"Did you need a fitting room?"

Ok so as many of you already know I work retail, and that is pretty much the only work I have ever done. And I will begin this by saying that I fully believe that everyone should be required to work retail or some type of customer service job at some point in their lives. I am sure you are thinking, "it's retail! How hard could it be?" But until you deal with it, you don't know. This blog will be all about what really makes me mad as a retail associate. And this is not about one specific place I work/worked at. It's about all of them.

First things first...fitting rooms. If you see that an associate is on the phone with a customer and another associate is at the register ringing up another customer, do not interrupt to ask me for a fitting room. I will help you as soon as I am done with the customer in front of me. I see you standing there with clothes in hand. I get that you need a room. And please don't get visibly upset when you don't get let into a fitting room right away. One of my favorite questions is "do you have fitting rooms for me to try this on?" And my answer is always polite and respectful, but I would rather answer with "No, but you see these doors? They each open to a magical world. Behind door 1 is Narnia, where Aslan will greet you. Behind this one is Hogwarts. Be careful Harry is gonna be flying by. And behind door 3 is Gollum and the ring. Enjoy!" But I can't say that b/c then it would make the customer feel dumb. And as a retail associate it is my job to make the customer feel smart and to make myself look stupid. We are all marionette dolls.

To go along with fitting rooms, do not leave your items off hangers, inside out, and on the floor of the fitting room!! Just bring me all the things you decided against. I will put them away in the correct spot.

The next thing is discounts. If you buy something for $25 and the total comes up less than that, then I have applied your discount. So please don't stand there and keep asking me. Have some common sense and trust that I know what I'm doing. I am the one getting paid and know how things work. I am not an idiot so please do not speak to me as such.

Also, I do not appreciate being treated as a servant or someone who is beneath you. I work because I have to, not because I enjoy it. So just because you have money and you get to shop all day and not work, does not give you any right to treat me as less than you would want to be treated.

Be observant. If you see all the yellow sweaters together, do not hang a blue one right in the middle. Give it to me and I will put it back right where it needs to be. And on this note, if you have several different items in your hand and decide against all of them, do not hang all of them together in with the dresses or the sweaters, etc. Give them to me, I will gladly take them from you.

I understand people have bad days and don't mean to be rude or aren't hateful on purpose, but remember that you don't need to take it out on someone who has nothing to do with your bad mood. Always treat people the way you'd like to be treated.

Thanks for reading. God bless. You've been gingersnapped!