Waiting in a retail wonderland

Tis the season for shopping and with less than 2 weeks before the "big day", here are some friendly reminders. 

* Be kind to your retail workers. We're making close to if not minimum wage and we are just the worker bee's of the operation. 

* You're going to stand in line.  I don't make the schedules of how many people are on the registers.  Also, the number of employee's in the store is solely dictated upon the sales figures from that date last year.  And, I said DATE - not day.  So, if on a Sunday you don't see many employee's - it's because last year was probably a Monday or something and sales were low.  Contact corporate about that, we are not able to change that in the store.  The extra minutes that you're waiting in line compared to the whole scheme of your lifetime, is a mere blip, so put on a smile, complain about the weather to your neighbor and strike up a conversation cuz you're going to be waiting. 

* Be friendly when we ask you a billion questions.  Would you like a store cc?  Would you like gift receipts?  Do you need boxes?  One of those questions is MANDATORY and the rest are to make YOUR life easier. 

*  Don't yell at us or get angry when you can't find a shopping cart in the middle of a Saturday (true story).  Or when the item you want is no longer in your size.  Yes, you'd be amazed at the small petty things that we get peeved customers demanding from us. 

*  Don't get angry with us when it's 12:15am and we ask you to bring your items to the register to put on hold or to purchase.  No longer are the days where you can waltz into a store 15 min before closing time and shop until you drop.  No, we close at midnight and customers are expected to be out of the store shortly after/if not before.  I'm tired and want to go home.  I have at least 30 min of work to finish after you've left the store - and I'm just the clerk, not mgmt. 

*  If you want to apply for the store cc, then do so.  Don't worry about the people behind you - again, perspective people.  For our store cc, it takes LESS than 3 min to complete the process.  I can finish bagging your items in the time that it takes you to complete the application.  If you want it, then get it. 

*  Please don't come to the register with a cart full of items and THEN decide which items you're going to purchase.  Especially when it's 12:15am!!  I've had people with a shopping cart full of clothes, pull them out at my register and then try to make outfits out of the clothing to decide which items she was going to purchase - while there was a line.  Go to an empty register to do that or figure it out while you're shopping.  I am the one who has to put all the items back into their proper place within the store - AFTER my shift. 

I sound as if I'm one of those crotchety bittys that you get at a store ringing up your purchases - I'm actually not.  I had many compliments on Saturday from customers on how friendly I was to them when we were extremely busy - 5 registers going and a line of about 40 people.  When you are in front of me, you are my customer.  I don't worry about people waiting in line or how long they're waiting.  I'm also not standing having a long conversation with people either.  I get you in, I get you out pretty quickly, but while you're in front of me, you'll never know or feel that you were being rushed.