For those of you out there who have to work retail, you have a lot to go through on the daily. Rick and Morty are an easy way to depict our pain, so sit back and read on.
You’re Not Alone
There are approximately 4.3 million people working retail, and probably at least half of them hate their job. Working retail is an excruciating experience, with customers who couldn’t care less about you or that rack you just organized. Ultimately, retail is like a necessary evil; you know you want clothes, but you know you don’t want to be the one selling those clothes.
When a Customer Complains
Maybe you accidentally put a regular price item on a sale rack, and the customer complains about you not giving them the sale price. Obviously in the end you’re stuck after mentioning it to your manager and have to give them the sale price, but the worst part is the look they give you like “Ha ha I’m the best I get cheap clothes and I hope this comes out of your paycheck.”
You Can’t Always Do What You Want
Thirty seconds after fixing the counter display, there always seems to be that one customer who decides it would be awesome to go search for one specific size on that nice display and go mess it all up. I don’t get it, like you literally just saw me fix it, how come you can’t get your size nicely? Retail takes self-control, because wow do these customers make me mad.
When You Don’t Know Where a Specific Item Is
I hate when we get new shipments of clothing so all of our displays have to be changed; just as I was starting to memorize the location of items in the store, it changes again. Plus, there’s always going to be a customer looking for an item you no longer carry. “I’m so sorry about that, we can check and see if it’s still online or we can call another local store to see if they have it,” while nine out of ten times they’ll ask you to check another store and the other store either won’t answer the phone or they won’t have it. Either way, I need a map of my store.
When You Finally Get Off Work
This is about the best feeling in the world. Man, once the last hour comes up, I am literally counting it down. Finally, after hours and hours of walking around, cleaning up after people and folding clothes, I get to go home, make some Mac N Cheese and enjoy some Netflix. Retail is a stressful job, but it is incredible to be able to clock out.
For me, I am so grateful to have my job, regardless of how upset it occasionally makes me. Fact is, I am a teenager with no prior experience, and we all have to start somewhere. So thank you, retail, for paying me and for also teaching me how to behave in a work environment.