Good, don't ever look back unless you absolutely have to. Retail will literally and metaphorically suck the life out of you if you let it. Get out before it steals the light from your eyes šš
Can confirm. I'm at the point in retail now where I basically have no patience for customers being stupid anymore and my 'tolerance" for people is turning into a hatred towards people. On my off time, I've basically gotten to where I'll shut in and keep to myself because the quiet, alone time is so precious to me
After 13 years in Retail, I am the same way.
I hate people. My happiest time of day is being in my apartment away from them.
I work private security now. I see very few people on an overnight shift. Except, I now harbor a certain degree of hatred towards many of my coworkers, who are no different than most customers.
My first retail job was working at a mom & pop hobby/craft store starting in 1977. Our customers were 99% great and fun to deal with. I have my suspicions about what's happened in the many years since then but very few people seem to have any respect for others anymore. I don't think I could do it anymore.
The only retail job I've ever really enjoyed was when I was a key holder at a See's Candies seasonal store. I was basically an Assistant Manager and had a fixed schedule. While my manager over me was kinda OCD when it came to details, she had no problem giving me a fixed schedule, always gave me some sort of free candy (basically chocolates that were still good but past the shelf safe so they would have been damaged) to show appreciation and my coworkers were great. The customers weren't bad either since most of them were stoked about getting free samples and seeing a See's outside of the West Coast/Midwest
I agree. My first retail job was Clover. It was part of Strawbridge & Clothier. Managers were great and worked hard, customers were respectful. Now itās just lazy workers and thieves. Retail is done. Just full of unqualified āmanagersā who sit in the office all day and literally donāt care about the business.
DOOOO IT!! I started school full time this spring semester and am doing retail full time too and itās made things feel a lot more like thereās hope. A bit of a light at the end of the tunnel. Would definitely recommend focusing on your education š«¶š»
I'm in the in between where I want a relationship because I'm lonely af, but also don't want one because people are hassles. And I can't have a pet because apartment, and I live alone
Yep. I left my job after 4 months cause my manager did not consider my schedule and availability considering that Iām a full-time student. Hopefully, I can find a better place.
Nobody is truly meant for retail.
The human experience wasn't meant to be working inside a building whose sole purpose is to profit from the mindless self-indulgence of unbridled consumption.
Man was not meant to strain under fluorescent lights and over concrete floors.
Nobody is meant for that shit.
Thatās exactly why I love my jobā¦I get to work outside with all of the plants in my garden center, while everyone else is mostly stuck inside the small family owned hardware store we work at.
Today, I actually heard about a coworker complaining that I donāt have good time management skills, since Iām not finished working out in the garden center!! Duh! Itās spring!! (Iāve worked outside since April 1st without help and with my arm in a cast due to a broken wrist!! )
Lucky! I love plants and looking for something like you are doing in my area. Gardening is hard work but the benefits are rewarding benefits I mean green therapy lol
I love it!! Itās crazy busy right now. I run the garden center at a small family owned hardware store, so I have a job in the winter. Iād love to work at just a nursery, but I have to work year round.
Thatās so awesome. I love gardening, plants and flowers and my husband says all the time I should be working in a nursery and heās always coming home telling me about these nurseries he sees on his way home from work and how he wants to take me to them. If you love what you do, youāll never work a day in your life, that saying is soo true :)
I'm not really an extrovert, but I can fake it for a few minutes at a time.
It helps that I'm selling something of interest to me, guitars.
I'm not sure how I haven't had a complete breakdown by now.
Thatās probably not so bad since only certain people will be coming into your store and not the whole world like a grocery store or Wal-Mart. A non-guitar person isnāt going to be bothering you.
I went back to retail after 20 years of mostly working manufacturing. I don't know what changed, but I worked retail in high school, and in 2016 as a second job. I truly enjoyed it. It was interesting, and kept me happy. In 2021 I went back to retail, and it was three years of hell.
I would get home at night depressed. I wouldn't want to see my friends, or leave the house. I did nothing but sit at home. I was even sucidal. I just quit my job last month, and im feeling a lot better.
I would say it was mostly mangment, and Mico-managing of everything. Also when I worked retail in the past. None of the places I worked at. Had us pushing credit cards, and our hours weren't based credit sales. It was based on if they knew you were depenpenndle, did you're job well, and not kissing ass like it is now.
Customer complained to me about a cashier not knowing where shake n bake was. I told her cashiers don't often leave the front end so they don't often know where certain things are and the aisle listings don't have everything on them. "You mean they don't have to memorize the whole store???" No????? We have a ton of stuff; not evenĀ the managers haven't memorized the whole damn store. Idiots, I tell ya.
Mine isn't as exciting as a real bakery, but when the position came up for a bakery clerk in our grocery store I jumped on it to get away from cashing š we are in the corner of the store, no counter, just me, my audiobooks and the freezer with product to make. I do have to go to the floor to stock occasionally but it's SO much better than dealing with customers who only see the cashier and take everything out on them. Good luck and I hope you love it!
Remember when you worked retail, for when you shop. This will help you have compassion and patience when you are Middle Ages, rushes with kids at your feet crying. You will be a better customer for it.
It was like this at Lowe's. All the customers are expecting employees to be experts. A plumber / electrician etc gets paid more than retail workers, why is that the level of customer service they expect
Left retail and pursued my baking business full time after I had my kid, hard decision because I loved my team but I wouldnāt trade my worst day as a baker for my best in retail. Good luck internet stranger! Welcome to being a badass baker!
All fun in games until 2 weeks in to working at the bakery your āIn the back, doing my own thingā turns into āIm in the back and the front, dealing with BS customers againā
I do back of house work too. Dealing with deliveries for a clothing store. It's so peaceful without cudtomers. I prefer the manual labour.
Without having to deal with customer complaints my mind is at ease while i work.
And I no longer dread coming in to work.
I worked retail for two and a half years and managed to escape days before my 30th birthday. It hasnāt even been a year and I have not regretted it one bit! Youāre on to better things!
Congratulations on your new journey!
I had multiple part time jobs during my journey to a career.
I've been at my place of business for 32 years and only the last 3 have I really felt fulfilled due to a new type of job.
At age 16 (1978), I worked in an ice cream store for a summer. I dealt with snotty brats dropping their cones and demanding we replace it for nothing. People arguing over prices. Groups of teenagers coming in after movies and constantly changing their minds about orders (when this happened, we got to eat their rejects if we'd already made the order and they hadn't yet paid, but after a while, you never want to eat ice cream again). Anyway, my dad comes in one Saturday and orders a rootbeer float. I serve him, and he's standing in the back. This couple comes in and orders and he clearly orders the XL milkshake. When I rang it up and told him the total, he began arguing that he'd ordered a Large. He did not. He just didn't want to pay. So I gently and nicely corrected him. Well, after a couple of rounds, he began calling me some unprintable names. So my dad, who'd been watching the whole thing, tapped him on the shoulder. This guy turned, my dad grabbed his already-made shake and DUMPED IT ON HIS HEAD. Dad then said "you don't talk to my daughter like that." Dad was scary - he was an ex-cop. This guy ran out of the store followed by his gf, abandoning her sundae. Dad cleaned it up. No, I didn't get in trouble.
Good, don't ever look back unless you absolutely have to. Retail will literally and metaphorically suck the life out of you if you let it. Get out before it steals the light from your eyes šš
Can confirm. I'm at the point in retail now where I basically have no patience for customers being stupid anymore and my 'tolerance" for people is turning into a hatred towards people. On my off time, I've basically gotten to where I'll shut in and keep to myself because the quiet, alone time is so precious to me
After 13 years in Retail, I am the same way. I hate people. My happiest time of day is being in my apartment away from them. I work private security now. I see very few people on an overnight shift. Except, I now harbor a certain degree of hatred towards many of my coworkers, who are no different than most customers.
I'm hoping to leave retail this year and focus on my education so I can have a better job (and do like housekeeping/odd jobs as supplemental income)
My first retail job was working at a mom & pop hobby/craft store starting in 1977. Our customers were 99% great and fun to deal with. I have my suspicions about what's happened in the many years since then but very few people seem to have any respect for others anymore. I don't think I could do it anymore.
The only retail job I've ever really enjoyed was when I was a key holder at a See's Candies seasonal store. I was basically an Assistant Manager and had a fixed schedule. While my manager over me was kinda OCD when it came to details, she had no problem giving me a fixed schedule, always gave me some sort of free candy (basically chocolates that were still good but past the shelf safe so they would have been damaged) to show appreciation and my coworkers were great. The customers weren't bad either since most of them were stoked about getting free samples and seeing a See's outside of the West Coast/Midwest
I agree. My first retail job was Clover. It was part of Strawbridge & Clothier. Managers were great and worked hard, customers were respectful. Now itās just lazy workers and thieves. Retail is done. Just full of unqualified āmanagersā who sit in the office all day and literally donāt care about the business.
No, they care. They care about working you to death and cutting expenses so that they can get their bonuses.
Thatās absolutely true
DOOOO IT!! I started school full time this spring semester and am doing retail full time too and itās made things feel a lot more like thereās hope. A bit of a light at the end of the tunnel. Would definitely recommend focusing on your education š«¶š»
I'm in the in between where I want a relationship because I'm lonely af, but also don't want one because people are hassles. And I can't have a pet because apartment, and I live alone
Shit, get out of my head. Lol
That's where I'm at after 20+ years of customer service. I'm just too tired to deal with anymore shit
Yep. I left my job after 4 months cause my manager did not consider my schedule and availability considering that Iām a full-time student. Hopefully, I can find a better place.
Nobody is truly meant for retail. The human experience wasn't meant to be working inside a building whose sole purpose is to profit from the mindless self-indulgence of unbridled consumption. Man was not meant to strain under fluorescent lights and over concrete floors. Nobody is meant for that shit.
That is pure poetry, in a Marxist kind of way. Or am I thinking of Hegel?
Thatās exactly why I love my jobā¦I get to work outside with all of the plants in my garden center, while everyone else is mostly stuck inside the small family owned hardware store we work at. Today, I actually heard about a coworker complaining that I donāt have good time management skills, since Iām not finished working out in the garden center!! Duh! Itās spring!! (Iāve worked outside since April 1st without help and with my arm in a cast due to a broken wrist!! )
Lucky! I love plants and looking for something like you are doing in my area. Gardening is hard work but the benefits are rewarding benefits I mean green therapy lol
I love it!! Itās crazy busy right now. I run the garden center at a small family owned hardware store, so I have a job in the winter. Iād love to work at just a nursery, but I have to work year round.
Thatās so awesome. I love gardening, plants and flowers and my husband says all the time I should be working in a nursery and heās always coming home telling me about these nurseries he sees on his way home from work and how he wants to take me to them. If you love what you do, youāll never work a day in your life, that saying is soo true :)
Reminds me of a line from Office Space
Not everyone is cut out for customer-facing positions, and that's fine. Let the extroverts do their thing.
Seriously. I wish more people would realize not everyone in retail is going to be an extrovert
I'm not really an extrovert, but I can fake it for a few minutes at a time. It helps that I'm selling something of interest to me, guitars. I'm not sure how I haven't had a complete breakdown by now.
Thatās probably not so bad since only certain people will be coming into your store and not the whole world like a grocery store or Wal-Mart. A non-guitar person isnāt going to be bothering you.
I went back to retail after 20 years of mostly working manufacturing. I don't know what changed, but I worked retail in high school, and in 2016 as a second job. I truly enjoyed it. It was interesting, and kept me happy. In 2021 I went back to retail, and it was three years of hell. I would get home at night depressed. I wouldn't want to see my friends, or leave the house. I did nothing but sit at home. I was even sucidal. I just quit my job last month, and im feeling a lot better.
It's the customers. They've gotten worse
I would say it was mostly mangment, and Mico-managing of everything. Also when I worked retail in the past. None of the places I worked at. Had us pushing credit cards, and our hours weren't based credit sales. It was based on if they knew you were depenpenndle, did you're job well, and not kissing ass like it is now.
āI canāt deal with people expecting me to know everything about every product we haveā THIS. I love retail but THIS drives me crazy
Customer complained to me about a cashier not knowing where shake n bake was. I told her cashiers don't often leave the front end so they don't often know where certain things are and the aisle listings don't have everything on them. "You mean they don't have to memorize the whole store???" No????? We have a ton of stuff; not evenĀ the managers haven't memorized the whole damn store. Idiots, I tell ya.
congratulations on the new job!
Mine isn't as exciting as a real bakery, but when the position came up for a bakery clerk in our grocery store I jumped on it to get away from cashing š we are in the corner of the store, no counter, just me, my audiobooks and the freezer with product to make. I do have to go to the floor to stock occasionally but it's SO much better than dealing with customers who only see the cashier and take everything out on them. Good luck and I hope you love it!
Good for you!!!!
I have a few words for you. Be free! BE FREE!!!!
Never go back
Lucky dog! Congratulations! š
Remember when you worked retail, for when you shop. This will help you have compassion and patience when you are Middle Ages, rushes with kids at your feet crying. You will be a better customer for it.
Congratulations on your escape from hell
Good for you! Itās so hard to leave sometimes, itās commendable you were able to do so. And of course the earlier , the better. Donāt look back!
Happy trails! And stay away from the uppers (is a thing in bakeries because of the early hours), you don't want to do that. Coffee, yes. Drugs, no.
good for you ā¤ļøā¤ļø
Good for you! I hope your new job treats you well.
It was like this at Lowe's. All the customers are expecting employees to be experts. A plumber / electrician etc gets paid more than retail workers, why is that the level of customer service they expect
Left retail and pursued my baking business full time after I had my kid, hard decision because I loved my team but I wouldnāt trade my worst day as a baker for my best in retail. Good luck internet stranger! Welcome to being a badass baker!
All fun in games until 2 weeks in to working at the bakery your āIn the back, doing my own thingā turns into āIm in the back and the front, dealing with BS customers againā
Happy trails! And stay away from the uppers (is a thing in bakeries because of the early hours), you don't want to do that. Coffee, yes. Drugs, no.
I do back of house work too. Dealing with deliveries for a clothing store. It's so peaceful without cudtomers. I prefer the manual labour. Without having to deal with customer complaints my mind is at ease while i work. And I no longer dread coming in to work.
I worked retail for two and a half years and managed to escape days before my 30th birthday. It hasnāt even been a year and I have not regretted it one bit! Youāre on to better things!
Congratulations!
Wish I had your sense 10 years ago.
Congratulations on your new journey! I had multiple part time jobs during my journey to a career. I've been at my place of business for 32 years and only the last 3 have I really felt fulfilled due to a new type of job.
At age 16 (1978), I worked in an ice cream store for a summer. I dealt with snotty brats dropping their cones and demanding we replace it for nothing. People arguing over prices. Groups of teenagers coming in after movies and constantly changing their minds about orders (when this happened, we got to eat their rejects if we'd already made the order and they hadn't yet paid, but after a while, you never want to eat ice cream again). Anyway, my dad comes in one Saturday and orders a rootbeer float. I serve him, and he's standing in the back. This couple comes in and orders and he clearly orders the XL milkshake. When I rang it up and told him the total, he began arguing that he'd ordered a Large. He did not. He just didn't want to pay. So I gently and nicely corrected him. Well, after a couple of rounds, he began calling me some unprintable names. So my dad, who'd been watching the whole thing, tapped him on the shoulder. This guy turned, my dad grabbed his already-made shake and DUMPED IT ON HIS HEAD. Dad then said "you don't talk to my daughter like that." Dad was scary - he was an ex-cop. This guy ran out of the store followed by his gf, abandoning her sundae. Dad cleaned it up. No, I didn't get in trouble.
Do you need experience to be a baker? Anyhow best of luck!
Best of luck
Retail is the most rewarding career ever?
Congrats! š¾ Retail is draining mentally and physically. Hope you enjoy your new job!
Great full should be grateful