not wait in the car? Speaking from experience, it sucks when you have to wait for your ride or if you have to do some unexpected chore. But that's life! You fuckin shut up about it and deal! See also, I would be much more understanding if the daughter had been complaining - but I still would have told her (if not on the clock) to suck it up and move on.