SC #1Usually I make myself be overly cheerful, which is exhausting, in order to survive on the front lanes. Today I was feeling stressed and my blood sugar was dropping, so I was not farting rainbows, but was professionally polite. A lot of people seemed cranky, but were fine with me, no problems. I finally got to go eat and came back, but wasn't feeling 100%. Still, I retained my demeanor.
The SC came up to me while I was cashiering and I said hi as usual. I honestly don't remember if she responded, but I do know she was ignoring me in favor of communicating with her kid. Whatever, it happens. I scanned the huge box of cat litter she'd put up and left it, as I cannot/am not allowed to move anything over 10 pounds. I have a permanent restriction. Often people will ask if I got the item scanned and then if necessary I'll inform them that I'm sorry, I can't lift it. I've never had anyone get mad about it. They are all very nice about it. But apparently this one had a problem, though she said nothing at all about it. So I finished scanning and gave her the total. She was having trouble getting the money out and said something to that effect, but I had no problem with her taking a bit of time. I didn't answer her, though--probably mistake #1--because I was distracted in trying to make sure the lines didn't back up, and well, not having anything constructive to say. I just took the money as usual and got her change, all normal stuff.
At this point either she or the kid had moved the cart way ahead and the last thing she needed to grab was the cat litter. It can be akward, as it stays on the "wrong" side of the scanner. Most people manage. If I possibly can do it without causing myself a strain, I'll slide it over. I do not ever do this with 20+ lb litters. I know better. So she took it and said not a word, nor even looked at me. As she was leaving I said thank you, which she interrupted with what I thought was a conversation with her son. I caught something about "trying to move" or some such, as she was talking kind of under her breath, but loud enough (supposedly, but not really) for me to hear. Then, the kicker...
"...and thanks for being a shining example of great customer service...." [/extreme sarcasm] That I caught; she made sure, though she didn't say it to my face. The people behind her were all o.O At first, my brain went "wait, wha..?" I was totally caught off guard; she'd seemed in a hurry, but I had no idea she had a problem with me. And then it dawned on me. She was mad I didn't move the cat litter. So she couldn't have said something? She had to talk about me as she walked away?
I vented to the FES, asking if I should pre-empt any problems by telling people beforehand about my restriction. I said that I don't because I don't really want to bring up my health issues to multiple strangers a day. (It's totally not obvious if you just look at me; I look healthy.) My FES response was that I shouldn't have to explain myself to anyone and when I say I can't move/lift stuff, I shouldn't even say "I'm sorry," as I have nothing to be sorry for. I disagree there; the "I'm sorry" is a social convention for the sake of being polite. But yeah, I don't want to bring up my issues every single time I run into a heavy item. And I have never had anyone get angry before today, save the woman who just looked at me like I had 3 heads after I explained to her. But she didn't malign my customer service skills. This one did, which made me so angry.
SC #2 So after talking to the FES, I did feel better, until the end of the night. Now, SC #2 is someone I don't like, as she is a regular, and almost every single interaction with me involves inserting herself into my business. If I am having a conversation with a coworker about something that needs to be fixed or is wrong, this SC will walk by and make some critical comment on what I'm saying. It's like she needs to challenge me. She always has some criticism when she could leave well enough alone. I avoid her, honestly. I ended up ringing her up and she asked "Who was the one complaining about the job up here? I could hear it all the way down the hall." First, why does it matter? It's no skin off her nose. Second, if I knew, I wouldn't divulge it to her. I just played dumb in this case. I figured out it was me; I'd made a joke about the first SC and was kind of loud, as the FES was several yards away. So maybe I shouldn't have, but whatever. No one else complained. They'd been on me all night about credit aps, so I jokingly told other FES "I'm not sure if I really can get a credit ap tonight, since I am so bad at customer service." I was still somewhat annoyed at cat litter lady, so this was my way of getting a dig in. It wasn't a big deal. And even if it wasn't that, there was a conversation between me and a dissatisfied customer about signage that wasn't clear to her, or even to the employees, and how corp. needs to fix it. I was sympathizing with the customer, letting her know we were trying to fix this. If SC #2 had a problem with that conversation, she has too much time on her hands.
So I vented about that also to the FES, whose conclusion was "She needs to mind her own business." I agree 1000%!
The SC came up to me while I was cashiering and I said hi as usual. I honestly don't remember if she responded, but I do know she was ignoring me in favor of communicating with her kid. Whatever, it happens. I scanned the huge box of cat litter she'd put up and left it, as I cannot/am not allowed to move anything over 10 pounds. I have a permanent restriction. Often people will ask if I got the item scanned and then if necessary I'll inform them that I'm sorry, I can't lift it. I've never had anyone get mad about it. They are all very nice about it. But apparently this one had a problem, though she said nothing at all about it. So I finished scanning and gave her the total. She was having trouble getting the money out and said something to that effect, but I had no problem with her taking a bit of time. I didn't answer her, though--probably mistake #1--because I was distracted in trying to make sure the lines didn't back up, and well, not having anything constructive to say. I just took the money as usual and got her change, all normal stuff.
At this point either she or the kid had moved the cart way ahead and the last thing she needed to grab was the cat litter. It can be akward, as it stays on the "wrong" side of the scanner. Most people manage. If I possibly can do it without causing myself a strain, I'll slide it over. I do not ever do this with 20+ lb litters. I know better. So she took it and said not a word, nor even looked at me. As she was leaving I said thank you, which she interrupted with what I thought was a conversation with her son. I caught something about "trying to move" or some such, as she was talking kind of under her breath, but loud enough (supposedly, but not really) for me to hear. Then, the kicker...
"...and thanks for being a shining example of great customer service...." [/extreme sarcasm] That I caught; she made sure, though she didn't say it to my face. The people behind her were all o.O At first, my brain went "wait, wha..?" I was totally caught off guard; she'd seemed in a hurry, but I had no idea she had a problem with me. And then it dawned on me. She was mad I didn't move the cat litter. So she couldn't have said something? She had to talk about me as she walked away?
I vented to the FES, asking if I should pre-empt any problems by telling people beforehand about my restriction. I said that I don't because I don't really want to bring up my health issues to multiple strangers a day. (It's totally not obvious if you just look at me; I look healthy.) My FES response was that I shouldn't have to explain myself to anyone and when I say I can't move/lift stuff, I shouldn't even say "I'm sorry," as I have nothing to be sorry for. I disagree there; the "I'm sorry" is a social convention for the sake of being polite. But yeah, I don't want to bring up my issues every single time I run into a heavy item. And I have never had anyone get angry before today, save the woman who just looked at me like I had 3 heads after I explained to her. But she didn't malign my customer service skills. This one did, which made me so angry.
SC #2 So after talking to the FES, I did feel better, until the end of the night. Now, SC #2 is someone I don't like, as she is a regular, and almost every single interaction with me involves inserting herself into my business. If I am having a conversation with a coworker about something that needs to be fixed or is wrong, this SC will walk by and make some critical comment on what I'm saying. It's like she needs to challenge me. She always has some criticism when she could leave well enough alone. I avoid her, honestly. I ended up ringing her up and she asked "Who was the one complaining about the job up here? I could hear it all the way down the hall." First, why does it matter? It's no skin off her nose. Second, if I knew, I wouldn't divulge it to her. I just played dumb in this case. I figured out it was me; I'd made a joke about the first SC and was kind of loud, as the FES was several yards away. So maybe I shouldn't have, but whatever. No one else complained. They'd been on me all night about credit aps, so I jokingly told other FES "I'm not sure if I really can get a credit ap tonight, since I am so bad at customer service." I was still somewhat annoyed at cat litter lady, so this was my way of getting a dig in. It wasn't a big deal. And even if it wasn't that, there was a conversation between me and a dissatisfied customer about signage that wasn't clear to her, or even to the employees, and how corp. needs to fix it. I was sympathizing with the customer, letting her know we were trying to fix this. If SC #2 had a problem with that conversation, she has too much time on her hands.
So I vented about that also to the FES, whose conclusion was "She needs to mind her own business." I agree 1000%!
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