Retail workers deserve more kindness than they now get
Mike Grosso
Issue date: 2/5/03 Section: Opinion
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Take a look anywhere around Macomb and you’re bound to see a lot of complaining.
Some people seem to have an addiction to complaining about anything they can think about.
Realistically, all I really do as a columnist is complain about my daily observations of the world around me.
However, there are places where the complaining needs to be toned down. That place is in retail transactions.
Anyone who has worked a job in any form of retail sales knows how horrible it can be. Even when it’s not the Christmas season (aka: eternal damnation), customers always come in the form of jerks who expect employees to shine their shoes, or whatever else they think their two cents gets them.
Let’s be straightforward — retail workers are abused on a daily basis. In my own experiences in retail, I’ve been called every possible obscenity I can think of, with the exception of being referred to as a rectum wart, which I’m sure is just because I wasn’t listening closely.
Sometimes it was caused because I made a logical mistake, and I’d give my apology. Usually, though, people would whine anyway, even when it made no sense to do so.
Working in retail basically means that you get paid to put up with verbal, emotional and even physical abuse (I was assaulted with a box of popcorn). There will always be a certain amount of ignorance you will be exposed to on a regular basis.
Many people seem to think, all a Mcdonald’s worker does is push buttons, so why should they get orders wrong? I have never experienced the horrors of working in fast food, but I know that after the ninth hour of selling Big Macs everything starts to sound the same.
Unless you are Bruce Lee, your concentration wears out sometime, and it doesn’t improve the work environment if customers, the manager and their co-workers are constantly screaming at them.
Think for a moment: What does yelling the “F” word and getting all worked up really do to help you get a better product? All you do is make the workers disgruntled, so that they will care even less about how you feel.
The people delivering your pizzas and answering your phone calls are quite often just college students who are trying to pay off college, or even just make a few bucks to go out the next night.
That’s right. A lot of the time they’re just like you. You can call them whatever you like, but if you were on the other end of the phone, someone would be saying the same things about you. No matter how hard you try, no matter how special you think you are, someone will always find something to complain about when it comes to the way you prepare a Big Mac with cheese.
It’s funny how a lot of people expect perfection out of their retail stores when most people have never even worked in retail themselves. It’s like becoming a male gynecologist. It might sound cheesy, but I honestly try to be that customer every time I walk into any public establishment, because maybe, just maybe, I’ll make someone’s day slightly less miserable.
Some people seem to have an addiction to complaining about anything they can think about.
Realistically, all I really do as a columnist is complain about my daily observations of the world around me.
However, there are places where the complaining needs to be toned down. That place is in retail transactions.
Anyone who has worked a job in any form of retail sales knows how horrible it can be. Even when it’s not the Christmas season (aka: eternal damnation), customers always come in the form of jerks who expect employees to shine their shoes, or whatever else they think their two cents gets them.
Let’s be straightforward — retail workers are abused on a daily basis. In my own experiences in retail, I’ve been called every possible obscenity I can think of, with the exception of being referred to as a rectum wart, which I’m sure is just because I wasn’t listening closely.
Sometimes it was caused because I made a logical mistake, and I’d give my apology. Usually, though, people would whine anyway, even when it made no sense to do so.
Working in retail basically means that you get paid to put up with verbal, emotional and even physical abuse (I was assaulted with a box of popcorn). There will always be a certain amount of ignorance you will be exposed to on a regular basis.
Many people seem to think, all a Mcdonald’s worker does is push buttons, so why should they get orders wrong? I have never experienced the horrors of working in fast food, but I know that after the ninth hour of selling Big Macs everything starts to sound the same.
Unless you are Bruce Lee, your concentration wears out sometime, and it doesn’t improve the work environment if customers, the manager and their co-workers are constantly screaming at them.
Think for a moment: What does yelling the “F” word and getting all worked up really do to help you get a better product? All you do is make the workers disgruntled, so that they will care even less about how you feel.
The people delivering your pizzas and answering your phone calls are quite often just college students who are trying to pay off college, or even just make a few bucks to go out the next night.
That’s right. A lot of the time they’re just like you. You can call them whatever you like, but if you were on the other end of the phone, someone would be saying the same things about you. No matter how hard you try, no matter how special you think you are, someone will always find something to complain about when it comes to the way you prepare a Big Mac with cheese.
It’s funny how a lot of people expect perfection out of their retail stores when most people have never even worked in retail themselves. It’s like becoming a male gynecologist. It might sound cheesy, but I honestly try to be that customer every time I walk into any public establishment, because maybe, just maybe, I’ll make someone’s day slightly less miserable.