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I related to a friend recently how I feel like dealing with SCs at my job is like being repeatedly punched. Someone hits you (figuratively) and you get over it at some point, and then think "OK, things aren't so bad.." and then BAM--punched in the gut again! At some point I'm gonna have to go into rehab from all the pain. idk how else to put that.
Anyway, got punched today. So, to remind you all, my spine is collapsing in on itself and I have carpal tunnel to boot. I am not supposed to lift anything over 10 lbs, and even when I obey that, I have to be careful about how I move. One wrong move and I can be in excruciating pain, as I was allll last week. I'm talking waking up every morning with a knife in the back of my shoulder because I pinched a nerve in my neck by picking up my heavy purse at a wrong angle. It is juuuust healed the last couple of days, and I am being so careful not to re-injure it. I just can't go another week like that, working in agony and getting NOTHING done at home.
So, at some point this afternoon it's not too busy, and several other cashiers are open, but I'm ticked that everyone is coming to me because I'm on the main aisle. The fewer transactions I have every day, the better for my pain level. Well, I greet this woman the same as everyone, and she pretty much ignores me. Alrighty then. She's one I just need to serve politely. I struggle to get all her stuff scanned and her large items bagged (difficult for me, though not impossible, and takes concentration).
We get down to the lawn chair in her cart and she's just standing there, not moving it for me. A look of frustration must be flitting across my face (my only fault I can see in this) and my immediate thought after this is "OK, maybe that's hard for her." So I go around the register and grab the hand scanner from the other side and scan it. It's corded, so I can't take it with me as I go back around. I toss it in the direction of the holder, as I usually do, since I'm not trying to lean over. (That's why I'm using the scanner in the first place; we're not even supposed to lean way over like that and I certainly shouldn't).
I guess she's offended that the scanner hit the counter with a thud because of the way I tossed it up kind of high. As soon as I get around she says "Is there a particular reason you're mad?"
<record screech> Now I feel caught because I am, in fact angry. I'm angry she didn't go to another cashier--not her fault, just my own frustration with coworkers for not grabbing her. I'm angry that my job makes me hurt but they won't let me go elsewhere in the store. I'm angry that my greeting was answered with a grunt. I'm angry that she's faulting me for being angry. I'm angry that she didn't even ask if I needed the chair out of the cart, as most custies do. I'm not angry about any particular thing; I'm angry about several that it's not appropriate to discuss.
But I have not treated her rudely; I've given her the silence she apparently wants. So I have to answer something. I tell her I'm not feeling particularly well--translation: starting to hurt and knowing what's probably coming for me later on. I add something like "I have to be careful about how I move and lift stuff, or I might injure myself." She looks at me like I'm nuts, so I clarify that I have a couple of medical issues so I have to be deliberate in how I move, ending the sentence in "..you know?" She nastily says, "No, I don't." Well, good for her she doesn't live in pain every single day.
Let me interject here that I've had similar convos with other customers who immediatedly apologized and I told them "Oh, it's not your fault! I'm sorry." You know, they see the light that it's not against them and are a bit more compassionate. Not this one. When I hand her receipt to her I manage a "have a good day" and she sneers and rips it out of my hand and storms off.
It has a survey request on it.
The one good thing is that my boss nitpicked on my movements, but the store leader and HR lady both said I didn't do anything wrong and this woman must've been angry when she came in. I don't know what her deal is, but she's at the age of menopause and all I can say is that I felt like I was dealing with Ursula from The Little Mermaid.
Anyway, got punched today. So, to remind you all, my spine is collapsing in on itself and I have carpal tunnel to boot. I am not supposed to lift anything over 10 lbs, and even when I obey that, I have to be careful about how I move. One wrong move and I can be in excruciating pain, as I was allll last week. I'm talking waking up every morning with a knife in the back of my shoulder because I pinched a nerve in my neck by picking up my heavy purse at a wrong angle. It is juuuust healed the last couple of days, and I am being so careful not to re-injure it. I just can't go another week like that, working in agony and getting NOTHING done at home.
So, at some point this afternoon it's not too busy, and several other cashiers are open, but I'm ticked that everyone is coming to me because I'm on the main aisle. The fewer transactions I have every day, the better for my pain level. Well, I greet this woman the same as everyone, and she pretty much ignores me. Alrighty then. She's one I just need to serve politely. I struggle to get all her stuff scanned and her large items bagged (difficult for me, though not impossible, and takes concentration).
We get down to the lawn chair in her cart and she's just standing there, not moving it for me. A look of frustration must be flitting across my face (my only fault I can see in this) and my immediate thought after this is "OK, maybe that's hard for her." So I go around the register and grab the hand scanner from the other side and scan it. It's corded, so I can't take it with me as I go back around. I toss it in the direction of the holder, as I usually do, since I'm not trying to lean over. (That's why I'm using the scanner in the first place; we're not even supposed to lean way over like that and I certainly shouldn't).
I guess she's offended that the scanner hit the counter with a thud because of the way I tossed it up kind of high. As soon as I get around she says "Is there a particular reason you're mad?"
<record screech> Now I feel caught because I am, in fact angry. I'm angry she didn't go to another cashier--not her fault, just my own frustration with coworkers for not grabbing her. I'm angry that my job makes me hurt but they won't let me go elsewhere in the store. I'm angry that my greeting was answered with a grunt. I'm angry that she's faulting me for being angry. I'm angry that she didn't even ask if I needed the chair out of the cart, as most custies do. I'm not angry about any particular thing; I'm angry about several that it's not appropriate to discuss.
But I have not treated her rudely; I've given her the silence she apparently wants. So I have to answer something. I tell her I'm not feeling particularly well--translation: starting to hurt and knowing what's probably coming for me later on. I add something like "I have to be careful about how I move and lift stuff, or I might injure myself." She looks at me like I'm nuts, so I clarify that I have a couple of medical issues so I have to be deliberate in how I move, ending the sentence in "..you know?" She nastily says, "No, I don't." Well, good for her she doesn't live in pain every single day.
Let me interject here that I've had similar convos with other customers who immediatedly apologized and I told them "Oh, it's not your fault! I'm sorry." You know, they see the light that it's not against them and are a bit more compassionate. Not this one. When I hand her receipt to her I manage a "have a good day" and she sneers and rips it out of my hand and storms off.
It has a survey request on it.
The one good thing is that my boss nitpicked on my movements, but the store leader and HR lady both said I didn't do anything wrong and this woman must've been angry when she came in. I don't know what her deal is, but she's at the age of menopause and all I can say is that I felt like I was dealing with Ursula from The Little Mermaid.
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