Supermarket cashier chit chat

Errata

olias wrote: »

Oh god, don't get me started on the, 'do want any help with your packing?'......errr, I'm only buying one item! I think even I can manage to put that into a carrier bag without requiring help!

Olias

If checkout operators had the faintest idea how to pack shopping it would be a miracle, and when the Boy Scouts are doing it I chuck 20p in their bucket and tell them to stand well back.

Jo4

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!

conradmum

Staff may speak as long as they aren't impertinent.



(Jo4, that's lovely, actually. Much better than complementing someone on their bump when they aren't pregnant.)

DevilsAdvocate1

What I really don't like is when the comment on the size. I don't want the world to know what size I am. Think this is mainly in Marks and Spencer.

miss_independent

conradmum wrote: »

Staff may speak as long as they aren't impertinent.



(Jo4, that's lovely, actually. Much better than complementing someone on their bump when they aren't pregnant.)

And much better than telling me what lovely teenage children I had when I was with my cousins two children. I was 24 and one of them is a big strapping 6ft hairy lad. When I pointed out they aren't mine and I was, in fact, in primary school when he was born she didn't seem to "get" why that meant I wasn't old enough to be his mum and I wasn't about to give her a biology lesson.

I was about to crack open the anti-wrinkle cream when I arrived home and one of the builders asked me why I wasn't at school today.

Either way, someone should have gone to Specsavers.

aileth

I must have one of those faces. None of them ever want to speak to me.........

OrkneyStar

jtr2803 wrote: »

Do you enjoy a little chat or would you rather be left to get on with your packing?

I prefer to use the self-serve. Does that answer your question ? .

time2deal

Rockporkchop wrote: »

I've just remembered something else that used to really annoy me about supermarkets. I have triplets and I used to be utterly amazed at how many cashiers and other customers thought it was OK to say to me "are they triplets? Natural or IVF?" or some variation on that question. Why would they even want to know?!

My white friend had two kids with an Asian father. They look similar and she said a teller says to her recently ’oh, you are lucky you managed to adopt two siblings’. How dare people ask! And what a random assumption to make...

motherofstudents

I do think it's a bit sad that we are all so stressed and in a hurry that we just want to get out of there. It must have been nice years ago to go into a 'real' shop and ask for what you wanted and have a little chat while they wrapped it for you. Or you could have it delivered by the boy on the bike with a big basket on front.

Sorry, rambling now, it's all the stress of shopping....

catkins

Well I am quite a chatterbox. I used to be very shy and am not now so am making up for it!

I chat to everyone as long as they want to chat to me. People at bus stops, on the bus, parcel delivery people, shop assistants. I find that often people say at the bus stop will start talking to me so maybe I look friendly!

I always chat to shop assistants unless they don't seem that keen. I used to work in retail and if a customer wanted to chat I would be more than happy (I would of course make sure I didn't hold any other customers up) but if they didn't want to talk I didn't push it. A lot of older people used to love to chat and we were told that as long as we didn't hold up the queue or ignore other customers (if we were not on the till) then we should chat as the person may be lonely and have little other contact with people. I was more than happy to do that but some of the other staff didn't find it easy to chat to customers