You know how every job has its “things?” For instance, if you work at a clothing store, you probably hate when customers throw clothing in a wad on the nice table you just organized. If you’re a server at a restaurant, you probably hate being torn a new one for a cook’s mistake. Well, if you’re a grocery store cashier, the list of “things” seems endless.
As a grocery store cashier myself, the weird, questionable, and infuriating things that grocery store shoppers do never cease to amaze me. Depending on your mood, these things can either be stupidly hilarious, or they can make you want to set the world on fire.
To all of my fellow grocery store cashiers, I feel your pain. I totally relate to how ready you are to cut a bitch when you get off work because you’ve been abused by customers all day long.
This one’s for all of my fellow cashiers who keep going back to the store for each shift, even when these 12 relatable things seem to be too much to handle one day further. Stay strong and keep ringing on, people.
The Ball of Rage That Forms When Someone Leaves Their Empty Shopping Cart in Your Lane
I will never understand why customers just abandon their shopping carts on their way out of the store. Hate to break this news, but you have to walk past the cart corrals to go outside anyway.
Cashiers are not maids, nor are other customers. Responsible adults put their shopping carts back where they found them. This is best customer practice, people.
That Feeling When a Customer Sticks an Unwanted Item in the Candy Rack While You’re Looking at Them
This feeling is a mixture of annoyance, confusion, and a bit of entertainment. It’s especially annoying when the item is cold because, if your cashier doesn’t notice that you stuck it there, it’s going to go bad and food waste is a serious problem.
The Love You Feel For Your Regulars as Well as Generally Kind Customers
After dealing with so many mean customers, cashiers become super appreciative of kind customers. Nothing beats seeing a friendly face after a not-so-friendly face just ripped you a new one for putting their bread with the eggs. (Yeah, that happens.)
Having a customer tell you that they’ll help bag is like sunshine peeking through the clouds during a storm. It’s beautiful, it’s rare, and it’s fleeting. Cashiers live for these kind of customers.
Being Yelled At Because You’re the First Employee in a Customer’s Line of Sight
Ah, yes. As a cashier, I love being yelled at because the guy in the meat department wrapped your chicken wrong. I also love being yelled at when there are no shopping carts in the corrals, or when your in-store Starbucks barista made your drink incorrectly.
Cashiers can all relate to being yelled at for miscellaneous things that have nothing to do with them because they’re the last people that customers see on their way out of the store. In other words, cashiers are the last people that shoppers can take their misdirected anger out on before heading home.
Very Obviously Being Off-the-Clock, Yet Having Customers Bother You Anyway
One of the worst things in the world is when a customer asks for help while you’re briskly walking to the break room. Even worse? Customers who get snarky when you say you’re on break, but someone else in the vicinity could help. Cashiers get 15-minute breaks, which are supposed to be free of the job, and you’re bringing us down a little bit.
Customers Complaining About There Being No Baggers, Then Proceeding to Stare at You While You Bag Their Groceries
This is one of my personal favorites. Shoppers will frequently complain about the lack of baggers in the store, possibly not realizing that they double as shopping cart-pushers. This is totally fine and understandable if they proceed to help their cashier bag the groceries.
If a cashier is struggling to bag an order, it’s nice to lend a hand. And by lending a hand, I don’t mean boss your cashier around by giving them orders on how to bag your items. Ask nicely if you have specific instructions and we will be more than happy to oblige.
That Triumphant Feeling You Get When Your Supervisor Tells You to “Just Bag”
The only thing better than being told to “just bag for now” is being told to go home early, and that rarely happens. Bagging is great because the cashier does the bulk of the work while you get quiet time with the groceries. Bagging is like floating in the lazy river at the water park, as far as grocery store duties go.
Being Interrupted by One Customer That Needs Help While You’re Already Helping Another
It is just so confusing that some customers think that they can cut the line by asking a cashier for a “quick favor” at the end of the register. You must get in the actual line and wait your turn like everybody else. Some customers must like to equate themselves with the Queen of England—although I’m willing to bet that she’s much more considerate.
When a Customer Gives You Change After You’ve Put Their Cash Through
This probably won’t help as far as some customers seeming to think that cashiers are low-class and less intelligent than everyone else, but I can’t do math, man. I can’t. I wish I could, but I was born without that skill set and that’s how things go, okay?
Your cashier does not want your change unless you give it to them before they ring up your order. If you keep your change, you’ll save yourself the wait time that it takes for the cashier to figure out how to balance the drawer and get your correct change, and you’ll save them the embarrassment of having to do that.
The Way That 2 Hours Seems to Stretch Into 10 When You’re On Express
Being put on an express lane is a lot like being at a family reunion: there are way more people to talk to than usual, you feel like you keep saying the same thing on a loop, and the more you want it to be over, the longer it seems to go on. Express is a cashier’s worst nightmare, aside from rude customers and vinegar spills.
When a Customer Realizes They Left Their Wallet in Their Car in the Middle of Checking Out
There are few things that are more awkward as a cashier than looking like you’re staring off into space in front of a line of people when you’re actually just waiting for the customer to return with their wallet.
Money is literally the most important part of the shopping experience. No money? No items. To all the customers out there: make sure you have your wallet before entering the store. It’ll save both you from embarrassment and also your cashier from looking like a lazy nimrod.
Being Told, “It Better Not Charge My Card Twice” When You Tell a Customer to Re-Swipe or Re-Enter Their Card
Repeat after me: If the receipt hasn’t printed and the order is still on the screen, the card has not been charged.
The only reason a cashier will ask a customer to re-run their card is if the card declined, the transaction is accidentally cancelled, or if the card machine froze. No one’s card is going to be double charged, and if it is double charged, please go see the lovely customer service clerks so that they can issue a refund. Easy fix.
Not all superheroes wear capes, and cashiers are these kind of superheroes. Without cashiers, the world would come to a screeching halt. To all my fellow cashiers: next time a customer deliberately ignores your open hand and sets their money on the conveyor belt, remember that you’re like Superman. Kinda. Just hang in there.