QuiltingGrannie

Stay true to yourself, keep that smile and positive attitude. Customers can be irritating, but others can make your day. I've been in and out of retail for nearly 30 years now. I hate it, but I'm good at it. The closer it gets to Christmas the worse they are going to get, but don't let them get to you. Keep smiling. Your smile and your attitude could be what changes them.
Like the one commented before - God has you there for a reason. You are working for HIM and his glory, no one else's.
Have a VERY Merry Christmas! :)

pakwoman

I have worked retail for 24 years. I think everyone should work retail at some point and time in their life. It gives you a greater appreciation for what the workers go through. I thoroughly enjoy this site and I read what people write about employees of JoAnn and Wal-Mart. If only you all knew what we go through as employees. I have been with Wal-Mart for 15 years and I thoroughly enjoy what I do, but it really gets tough some days. Some people have this misconception that all we do is walk around all day and say how may we help you. If only you knew. When you complain about the way that we do things...just stop and think....it may be beyond our control.

Catherine Marie

I have returned to retail after many years away. My smile has remained long after the first two weeks, and I, like you, refuse to let a few grumps ruin my day. For those people I think that maybe I'm the only person who has a smile for them If that doesn't work, I then concentrate on the next customer and by and large they are happy and appreciative. Chin up, you're validating yourself by being positive.

Scissor Queen

I gave up working retail after I got screamed at by a woman because *I* didn't have a pen for her to write a check with. She didn't even ask nicely for a pen to start with. I would *never* treat a cashier that way.

siss

pakwoman, i couldn't have said it any better. i have been saying the same thing for years.

lacikat

I worked retail in a grocery store for 37 years and have met some pretty unbearable customers. Sometimes it helps to stop and think "Do I know what that customer has gone thru before they got to me? Are they in an abusive relationship, have they just lost a loved one, are they in the process of losing their home and everything they own, has the Dr. just given them a bad diagnosis?" I know this is no reason for them to be rude and abusive to someone else but possibly they are at the point where any little thing is going to push them over the edge.

pakwoman

In my 24 years of retail work, it has been in the pharmacy related field and I know exactly what you mean. Most of my people that come to my department do not feel well and do not enjoy having to spend their money there. I do my best to comfort them and be nice, but it is difficult sometimes. As this holiday season approaches, everyone should just step back and try to make your situations a positive one in this difficult economic time. If you can't spend the money you would like to just enjoy the time together with your family. That is a
priceless item. Merry Christmas to everyone.

mjsylvstr

crkathleen.........

When I worked !!!!! I was a tax collector.......need I say more.,......

but I soon realized that a lot of those people about whom you mentioned, get pleasure bugging you. I learned that the more I smiled back at them and greeted them cheerfully, the sooner they wanted to leave my office...

so keep on smiling....and they will either leave or learn that smiling is the better way to achieve help and get get their problem solved.

Marry Christmas.......Santa loves a smilin' face !!!!!!

Pam B

I teach school, however, many years ago I took a pt job in customer service at dept store near our home. I mainly did it to get the discount for my daughters' clothes. I lasted 2 years at about 10 hours per week. In cust. service, we wrapped gifts, counted the drawer bags from the night before and got the deposit ready, we had keys to the safe to 'sell' money to the registers as needed, we took charge pmts, sold gift cards, answered the phone...you can just imagine how busy it was in there right before Xmas. (And we only had 2-3 people working in there at a time.)The thing that put me over the edge was the very rude woman who walked in to the office on Xmas Eve morning with multiple bags of things she had purchased at our store over the past few months and wanted them all wrapped. I very politely had her pick out her wrapping paper and mark everything with names. Then I told her that her things would be ready by mid-afternoon (it was around 9ish in the morning when she came in). Well...that would not suit her...she insisted because she had spent so much over the past 3 months in our store that her wrapping go to the front of the line! When I didn't budge, she got mad and went to the manager. He then came to me and wondered why I wouldn't go ahead and move her to the front of the line? He didn't see my point and I certainly did not agree with him. So...I quit...right then and there. Granted, I had another 'real' job...I would not have been able to quit otherwise. I just got really tired of all the nutcases out there we had to deal with. (One time a lady squashed a party dress with tags cut off, and obviously worn...had pit stains...into a Cheerios box and mailed it to the store demanding that her credit card be credited with the purchase price! Can you believe it...they did!!!) I really feel for most of the retail workers at this time of the year!

mjsylvstr

BEACHLADY.......

This has nothing to do with this thread.....but as I was sitting here reading my quilting mail and looking out the window at the snow coming down and covering everything with a blanket of white, I noticed that you are from Maine but you mentioned in your twenties, you lived in Maimi.......

however, did you manage the winters with this move of location????????

That's a big difference in climate !!!!!!!!!!! brrrrrrrrrrrrrr