10 Things People Who Work in Retail Have to Endure Every Day

Last Updated on 2021-11-18 , 1:35 pm

Retail jobs are often associated with long working hours, having to serve unreasonable customers with an unfaltering smile, and meagre pay for all the efforts (or the lack of it) of trying to provide good service.

There’s a point in our lives that we have all experienced, well, with the exception of those privileged youths with abundant inheritance money, where we had to put down all our pride and dignity to take up a part-time job in the scandalous field of retail.

Here are some dealings that retail workers have to endure in every shift.

Terrible retail jokes
“No price tag? This must be free!” “Do you take cash?” Gosh. If you got a dollar for every time you hear these jokes, you’ll probably be richer than Bill Gates.

Customers messing up the display
After spending a whole hour folding and stacking piles of clothes neatly on display, in comes a customer who decides to take a piece at the very bottom of the pile, messing up the ones on top and conveniently knocking down a pile on the side while doing so. God bless you.

Unsupervised kids
If there is anything more terrifying than having to clean up the mess after irresponsible adults, it would be having them leave their hyperactive spawns unattended. The aftermath would probably consist of garments strewn everywhere, toppled mannequins and workers going insane.

Infinite repetition of salutations and generic greetings
“Welcome to …, how may I help you?” “Thank you for shopping at …, we look forward to your next visit!” You repeat those phrases a couple hundred times per day, you probably speak them in your sleep.

Aching cheeks
Want toned cheeks? Try working in retail where a mandatory smile has to be always apparent on your face. You will also have mastered the fake laugh by the end of a shift.

Latecomers
When customers are still streaming in seconds before the closing time, you’ll be behind the counter resisting the urge to punch them in the face.

Window shoppers
“Can you get me a size 8 for this? Yes, a new piece please!” “Wait, how about this, do you think I look good in it?” “Perhaps this will look better… Can you get me various sizes for this? I want to try them.” After all the hassle of bringing out new pieces and searching for sizes, you direct them to the counter for payment and guess what they say? “No, it’s alright, I won’t be purchasing them”

It’s alright? It’s alright?! Does it look alright to you that I ran about getting these clothing for you and you decide not to buy them?? Window shoppers are perfectly fine, but not when they start asking you to bring out every piece of clothing in stock and end up not purchasing.

Dressing room frenzy
Walking into a dressing room, finding clothes as floor rags and empty hangers crowding the hooks, you’ll start doubting the existence of humanity in people. It only gets worst when they start using these rooms as makeshift reproduction pods. Why do workers not allow more than 1 person in each dressing room? This is why.

Being asked to give discounts
When you tell your friends you work at a certain store and they start asking you for discounts when they visit. Nobody seems to understand that being an employee does not entitle you to give out discounts freely, neither do the customers who complain to you about the prices of the merchandise understand that you don’t set the price. Is that dress too expensive? Well, madam, that’s not my problem.

Controlled phone usage
Stealth texting without being caught by the boss is a craft you’ll master until you become a retail texting ninja, capable of drafting typo-free conversations with your friends through your shift. Asked to check for stocks in the store room? That’s another bonus 5 minutes to surf through your social media.

Featured Image: Heng Lim/ shutterstock.com