Poll of the Day > Do you think you would hate working in retail?

(+) Yeah! (+)

yeap, I've seen women reach right into their shirt and pull out money or cell phone case with stuff inside. and surely they have pants pockets or could use a purse, but I guess some just like the feel of something different against their boob. it's even worse in the summer

and there is not enough hand sanitizer for such actions. as i'm currently a cashier, please do not store money there, it's nasty and to hand that to someone else is just terrible
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I already have, it's cancer. I do recommend that teenagers get at least a year experience in Retail, Restaurant and Fast Food.
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InhumaneRaider posted...

I already have, it's cancer. I do recommend that teenagers get at least a year experience in Retail, Restaurant and Fast Food.

Ive done retail and fast food. Never a restaurant, though. I could have at one point in my life, but I already had a job. Afterwards, restaurants only want people with experience. Which is kinda dumb because its hard to have experience when you cant get a job to get that experience...
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LinkPizza posted...

InhumaneRaider posted...

I already have, it's cancer. I do recommend that teenagers get at least a year experience in Retail, Restaurant and Fast Food.

Ive done retail and fast food. Never a restaurant, though. I could have at one point in my life, but I already had a job. Afterwards, restaurants only want people with experience. Which is kinda dumb because its hard to have experience when you cant get a job to get that experience...

Yeah, I've done it all, Kroger's, Marco's Pizza, Buffalo Wild Wings and American outfitters. Restaurants are suuuuper picky though. It's so dumb, Buffalo Wild Wings didn't want hire me at first, stating that Marco's wasn't enough experience. It was until they found me a station, "Southwest Grill", which is like wraps, appetizers, salads and shit, which was perfect for me. It's honestly more stress than it's worth.
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Worked as a grocery bagger for a bit and I hated it, yes.
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I enjoy retail as a job. I hate working with the kind of people who tend to work in retail.
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High Schools should have a mandatory class where you work in retail for a while, just so everyone can know what it's like. Hopefully it would cut down on people being dicks to employees.
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Zareth posted...

High Schools should have a mandatory class where you work in retail for a while, just so everyone can know what it's like. Hopefully it would cut down on people being dicks to employees.

Probably not. The people who do that will be like, I did my time already...
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Kaiiwa posted...

When I was working in food, I definitely appreciated it more than possibly working retail in other shops around me. Customers need food, so they give me something to do. I couldn't fathom working the same hours at a place where an occasional customer waltzed in, browsed and left without buying anything. I would be totally bored.

Just my personal exp

The worst is probably commission-based retail sales since not only do slow periods mean intense boredom, but you're also not really making money.
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Retail and restaurant jobs (fast food included) can burn in hell. I'm never going back to that. I'd rather do factory or warehouse work (doing night warehousing atm). Preferably though, I would like to do skilled blue collar work. A trade basically. White collar work could be ok, but I already spend my free time at a computer. My butt needs a break.
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If I worked for someone else, yes. I dont take shit from people so if someone comes in with a bad attitude, they get a worse one.
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Person106 posted...

Retail and restaurant jobs (fast food included) can burn in hell. I'm never going back to that. I'd rather do factory or warehouse work (doing night warehousing atm). Preferably though, I would like to do skilled blue collar work. A trade basically. White collar work could be ok, but I already spend my free time at a computer. My butt needs a break.

What about pink collar?
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I worked stockroom at Toys R Us for 5 years and liked it.
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Person106 posted...

Retail and restaurant jobs (fast food included) can burn in hell. I'm never going back to that. I'd rather do factory or warehouse work (doing night warehousing atm). Preferably though, I would like to do skilled blue collar work. A trade basically. White collar work could be ok, but I already spend my free time at a computer. My butt needs a break.

Would you want to go to trade school?
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Zeus posted...

Person106 posted...

Retail and restaurant jobs (fast food included) can burn in hell. I'm never going back to that. I'd rather do factory or warehouse work (doing night warehousing atm). Preferably though, I would like to do skilled blue collar work. A trade basically. White collar work could be ok, but I already spend my free time at a computer. My butt needs a break.

What about pink collar?

Nope. I would only work a job where I deal with customers if I was jobless and needed something asap.
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LinkPizza posted...

Person106 posted...

Retail and restaurant jobs (fast food included) can burn in hell. I'm never going back to that. I'd rather do factory or warehouse work (doing night warehousing atm). Preferably though, I would like to do skilled blue collar work. A trade basically. White collar work could be ok, but I already spend my free time at a computer. My butt needs a break.

Would you want to go to trade school?

Not if I could be trained on the job instead.
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Retail is horrible, anyone who says otherwise is lying or hasn't worked in retail for long.
Fast food jobs are even worse.

Depends on the retailer. I would hate working a mall, or being a cashier due to slog - but being a salesman, helping customers... that's cool.
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LinkPizza posted...

Zareth posted...

High Schools should have a mandatory class where you work in retail for a while, just so everyone can know what it's like. Hopefully it would cut down on people being dicks to employees.

Probably not. The people who do that will be like, I did my time already...

Well, TBH... It's... kind of why people assume millennials have never had a job. After all, working a job like retail for any prolonged period (more than a month) causes you to pick up certain traits, attitudes, and so-forth. Traits often not found within the entitled brats who've never worked a day in their lives that populate college campuses. I know plenty of people in college do so and work multiple jobs even. However, when you have some twerp talking about PC topics but then choosing to skip out on work making their co-workers lives miserable... you realize just how sheltered they are.

That said... It's a hellhole. I'd suggest at least three to four months for everybody since it teaches you some VERY valuable people skills in both dealing with customers and co-workers; but it's a serious drain on your mental stamina. Don't do it for too long or you'll start to lose your mind.
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IMO, the following changes would make retail SO much more bearable.

1) CHAIRS! Make it so that you can't deny employee's the right to sit down every once in a while. I've gone so far as to fake bathroom breaks just to get some weight off my feet in the past. Yet companies seem to feel that an employee taking a moment to ease the pain in their feet is 'unprofessional'. We're damned retail cashiers! The customer sees us as a necessary evil to be tolerated so they can get funyons. So long as we're not dropping our pants in front of them they don't give a crap about how 'professional' we are.

2) Management sides with employees. Do you know how... infuriating it is to have a customer do something clearly in the wrong causing you to raise your voice in objection resulting in the manager coming over and... the manager siding with the customer. Do you honestly think I would have stuck my neck out if I didn't think it was suspicious that the customer came up with 20 $3 coupons and 20 $2.99 products? But no. Instead management just doesn't care one bit about siding with the employee unless it could get them into legal trouble; and even then it's shifty. I've had managers outright sell cigarettes to underage kids and not get in trouble for it simply because they want to make as many sales/not get bad reviews. I've been chewed out for following company policy. What's the point of having a policy if, the moment I try to actually enforce it, I get chewed out?

3) Reduce the atmosphere of fear. A lot of employee's are too afraid to ask for even basic things from management out of fear of repercussion. Break your leg? Well... BETTER COME IN TO WORK TOMORROW OR ELSE YOU'LL GET FIRED! Grandma died? WELL YOU'D BETTER MISS THE FUNERAL OR ELSE YOUR ASS IS GRASS! Sure, 'officially' they can't take any action... but when has that ever stopped anyone? I've come in to work sick, missed seeing friends I haven't seen in over a year, and missed medical appointments scheduled months in advance purely out of fear of bosses who treat coming in five minutes late as some sort of grave offense.

4) Don't over-work employee's. I know this is tempting to do since it cuts down on overhead; but if you hired someone to be a cashier don't demand they do janitorial, stocking, and other departments and get upset at them when they aren't constantly working every minute of the day just so you can fire one employee to save a buck. I personally have to do the work of three employee's (counting myself) and it means I often have to stay up to an hour after my shift is done while still not finishing all the tasks. Only reason it's 'only' an hour is because the police would likely arrest me for trespassing if I stayed that late past closing... or would have to bring in a pillow to sleep in the break-room. Overworked employee's are grouchy, irritable, despondent, inefficient, sloppy, and generally taking those perfect employee's who sing to every customer and turning them into those pissy ones who look one word short of trying to smash an old lady's head through the checkout desk because she has just one more coupon to add.
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5) Remember that your employee's aren't incapable buffoons. I've seen so many 'new program to improve customer service' type things. It always amounts to stuff like 'think positive' and 'make their experience a memorable one' and the like. It's irritating as hell. I've got a lengthy line backed up to the other side of the store, a manager stuck dealing with someone who needs a very technical order done, and the only other employee on break. So sorry if I'm not exactly 'positive' and more 'stressed the hell out' as I try to process everyone as fast as possible. Yet to listen to these programs and what-not it sounds like the only thing standing between me and becoming some patron saint of customer service is just always being cheerful!

6) Don't treat your employee's like damned criminals. Did an employee take ten seconds off to rest his feet? Yelling at him to face aisle 28 isn't going to get more work done. Did an employee bring in a drink? Getting furious at them for doing so isn't the right thing to do (assuming it's not alcohol). Employee on a smart phone for one second? You don't need to drag them over the coals. Now, by all means, if an employee is loafing about, gorging themselves, or not getting work done because they're posting on twitter, chew them out. But there's a huuuuge gap between 'being a lazy ass' and 'trying to find just a fleeting second of relief'.

7) When employee's say that there's a problem... LISTEN TO THEM! GAAAAAAHHHH! JUST HIRE ONE MORE PERSON FOR THE NIGHT SHIFT ALREADY! YOU HEAR ME?! WE DON'T NEED A FREAKING BEAUTICIAN OR ANOTHER MANAGER OR SOMEONE WHO CAN ONLY STAY TILL 8! WE NEED MORE THAN TWO PEOPLE WILLING TO STAY TILL MIDNIGHT BECAUSE IT'S DRIVING THOSE TWO PEOPLE BATTY AND THEY MISS THEIR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS BUT YOU HAD TO HIRE A DAMNED BEAUTICIAN INSTEAD! HEAVEN FORBID ONE OF US GETS SICK, ESPECIALLY IN WINTER, BECAUSE THAT *NEVER* HAPPENS BECAUSE IT MEANS ONE OF US LOSES OUR PRECIOUS DAY OFF. YOU'VE ALREADY HAD ONE SUICIDE ATTEMPT BECAUSE OF HOW TERRIBLE THE OVERWORKING IS AND YOU DIDN'T FIGURE IT OUT THEN?

*cough*

Ummm... Yea. When your employee's say there's a problem... listen to them.
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Person106 posted...

Zeus posted...

Person106 posted...

Retail and restaurant jobs (fast food included) can burn in hell. I'm never going back to that. I'd rather do factory or warehouse work (doing night warehousing atm). Preferably though, I would like to do skilled blue collar work. A trade basically. White collar work could be ok, but I already spend my free time at a computer. My butt needs a break.

What about pink collar?

Nope. I would only work a job where I deal with customers if I was jobless and needed something asap.

It's not just customer-related stuff. Pink collar also includes things like teaching.
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I have, and I did.

@Unbridled9 pretty much hit the nail on the head.
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