Reasons why I HATE retail
I tried going to sleep but couldn't because I had this "rant" going through my head. The scenario is me at my own store as a customer and I catch someone unpacking something.
Me: Excuse me?
Them: Yes?
Me: What do you think you're doing there?
Them: Nothing really.
Me: Why are you taking that out of the package?
Them: I want to see what it looks like.
Me: Why? It gives you the perfect picture of it plus the measurements for it.
Them: That may be but I still want to see it.
Me: Could you humor me for a minute?
Them: Okay...
Me: Okay. Imagine you work in a store, very much like the one you're in right now. Imagine that you're getting paid minimum wage, working anywhere between 25 and 40 hours a week. Imagine that the only gratitude you really get out of working at the store is, for instance, seeing all of the new babies and their parents and helping those parents get the best items they can for their new child.
Them: Of course..
Me: Not done yet. Please let me finish. Imagine you're working four full shifts in a row, coming in at 9:30 am and leaving for the day at 7:30pm, barely having enough time to get your 30 minute clocked out lunch break (it's a busy busy day). Imgaine coming in that morning and, after a quick morning meeting and opening the doors to the public, you grab your departmental phone and walk through the department you're working in. For all intended purposes, let's say the Bedding department (what a coincidence; that's where we are now!). Now, you would hope to see everything in perfect order as you had left it when you left from work the day before; after all, you spent at least half your shift making it look appealing and nice for your customers. Knowing how it looked, imagine going through those aisles now and seeing your hard work messed up. That's right; nothing is how you left it.
Them: But I ...
Me: Not finished yet. Now, you don't want that mess to be seen your customers, so you take it to your main working station and pile all of the messed up items there to fix. One would think, this is a slow day, I can fix it in a matter of minutes. Wrong assumption. It's very busy for a Tuesday and you've barely put all of the "re-packs" on the desk before you get a few customers needing your assistance. Those re-packs are going to have to wait. After about an hour or so of helping your customers, you go to fix your re-packs, only to find more have popped up in the last sixty minutes. You grab those up and take them to your main working space. You spend the next three hours (at least) re-packing those items and making them look as perfect as possible so that they can be sold along with the others. You end up working through your first 15 minute break. You rush through your lunch when you get it because you know there are more items that need re-packing. Once you feel you've gotten them all to look as good as you can, you get a small rush, lasting around two hours. Once you have the chance to sit down and catch your breath, you notice all of your hard work has been demolished. You spend the rest of your shift fixing things that your customers messed with.
Them: ...
Me: I'm almost done. Do you ever wonder why retail gets to be so expensive? And not just because it's a big name store? Because of people like you. People who take everything out of the package to "see what it really looks like." YOU and only YOU are the reason why prices tend to get so high for something so minor as a blanket or a pillow.
Them: Uhhhh... I...
Me: Please, think about that the next time you want to take something out of the package to "see what it really looks like."
Me: Excuse me?
Them: Yes?
Me: What do you think you're doing there?
Them: Nothing really.
Me: Why are you taking that out of the package?
Them: I want to see what it looks like.
Me: Why? It gives you the perfect picture of it plus the measurements for it.
Them: That may be but I still want to see it.
Me: Could you humor me for a minute?
Them: Okay...
Me: Okay. Imagine you work in a store, very much like the one you're in right now. Imagine that you're getting paid minimum wage, working anywhere between 25 and 40 hours a week. Imagine that the only gratitude you really get out of working at the store is, for instance, seeing all of the new babies and their parents and helping those parents get the best items they can for their new child.
Them: Of course..
Me: Not done yet. Please let me finish. Imagine you're working four full shifts in a row, coming in at 9:30 am and leaving for the day at 7:30pm, barely having enough time to get your 30 minute clocked out lunch break (it's a busy busy day). Imgaine coming in that morning and, after a quick morning meeting and opening the doors to the public, you grab your departmental phone and walk through the department you're working in. For all intended purposes, let's say the Bedding department (what a coincidence; that's where we are now!). Now, you would hope to see everything in perfect order as you had left it when you left from work the day before; after all, you spent at least half your shift making it look appealing and nice for your customers. Knowing how it looked, imagine going through those aisles now and seeing your hard work messed up. That's right; nothing is how you left it.
Them: But I ...
Me: Not finished yet. Now, you don't want that mess to be seen your customers, so you take it to your main working station and pile all of the messed up items there to fix. One would think, this is a slow day, I can fix it in a matter of minutes. Wrong assumption. It's very busy for a Tuesday and you've barely put all of the "re-packs" on the desk before you get a few customers needing your assistance. Those re-packs are going to have to wait. After about an hour or so of helping your customers, you go to fix your re-packs, only to find more have popped up in the last sixty minutes. You grab those up and take them to your main working space. You spend the next three hours (at least) re-packing those items and making them look as perfect as possible so that they can be sold along with the others. You end up working through your first 15 minute break. You rush through your lunch when you get it because you know there are more items that need re-packing. Once you feel you've gotten them all to look as good as you can, you get a small rush, lasting around two hours. Once you have the chance to sit down and catch your breath, you notice all of your hard work has been demolished. You spend the rest of your shift fixing things that your customers messed with.
Them: ...
Me: I'm almost done. Do you ever wonder why retail gets to be so expensive? And not just because it's a big name store? Because of people like you. People who take everything out of the package to "see what it really looks like." YOU and only YOU are the reason why prices tend to get so high for something so minor as a blanket or a pillow.
Them: Uhhhh... I...
Me: Please, think about that the next time you want to take something out of the package to "see what it really looks like."
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