I just want to vent and I don’t care if no one reads, however, if you want to talk about something that pisses you off in your life post it and I’ll read it and respond.
I got a job after last school semester for the summer and fall semester and I deal with a lot of customers. Some are very kind and intelligent, some are assholes, you get all kinds of people really. But, the kind of person that really makes me mad is the person that views you as a lesser human, a sub-human if you will because you work at a convenient store. Regardless of your education, or backround, you are a lesser human because you wear the uniform for an entry level job.
I had some old dick come in right before I was about to close my register. Keep in mind I need a specific amount of money to close, and big bills like 50’s or 100’s will fuck it up. This old white guy in a Hawaiian button up shirt brings up a miller light, the premier bear for white trash like this asshole. He wants a specific 20 dollar lotto scratch off, another item commonly bought by the uneducated gambling addicted morons who don’t understand how to intelligently invest their money. He also asks if I can break a 100 dollar bill. I say no I cannot because I’m about to close my register. So, I ring up the beer, and then I walk over to the scratch off he wants and say, “you want this one right?” He says yes, I ring it up and then he hands me a 100. I say, “Sorry, but as I said I can’t break this.” He says, “then why did you get the scratch off?” As if I was supposed to read his mind and know that he has no other method of payment other than 100 dollar bills for the scratch off. I politely say that I said I couldn’t break the 100 and that I’m sorry. He repeats himself wondering why I got the scratch off. I tell him, that I didn’t know that my ability to break the 100 was a prerequisite for his ability to buy the scratch off. He looks away and then firmly says, “well you’re an idiot.”
Obviously, I can’t say shit here because I can’t lose my job and that’s not something I can afford since I have to build a list of good references and getting fired just doesn’t look good nor does empty spaces in time where I’m unemployed if I decide to omit this job from my resume. So, I stay silent, regardless of the fact that I know I’m right and this guy is a giant fucking cunt knocker. Then again I probably just need to take a giant chill pill.
I don’t care if no one reads this, I just wanted to vent a little. Yea, I a little mad.
Yeah, retail sucks, no matter what job it is. You’re always gonna have to deal with difficult people. It’s especially hard because you’re not the one making the rules, you have to follow them, and they yell at you as if you made the rules. You did the right thing in staying quiet though and just letting it go, tho.
From the description, it sounds like you work at some sort of gas station/convenience store. I can’t recall the last time I actually went into one of those places. I tend to just pump my gas and get the fuck out of there. Anyway, I imagine a place like that already caters to “unique” segment of the population, so you better get used to running into people like that. I just hope you don’t work graveyard.
the harsh realities of retail I’m afraid, I’ve been called every name in the damn book from my days and know what you’re going through. In the end, the customer is always right, no matter how wrong he truly is. As much as I hated the saying, it wasn’t something I was willing to lose the job over.
damn i totally know how you feel… but i hope you take it as a learning lesson and just don’t assume anything. people can spazz out at you for the dumbest reasons and next time, a simple “is that alright? should i ring this up for you?” will save both parties a lot of stress… i’ve gone into lots of these gas stations and asked for change. when they can’t break it, i’ll buy literally the CHEAPEST thing. sometimes, people get pretty pissed but like, i’m probably more desperate than you guys are. maybe i gotta catch a bus to the airport and i literally only have a hundred bucks on me. while i’d never call someone an idiot cuz that’s pretty damn rude, you can expect that kind of behavior from people all over the world, really. it sucks but it’s just better to cover your bases. actually, i’ve been a customer at the bad end of the stick a few times. one time, a chick short changed me at a fast food restaurant and i’m like “woahhh where’s my dollar?” the manager overheard and didn’t like my tone or whatever and threatened to call the police on us unless we left at THAT very moment. like seriously. i mean, we were only 16 and probably kids in our age group caused a lot of problems but hilariously enough, we all left like little bitches. i was seriously contemplating an extremely violent revenge but it’s funny how no matter how angry you are, most people tend to not act on those things. to this day i still feel like a bitch. like a deer caught in headlights at the sheer rage of this 35 year old fat white lady. the way i told the worker she short changed me made her change her mind but the manager chick was like “NO, don’t second guess yourself. he’s lying to you”. like WOAH holy shit, shoulda filed for racism or ageism or something damn
I’ve worked 3rd shift without the luxury of bullet proof glass surrounded by more scumbags and rednecks than you can imagine and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that yes, yes you are an idiot.
And the fact that this moron was right in pointing that out is why that shit bothers you so much.
Alright Ninicism, here’s a tip for the next time someone acts that way towards you at your store. When someone gives you shit like that, do your BEST to be extremely NICE back to them. Exaggerate your politeness to the point where even they can tell that you’re just being sarcastic as hell. But what the hell is the customer going to do? Complain to your manager about it? The customer would be complaining that you’re being extremely nice. That’s about all they can do. The more angry they get, the nicer you become and you get the last laugh.
A few years ago I was a cashier at Walmart. Some old lady comes through my line in the little Walmart Handicap cart and she has a few groceries, one of which is a quarter of a water mellon. Not that much stuff in total, and not very heavy IMO. So I put it all in one bag and she got mad and said, “That asshole put all my groceries in one bag!” (mind you it wasn’t that much, and wasn’t that heavy, either.) I just replied with “Oh? I’m sorry I’m such an ass-hole, ma’am!” with this big-ass grin on my face. She said, “Yeah, maybe the next time I come in your brain will grow a little bigger!” and I just said to her, “OK Ma’am, you have a great day now!” She muttered something I couldn’t quite hear as she left the store, but I knew deep down that I had won the battle 2-0 with 2 perfects.
I’ve had my fair share of customers where I couldn’t pull that off though and I just gave them their attitude right back in their face. They don’t like it when someone actually throws their shit right back at them.
Should have told him off. I have lost a lot of jobs due telling an asshole off. This “customer is always right” mentality is a step backwards. If a store loses an asshole customer, fuck it. Let all the assholes go to one store called Assholes R Us.
Never really understood the “Customer is always right” either.
Yeah. The customer grabbed a cup of fried chicken from the deli, ate it, and left the trash in some random isle for someone else to pick up. Didn’t pay for the chicken either. This is always right?
Or people trying to steal from the store.
Or people who buy stuff like food, eat all of it, and then come back with the box/wrapper and say, "Yeah, it wasn’t any good. I want a full refund."
I don’t know why stores insist on keeping these people as customers, but then again, the money isn’t coming out of my wallet so who cares?
Gas stations are awesome. The best job I had as a young buck, since you get away with so much. I remember an asshole customer was trying to go off on my boss about some bullshit, and my boss just straight told him “Shut the fuck up and go somewhere else, we don’t want you here.” Dude’s face after that was priceless. I wish cell phones had camera’s back then, haha. I did my fair share of it, but it was for the true assholes. We even had one dude shove a customer trough the newspaper racks, haha. That was another time I was thinking to myself “Man, only if I had a camera”. I got stories upon stories from working at a gas station. I should write a book someday.
Give them the “yuuup…” that fucking kills them and they only get more pissed off, but your not doing anything wrong so they look even more stupid about it if they try to complain.
Break the fucking 100, drop the the fucking money inside your god damn safe. Seriously it is not fucking hard. The most you had to say was that it was going to take you a while because you don’t keep that kind of change in your register. Gas station jobs are super awesome; especially when you have regular who like you. But seriously, it just some damn change. nobody is asking you to do something major.