Supermarket cashier chit chat

Hermia

shellsuit wrote: »

Talk to me, paw me, show me your underwear, but DON'T, for the love of God, try to help me with my packing.

I can't stand people helping me with my packing and when I see people with buckets collecting who don't even ASK if you want help with your packing, it gets right on my wick.

I wish they would help me with my packing! There have been so many time I've been doing a big shop and the assistant has put my products through so fast I cannot keep up with the packing. Then I have to pack everything whilst the people behind me glare at me!

Loz01

Sorry people who have suffered in M&S :eek: I used to work there and our manager was ALWAYS telling us to ask people about their day/journey/dog/child/life. I used to chat to friendly looking people as working 8 hours was boring as sin as most ppl would snatch the bag you'd packed for them and storm off without saying thanks.

OR WORSE STILL, BE ON THEIR MOBILE THE WHOLE TIME I SCANNED THEIR STUFF :mad:

One time I said the total and the bloke on his mobile told me to shush.
I repeated it twice as loud.

Abbymoo

Ah, Asda...last time I was in there with the OH we were putting everything on the...moving thing...all I can think of is turnstyle stupid brain fog! Anyway she starts chatting up the OH "ooh that's a lot of food for one person, do you always buy so much? Maybe you'd like someone to share it with one evening?" hair twirling and lip biting like mad. I had to look at my feet to check I'd not turned invisible.

She just carried on blatantly flirting with him whilst I went past her to start the packing. OH was just standing there shuffling his feet, going "erm" and looking at me to rescue him but it was so funny I just put everything in the trolley and !!!!!!ed off to the car park trying not to snort with laughter.

Tiddlywinks

I knew a young student who worked on a check-out to pay for uni... one day she was putting loads of booze through the till and started chatting and asking the guy if he was having a party, he invited her along and then just as she said she looked forward to it and might see him there... she picked up his next item - a large box of condoms... she came home later absolutely mortified by the whole thing :rotfl:.

Snuggles

I don't mind passing the time of day with checkout operators, but I really, really don't like it when they start to comment on/inspect items I am buying.

This seems to happen a lot in Tesco. The worst was when I was buying a pregnancy test kit, and the cashier asked in a loud voice whether if I was hoping it would be positive. I couldn't believe it, this is so insensitive for all sorts of reasons.

purple.sarah

Jo4 wrote: »

I'll never forget my experience as a checkout operator. There was one lady who came in every day I worked (Monday to Friday and if I worked weekends she would be in then too). Every Friday she went and got her hair done and it always looked well. However I noticed she hadn't been in for about 3 weeks which was strange because the only time she wouldn't have been in was when she was on holidays. However the next time I seen her was on the Friday and she had had her hair done except this time it looked even better than normal so I said to her "your hair is looking well today, have you just had it done". She took my hand and looked me straight in the eye and said "That's a wig dear, I have cancer". I just wished the ground could have opened up and swallowed me there and then. My face went bright red and I said "I am so sorry, I didn't know" and all I could say was "I am sorry, I didn't know". She squeezed my hand tighter and said "Don't worry dear, you have just made my day".

Needless to say I never commented on anyones hair after that!

I understand why you felt awkward but don't worry, it sounds like she was delighted you thought her hair looked good rather than noticing it was a wig, I bet it gave her more confidence!

purple.sarah

Peanuckle wrote: »

What annoys me more than anything is cashiers that take their time examining what you're buying. The most recent time this happened was last week, they'd had samples of the Christmas pates in store and I tried one and decided to buy it. The cashier mentioned she hadn't seen it before, fair enough, so I said they had samples in store. "Is it nice?" she asked, what a stupid question, I'm hardly gonna say it's so terrible that I had to buy some am I?
She then sat there for a good 3 minutes reading the label and looking at the glass jar it was in, I had to step in when she started to lift the clasp to open the jar! !!!!!!? It's bad enough she held me up while she sat reading but then to try and open something I was buying?
I honestly questioned my sanity and had to ask my daughter if it really happened once we'd escaped to the car. In total it took over 10 minutes to get through the till and we only had 15 items :-(

That is annoying. I was doing some shopping once and the cashier was very taken with a novelty bar of 'emergency chocolate' I was buying for a friend, examining it and reading the instructions out loud and asking if there were any more etc. She was very chatty in general. When I looked at my receipt afterwards I realised she had put a pot of cockles I was buying through as olives and overcharged me, if only she had paid as much attention to the label on that item! I prefer a cashier to be concentrating rather than chatting. On the plus side I got double the difference.

thehappybutterfly

Jo4 wrote: »

I'll never forget my experience as a checkout operator. There was one lady who came in every day I worked (Monday to Friday and if I worked weekends she would be in then too). Every Friday she went and got her hair done and it always looked well. However I noticed she hadn't been in for about 3 weeks which was strange because the only time she wouldn't have been in was when she was on holidays. However the next time I seen her was on the Friday and she had had her hair done except this time it looked even better than normal so I said to her "your hair is looking well today, have you just had it done". She took my hand and looked me straight in the eye and said "That's a wig dear, I have cancer". I just wished the ground could have opened up and swallowed me there and then. My face went bright red and I said "I am so sorry, I didn't know" and all I could say was "I am sorry, I didn't know". She squeezed my hand tighter and said "Don't worry dear, you have just made my day".

Needless to say I never commented on anyones hair after that!

This reminds me of my first job in a supermarket and had to do a stint on the tills. I was 16 years old. A regular customer came through and I had said good morning to this woman fairly regularly on the shop floor but this was the first time on the till. Anyway, she was elderly and she had a grown up son with her who stood there with his hands in his pockets while she put her messages up. I eventually, jokingly, said 'come on you! Get your hands out your pockets and give your mum a hand!' Mum then advised that he was disabled and had limited use of his arms. I could have died on the spot. Like you, I've learned my lesson!

Another time, and this was the days before barcodes, a woman came through with a packet of sanitary towels.... which didn't have a price ticket on it. To get a price, you had to press the button on the wee intercom beside you and the lady in the purchasing office would answer and you had to read out the item while she looked it up in her massive computer print out.

'Er, I have a packet of erm, ah, oh gosh, um, Dr-Whites-towels- number-6. How much are they?'
'What was that, love?' (oh no)
'Dr-White's-number-6'
'What size pack hen?'
'12's!'
'Hang on hen'

I was only 16 and easily embarrassed and then had to try and make small talk whilst waiting for my price. What are you supposed to talk about? 'Oh aye, sanitary towels. Why are they not on prescription? They're an essential aren't they?'

'59 and half pence love!!!' (You took your time didn't you?)

Happy days!

Jo4

Jo4 wrote: »

I'll never forget my experience as a checkout operator. There was one lady who came in every day I worked (Monday to Friday and if I worked weekends she would be in then too). Every Friday she went and got her hair done and it always looked well. However I noticed she hadn't been in for about 3 weeks which was strange because the only time she wouldn't have been in was when she was on holidays. However the next time I seen her was on the Friday and she had had her hair done except this time it looked even better than normal so I said to her "your hair is looking well today, have you just had it done". She took my hand and looked me straight in the eye and said "That's a wig dear, I have cancer". I just wished the ground could have opened up and swallowed me there and then. My face went bright red and I said "I am so sorry, I didn't know" and all I could say was "I am sorry, I didn't know". She squeezed my hand tighter and said "Don't worry dear, you have just made my day".

Needless to say I never commented on anyones hair after that!

You'll never believe this but the day after posting this I was in the chemist in the same town as where I used to work and as I was waiting on my prescription who walked up beside me and asked how I was and then proceeded to talk about the weather, it was the woman who I had said the above to!! :eek:

I am glad to say although she has aged very little for the years since this happened she is still alive and kicking so she must have beat the cancer or at least be winning the war with it! :j She spoke to me just like she had back then and I am glad to say I didn't mention her hair and neither did she.

superfoods

Generally I don't talk with cashier.