Hi everyone, first time poster. Wish I had found this place a long time ago! I work for a supermarket chain and deal with customers 24 hours, 3 days a week.
I really didn't have anywhere else to vent about this incident, so here goes:
Several months ago, I was asked to go around the store and help this mostly regular customer (I say "mostly" because I work weekends and I do not see her all that often).
One problem: she has mental illness and I have absolutely NO experience nor the expertise on how to deal with mentally ill people, especially if they're customers. And she was not on her meds either.
For however long, I was going around the store, trying to do what I can. I'm trying to talk to her while she's riddled with severe anxiety, and at the same time, my options on what to do are running low.
The only reason they had me go with her was because the person who was with her before was due for her break. One of my coworkers felt really bad for me, because she had seen this customer before, and she [the customer] had prior incidents of coming to the store while unmedicated.
So however long later, I'm finally finished getting her items and we head towards the checkouts. Now here's where the sanity breaker comes in: the regular checkouts were packed (it was a really busy day), she had no idea how to use our new self serve machines, and she couldn't handle waiting in line for the regular checkouts.
I was never trained on conflict management nor was it ever brought up during orientation when I first started nearly 5 years ago. It would have been a big help if they went over this with us, instead of sending us off into situations that might be beyond our abilities to control.
I'm sorry, but what if we say or do something and they freak out and possibly harm us? I can't afford to have the crap beaten out of me or possibly end up with a debilitating injury or a disability.
When I told my mom about this, her reponse was along the lines of "They're not paying you (enough) to do that".
I really didn't have anywhere else to vent about this incident, so here goes:
Several months ago, I was asked to go around the store and help this mostly regular customer (I say "mostly" because I work weekends and I do not see her all that often).
One problem: she has mental illness and I have absolutely NO experience nor the expertise on how to deal with mentally ill people, especially if they're customers. And she was not on her meds either.
For however long, I was going around the store, trying to do what I can. I'm trying to talk to her while she's riddled with severe anxiety, and at the same time, my options on what to do are running low.
The only reason they had me go with her was because the person who was with her before was due for her break. One of my coworkers felt really bad for me, because she had seen this customer before, and she [the customer] had prior incidents of coming to the store while unmedicated.
So however long later, I'm finally finished getting her items and we head towards the checkouts. Now here's where the sanity breaker comes in: the regular checkouts were packed (it was a really busy day), she had no idea how to use our new self serve machines, and she couldn't handle waiting in line for the regular checkouts.
I was never trained on conflict management nor was it ever brought up during orientation when I first started nearly 5 years ago. It would have been a big help if they went over this with us, instead of sending us off into situations that might be beyond our abilities to control.
I'm sorry, but what if we say or do something and they freak out and possibly harm us? I can't afford to have the crap beaten out of me or possibly end up with a debilitating injury or a disability.
When I told my mom about this, her reponse was along the lines of "They're not paying you (enough) to do that".
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