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Quoth Pagan
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I saw this one this morning and it pissed me off, too. I wrote my own note:
Dear Abby,
I was very disappointed by your response to Nicki in Maryland, who wrote about being touched by customers in her retail job. Just because she is a retail employee does not mean her right to her body is left in the parking lot when she comes to work every day. A simple “Excuse me, could you help me find X item” is sufficient - there is absolutely no reason for a customer to physically pull an employee along to receive help in finding something. I am amazed that you would condone such behavior. Would you give the same advice to someone who wrote that they were frequently grabbed by the arm by people asking for directions on the street? I sincerely doubt that you would.
I agree that Nicki should speak with her supervisor to come up with an appropriate response, but the suggestion that she should just put up with it or find another job was way out of line. Most retail employees do not have the option of simply working “elsewhere” in the store where there is less customer contact. In my 10-plus years of retail experience, everyone is expected to be able to work in any area of the store; there are no positions with little or no customer contact, and it is not always possible to “stay out of arm’s reach.” Besides, maybe Nicki likes her job. Maybe she’s planning a future with that company. Maybe there are not a lot of other options in her area. Maybe she is in school or has small children and the flexible schedule works well for her life. There are any number of reasons to stay in a job, and the presence of rude customers who don’t know when to keep their hands to themselves should not be a reason to leave it. And if a customer will walk out simply because an employee politely told them a touch was unwelcome, that is not a customer I care to keep.
Signed,
Respect My Personal Space, Please
I was very disappointed by your response to Nicki in Maryland, who wrote about being touched by customers in her retail job. Just because she is a retail employee does not mean her right to her body is left in the parking lot when she comes to work every day. A simple “Excuse me, could you help me find X item” is sufficient - there is absolutely no reason for a customer to physically pull an employee along to receive help in finding something. I am amazed that you would condone such behavior. Would you give the same advice to someone who wrote that they were frequently grabbed by the arm by people asking for directions on the street? I sincerely doubt that you would.
I agree that Nicki should speak with her supervisor to come up with an appropriate response, but the suggestion that she should just put up with it or find another job was way out of line. Most retail employees do not have the option of simply working “elsewhere” in the store where there is less customer contact. In my 10-plus years of retail experience, everyone is expected to be able to work in any area of the store; there are no positions with little or no customer contact, and it is not always possible to “stay out of arm’s reach.” Besides, maybe Nicki likes her job. Maybe she’s planning a future with that company. Maybe there are not a lot of other options in her area. Maybe she is in school or has small children and the flexible schedule works well for her life. There are any number of reasons to stay in a job, and the presence of rude customers who don’t know when to keep their hands to themselves should not be a reason to leave it. And if a customer will walk out simply because an employee politely told them a touch was unwelcome, that is not a customer I care to keep.
Signed,
Respect My Personal Space, Please
Hopefully I see some of them in a future column.
Woah, she doesnt' play around, folks. Right for the throat! 
Yes 
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