10 surefire ways to piss off your cashier

hiyall,
as promised, my list of 10 surefire ways to piss off your cashiers. I have worked a cash register for almost 30 years. my first cashier consisted of a cash drawer that went ding when you pulled it open and a adding machine. despite my bitching, I do enjoy the work. cashiering is mindless work, but its NOT easy work. your standing on your feet 8 hours a day. lifting , pulling, counting, cleaning, etc. we are professionals, we have knowledge of all sorts of things but not all things. so, with that being said, here goes.....I'm gonna do the david letterman style!

number 10..... Don't ask the cashier if they are open. They are standing there behind the counter or at the end of it aren't they? Is the light on? is the gate open? I will stand behind my counter, knowing that if I move to the end of it I will have to turn around and go back to the register. Not being slack, I really don't like walking back and forth like the duck in the shooting gallery. Also, if the light is OUT, gate is pulled or chain is UP, that is a sure sign that the cashier is closed, don't go into that line thinking she/he is opened. and don't get mad when they tell you they are closed.

number 9.....Get off your motherhumping cell phone!!! good lawd! no one is impressed with the fact that you have a cell phone! Not only are you being rude to the cashier, to the customer behind you and the customer behind them. We are so not interested how drunk you got last night or how friendly your date was (ewwwwww!). If you are in MY line, I will interrupt your phone call to communicate with you. You are on MY time, we are short handed as it is, I dont have time to be polite. Go ahead and get mad with me, your not going to screw up my metrics because you want to impress your peeps. If I am on the sales floor and you answer your cell phone in the middle of our chit chat and you turn your back on me, I will walk away. The majority of the people I have contact with do let their voice mail kick in, but there are those who think the world will end if they dont answer that phone. (whispering) I got news for ya....it wont!

number 8.......do not interrupt the cashier while she is conducting business with a customer. That is just plain RUDE. Didn't your parents teach you that is not nice to interrupt a conversation between 2 people? if it is all that important (which is not, your too lazy to read the signs posted where products are located) at least say...excuse me, can you tell me where a certain product is? not.....where is this? call someone to meet me there!

number 7.....do not....I repeat do not yell at the cashier for ANY reason! Unless you have fallen, your bleeding, having a heart attack or someone has gotten hurt, there is no excusable reason to yell across the store (I'm younger than you and I hear fine), whistle (what the hell??? am I your dog??? screw you!), raise your arm, snap your fingers ( do I look like your damn waitress??sorry, that is NOT my table) or stand there yelling and demanding to see a manager because I chose to conduct business with the customer standing in front of me who has priority over you, instead of dealing with your 'I am very busy, very important person, cow tow to my needs NOW' attitude.

number 6........ keep up with your own kids! I am not your baby sitter dammit! If they get hurt its on YOU. Don't think you can sue the store for money because your lazy ass refuses to keep an eye on them. And don't get pissy with us when we say anything to you about the kids standing in the seat of a cart, doing their acrobatics on displays or chasing each other on their wheelees. Most of us are parents, we know how kids can get hurt if left unattended. we see this each and everyday. I can usually tell which kids are the home schooled ones, they lack much social skills when going out in public. don't get me wrong, I think home school is a good thing. But I also believed kids should go to public or private school for the first 5 years to learn the much needed social skills.

number 5....... learn to read the pricing labels! Be aware that other customers do not put merchandise back where they got it from and when you think an item cost this much but scans another, chances are it was misplaced. Don't think you will get the lower cost, only time that will happen if the exact same product is on the shelf with old price tag that has not been changed to the newer price. Then we will gladly reduce the price to the shelf. If I see 2 products on the shelf in the same spot, I will look at the label and compare UPC code on the product and the label. Then I will know for sure what the price is. I too have gone to the check out line and discovered that its not scanning properly. I gently tell the cashier ( in a manner I would like to be spoken to) that the price is wrong and can we get a price check. I too have misread the label, and if I really want or need that product, I will buy it regardless of price.

number 4........learn to read the signs PERIOD! Don't ask us how much something cost when the sign is right there! Don't get mad at us when we point out a sign with the info on it. Retailers work very hard to make sure product is displayed and signed properly. Many of those signs a BIG, ya can't miss them! We cashiers spend a good portion of our shift doing price checks because the people are too lazy to look for a sign.

number 3......this one is for the guys. Do not leave your friggin' wallet in the damn truck! What is up with that? Your going into a store, you know your are planning on making a purchase, yet you leave to chance that some thief will see your wallet on the seat, break the window and STEAL it! Don't expect the cashier to wait til you go to the truck to get your wallet to finish your transaction. We will suspend the transaction and go on to the next customer who has their wallet. If you come back in the middle of that transaction, you will have to wait til we are thru with said customer. It always amazes that you guys do this. Not only does this apply to wallets, but checkbooks too! and keep a pen in your checkbook, we are tired of loaning you a pen and you taking off with it~

number 2....this one is for the ladies. Quit being so friggin' vain and wear your damn glasses!! do not get pissy with the cashier when you can not see the pen pad or the screen because you refuse to wear your glasses. This part applies to male and female, you do not look that cool walking into a store wearing your high dollar sunglasses. Do not complain that you cant see an item on the shelf, of course you cant, its hard to see product when your wearing sunglasses. especially hard to SEE the screens when your wearing them too. We really don't want to see your hungover eyes, but if that what it takes for you to see the screen so be it. don't expect us to be your seeing eye dog and tell you what is there when you are very capable of see it with the proper visual aids!

number 1......YES WE DO WORK HERE!! What part of our dorky uniform tells you that we do not work here???? The big ass name name plate should give it away! Or the gawd awful apron that make us look jaundice? Or maybe, just maybe.......its the fact we are standing in front of our registers processing a sale........

OK...this list is really a small part of what gets us cashiers riled up. please refrain from telling me that if those things get us mad, maybe we shouldn't be cashiers. This list is a few of the things that make or break good cashiers. I am GOOD at what I do. I enjoy what I do. I refuse to let a few jerks run me off like they have to so many other potentially good cashiers. We cant keep good ones because cashiers have to have a really thick skin. Yes, I know.....there are some really bad cashiers out there. I suspect they have job security because of the 'diversity' factor involved. If what I wrote has mad you mad, big whoop. Most people couldn't handle being a cashier.
Ciao baby!
(mauh Liz)