Men's Monday

Shopping Etiquette

This isn't so much a Men's Monday post as it's directed towards both fashionistas and fashionistos.
This is a rant. This might get wordy. Brace yourself.

I've been a sales associate for 5 years now (so I know what I'm talking about) and I love my job, I love being surrounded by clothes, and I love the people I work with...BUT (and yes, there's a but)...working in a field that is heavily dependent on customer service has it's many ups and downs and NO, I am NOT a believer in "the customer is ALWAYS right" rule because quite frankly, it's just not always the case.

With that being said, I'm a pretty easy going guy and it takes a lot to make me upset but something about retail some days can make me turn into a real life Regina George, in other words, a b*tch. Here are some prime examples of what I mean...

Top 10 things that really really REALLY grind my gears:

1. Shoppers who reach into the middle of a pile and yank out their size thus destroying the ENTIRE pile in mere seconds. You wouldn't believe how fast 1 person can ruin a perfectly folded shelf with this one technique.
Um, what did I ever do to you?

2. Shoppers who take PILES of clothes into a fitting room and leave with the room looking like hurricane Debbie went through it. It wouldn't hurt you to put a shirt back on a hanger or button up a shirt after you've tried it on but if that's too much to ask, another great and helpful idea is to give the clothes you don't want back to whoever is working in the fits area as you try your clothes on. This is especially helpful on those SUPER busy days. Dropping off or leaving one gigantic pile all at once is an act of pure evil in the retail industry.
Have a heart, help the poor little guy out.
In case you weren't sure, I was referring to myself when I said "the little guy."

3. Shoppers who take their sweet time when trying on clothes when there is a GIGANTIC line waiting for rooms; especially when they're only trying on 2 items. Honey, that purple polyester cardigan with ruffles isn't going to look any different on you the 6th time you show your friend compared to the 1st time.


4. Shoppers who ask for EXTRA discounts. What makes you any more special than the next person? Are you the Queen of Narnia? If not, no, you cannot have an additional 10% off just because you exist.

5. Shoppers who take items and put them in an entirely different part of the store or even worse, HIDE items behind a folded pilea of shirts as if they were never there in the first place.
Really? Really?
What are you? 4?


6. Shoppers who bring SHOPPING CARTS into the store. Does this look like a Superstore, a Walmart, a Home Depot, a Safeway, a Reno, a Costco, or a Save-ON to you? Didn't think so.
As if our store wasn't small enough, you came up with the bright idea to lug that gigantic metal basket on wheels in here. Thank you for that.
7. 2 words = SCREAMING children.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore children. But our store isn't a playground or a daycare folks, control yo kids.

8. Shoppers who make themselves at home and walk into a fitting room WITHOUT notifying anyone. Would you walk behind the counter at a bar and help yourself to a cup?
I need to count your items and I need to know you're in the room. Oherwise I'm just going to assume that you wanted me to walk in on you while you were changing and I'm going to proceed to think you are one creepy weirdo and perhaps a little perverted. 

9. Shoppers with SHORT memory spans...
When you ask me for a size when I'm stationed in fits or approach the cash register to buy your items and I ask you "Who helped you?" These following answers don't help me:
"A girl."
"A Chinese boy with black hair."
"Somebody but I don't remember."
"That one" while pointing in some random direction towards the front of the store at nobody.

10. Shoppers who don't know their own SIZE. I know that  discrepancies between stores  exist and their sizes  may not fit like ours but saying "I don't know" to "What size are you?" is kind of ridiculous. You've got to have some idea; even a range helps!
You can't tell me you're in your mid to late twenties or early thirties and this is the first time you've shopped for yourself. 

I could go on but this post is already too long and we'd be here forever.
These are just some of the things that really push me towards the edge at work and if you are an offender of any of the acts mentioned above;  please STOP IT. 
Sure, we get paid to do what we do but that doesn't mean you should abuse your power. It's a little different in the food industry because at least they get paid to be nice in the form of tips whereas in the retail industry, that isn't always the case because not every store offers commission.
Having worked in retail for so long I no longer have the heart to walk into a store and not re-fold a shirt (or at least attempt to) after I've unfolded it or clean up after myself after trying on clothes in their fitting rooms. Please do the same; it's the nice thing to do.
Sorry for the attitude and for the serious post this week but after working as much as I did this weekend and being constantly subjected repeatedly to a slew of the crimes I just presented, I had to get this off my chest.

No #MusicMonday this week but instead, here's a quite humorous video to offset the seriousness of this week's post:

QUITTING JOBS I NEVER HAD. #Priceless

Jer xo