Grocery Store Gripes: Is the Customer Always Right?

We all have gripes about that slow cashier at Walmart or the bagger at the grocery store that put the bread in with the canned foods. How many of us have been in that position ourselves though? I personally have. While sometimes you will run into a bagger or a cashier that is out of their way rude and is completely out of line, sometimes we just need to step back and rethink the situation. Are they being slow and not doing their job, or are we being impatient and in a bad mood, possibly taking our bad mood out on them?

I heard a story recently about a women who worked in a grocery store as a deli clerk. The store was short handed and they were bombarded with cake orders so they made this women decorate a birthday cake. She was in no way trained to do this, but had no choice. The women who ordered the cake was NOT happy(keep in mind this cake was for a one year old's birthday party..a ONE year old..)and screamed and ranted and raved and demanded the women be fired. From the sounds of things, she may indeed be let go. How is that fair? How is it that we tell our kids to be patient and tolerant and not throw tantrums in stores, yet it is ok for us as adults to act like this in public? (or at all for that matter.)

When I worked as a bagger in my local grocery store for three years I saw my fair share of tantrums and have seen how clerks and cashiers get treated. It is because of this I am alot more tolerant when shopping then alot of people who have never worked in retail are. I don't complain about the long lines, because I know that it is most likely because someone called in sick and the other poor workers are picking up the slack, while getting dirty looks and being harassed by impatient customers who claim they need to work faster or hire more people.

I don't complain when I am asked for my ID, because I know that while some policies seem stupid, it is not the cashier's fault. They did not make the rules. They did not ask us to all come in and shop on the same day, they did not decide the prices of items on the shelves and they did NOT cause the carts outside to be wet. It is raining. I've noticed alot of people are to lazy to return the carts to the cart corals that are covered. This could explain why the carts or wet, and scattered all over the parking lot. Please do not yell at the poor bagger outside dripping wet, wrangling the carts that the carts are wet.

Alot of times, these people are working for long periods of time without a break, because someone called in sick. They are doing their best to be polite and cheerful but after you have had a few rude costumers in a row, that cheerfulness disappears and turns into bitterness. I try and make sure to acknowledge the cashier AND the bagger, as often times people completely ignore the bagger as if the are a slave or something. They never say hi or thank you and only acknowledge them if they think they have done something wrong.

When I was a bagger, we were not even allowed to ask if the person wanted paper or plastic, so you can imagine the nasty remarks I got if I started bagging in one type of bag and they wanted the other. What can you do though, really?

We need to try and be more patient. Whether we are dealing with department store employees, grocery clerks, fast food workers or any employed person at all. People are just trying to do their jobs. There is a difference between being outright rude and people just doing their jobs the best they can.

On the other hand, as employees it is our job to try and push past the bitternes and realize the customers that are being rude have probobly had a bad day themselves. We ALL need to be more patient.