I just started my new job at an art store this week and feel like I have learned so much about people already. I am not going to make this article about all the different types of people I have already come across in my whole two days of working there, although I probably could. This article is about a girl I checked out my second day who really stuck with me.
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Last Thursday, I was learning the cash register and met quite the variety of people. There were very nice people who wished me good luck with my new job, people who were very annoyed that I was moving so slow because I was still learning, people who become enraged with me because I could not give them a sale they insisted on receiving, and just your average customer who came for something specific and left. But there was one girl who really stuck out to me.
As she was waiting in line, it was very difficult to not notice her bright pink hair and multiple piercings (I have nothing against this, I just noticed it immediately). When it was her turn to come up to the counter, she was very quiet and had a variety of drawing supplies with her. Just like anyone else, I asked how her experience was and continued to ring her out.
After some brief small talk, she asked if she could us a coupon on multiple items, which she could not. She mouthed, "I'm so stupid" to herself. I did not know what to say. She was not stupid, she was actually the fourth person to ask me the same question that day. My heart fell after she said because I knew that she truly felt stupid. I should have something, but what? After I finished ringing her out, she ended up walking around the store again to find something else for cheaper.
About twenty minutes passed and she showed up at my counter again. I had just dealt with a nasty customer and was very frustrated. She was returning an item she just bought and continuously apologized as if she was inconveniencing me. She was not. That is my job.
She mentioned that she also works at a different art store and continued to talk. I was trying to figure out how to do a return and was not really answering. She then apologized again for being "that annoying customer who can't shut up." It was then that I stopped what I was doing and made sure I paid attention. I informed her that this was my first day on the register and I was not trying to ignore her, simply just learn. I also told her to stop apologizing because she was one of the first friendly customers I had all day. Her face lit up almost as if that was the first nice thing she had heard all day.
That broke my heart.
For the next few minutes, we talked until I figured out how to do the return. We wished each other luck on our jobs and then she left.
I know this was a long drawn out story, but she really hit me. I wish I could go back and change the way I was to her. No, I was not mean, I was simply busy, but she deserved to be treated with greater customer service.
This girl with the bright pink hair treats people with respect because she knows what it is like to be brought down. She goes out of her way to not inconvenience people, even when she is not. The world needs more people like this girl, and I do not think she knows that.
Now this might just be me assuming, and I apologize if I am wrong, but from the outside looking in, I saw low self-confidence. Us, as women (and men) are easily prone to this. You could be complimented on one-hundred different things, but that one negative comment will be forever engrained in your mind. As someone who used to have extremely low self-confidence, I believe this is why she stood out to me. I was exactly like her at one point. Obviously, I could not do anything to drastic about this, but I would have paid more attention and made sure she did not feel like she was inconveniencing me.
If you took the time to read this, do something good for someone else today. If someone does something nice for you, I challenge you to pay it forward.
