I'm only a college student working as a cashier. I am not a superhero. I am only a human being who has to work to afford her expensive lifestyle. I am a cashier. Working with the public these past few years has really opened my eyes to some completely atrocious behaviors. There is no need for that.
My job is to run a cash register. No, it is not rocket science. I'm not a doctor or a lawyer. I'm not "important" in the big scheme of things and I probably won't save your life while I'm at work. I'm still a human being. Don't get me wrong, a lot of people are actually very kind. I love the people who go out of their way to say please and thank you, even if all I'm doing is grabbing them a glass of ice water. I also deal with completely rude human beings who need a huge reality check.
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I've come to the conclusion that there are three reasons why people feel the need to be rude to their cashiers. I feel that some people are just so entitled that they think they are above me in some way. You can always tell who these people are. They have the condescending voice, the sigh when they have to wait more than two seconds for their coffee, and just the overall attitude that they are so above all of this. There are people who are just simply being caught on a bad day and taking it out on others. They remind me of an overtired and cranky toddler who needs a nap. Then, there are people who are just crappy in general. There's no further explanation needed for them.
I mess up orders from time to time. It really doesn't have to be a huge ordeal, unless you make it one. All you have to do is come up to the counter and let a staff member know so we can fix it. I remember a man who grabbed his face and started groaning. I legitimately thought he was suffering from a medical condition. It turned out I messed up two doughnuts in his order. One day a woman ordered four dozen doughnuts through the drive-thru. God forbid I misheard one doughnut over the faulty speaker and she felt the need to start all over and slowly repeat every single doughnut that she ordered in every single dozen. As she drove away, the speaker caught her asking a passenger in the car with her, "Does it really have to be this difficult?" The simple answer to that is that your experience is whatever you make it.
I've had a middle-aged man cuss me out in front of his two young boys because I wouldn't let him use a coupon he didn't have present. A young woman called my manager and demanded I be "fired on the spot" because I mixed up a few doughnuts and wouldn't let her keep the mess-ups. A young woman screamed at my co-worker and stormed out of the store because she had to pay twenty cents more for what corporate considers "feature doughnuts". An old woman demanded that we let her use two coupons despite corporate policy and refused to leave until we did.
Now, I would just like to ask this question... is fast food actually worth your dignity?
The middle-aged man who cussed me out came off as a real jackass and one of my managers told me that if he had been there that night, he would have called him out on his behavior. The young woman who demanded I be "fired on the spot" became a joke between me and my manager for quite a while. Everybody in the store, customers included, busted out laughing at the girl who screamed and raised hell over the twenty cent upcharge on feature doughnuts. The old woman who demanded we let her use two coupons ended up in the store for fifteen minutes-- she did not get her way and ended up making a real ass of herself and clearly embarrassed her granddaughter.
My job is pretty easy. Running a cash register, pouring coffee, and putting doughnuts into a box is not rocket science. I can honestly say that it's the public that makes the job hard. Your experience will truly be whatever you make of it. If you come in with a bad attitude then obviously you are not going to be satisfied. I understand that you want good customer service, and I agree that you deserve it, but there's no need to treat your cashier like complete garbage. If you want good customer service, then it's time to start being a good customer.
