you know it's time to go home...

[simplyanother]

When, the customer says something....and you take it personally. And not stuff like, them calling you names, or just being a jerk...but other stuff.

Customer came up, wanted to check the price of an item. Turns out, the price was more than he thought--because there was a sign NEAR the item that confused him. He whines..."YOU NEED TO FIX THE SIGN".
ME? Why do I need to fix the sign? I didn't put the sign there.

So I told him..he wasn't satisfied with my response (which was actually delivered with much surprise...like, wtf would this guy demand that I fix the sign? And who the hell is he?)

It was then I realized, I really needed to go home. Luckily for me, it was near the end of my shift anyway. I think if it had been near the beginning, I might have some great story, but I don't. Just of me being this close to hitting a guy--over him being upset that the price was more than he thought. lol

(Of course, then the brat [grown man, btw, I'm sure gainfully employed...nice enough man...] started to RE-ARRANGE! "Maybe you should move this a little more this way...". and proceeded to pull the display away from where the sign was. {the sign was between two things, it referred to the things in front and behind it. It was sandwhiched between them. The offending items were to the side...and I actually understand the confusion, but he was such a brat about it})

Just, I was ready to scream before he started to rant.

The good part is...he was the only crappy customer ALL DAY LONG!

But apparently, 1 is enough to push me over the edge. Or at least much much closer to it. I was teetering....TEETERING! ANd just about to go over, when yay, the shift was over and I got to go home.

[AZangel]

Good that your shift was over but don'tcha just wanna take those idiots by the collar , get in their face and say "If you can do my job so much better than I can, have at it buddy!"

[Bright_Star]

I always a bit on the bitchy side about an hour or so before my shift ended cause I was tired & was more than ready to go home. So if a sucky customer came up to my register at that time then more than likely I was gonna tear them a new one...LOL.

[justZu]

My problem is when a game runs long. We stop alcohol sales at the bottom of the 8th inning, but I usually can start putting things away and doing my paperwork by the 7th inning stretch. It irritates me beyond belief when I get random sporadic customers when I'm trying to get some closing work done.
Even though they are not being SC's, and I put on my "happy face" and treat them nicely, it still just makes me want to scream seeing them straggle up to my stand as I try to get my paperwork filled out.

One game was particularly bad. It was very slow and everything was done, just waiting for the damn inning to end. Every time I wrote up my paperwork(in pencil, of course) some guy would wander up and buy something.



And yes, I hide my irritation very well. They never know how close they are to destruction.

[Sableonblonde]

I kind of feel bad for the customers who come up at like five minutes until closing time and are disappointed to realize that we've put most of our food away already and only have a few random items left out. I know a lot of people like to grab one last minute thing on their way out of the park. But I guess they don't understand that closing time is the time that we're actually shutting down, not the time that we START to shut down. It takes about a half hour or more to put everything away and do clean-up. And nobody wants to stay any later than they have to.

I'm actually the opposite. I get cheerier the closer it gets to closing time because I know I'll be leaving soon. It's during the middle of my shift when I sometimes tend to get a little cranky and run down.

[justZu]

I kind of feel bad for the customers who come up at like five minutes until closing time and are disappointed to realize that we've put most of our food away already and only have a few random items left out.

If the person is polite, I feel bad when we run out of something they want at the end of the game. I wish I could fill their orders.
But sometimes we get these entitlement SCs who get bent out of shape because they believe we should keep the grill open and the food stocked right up to the end of the game. They have no idea of waste management and don't care that we'd like to get home before midnight. I am always happy to send those people away empty handed.

Then, there are the cheapskates who demand our leftover food for free because we're "just going to throw it away, anyway".
I love turning those SCs away.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Then, there are the cheapskates who demand our leftover food for free because we're "just going to throw it away, anyway".
I love turning those SCs away.

Do you throw it away? Or do you get to eat it? When the cafe in Store2 has cheesecake or other stuff that's about to hit its expiration date they give it to the closing crew to take home. And one time they had a whole batch of chocolate chunk cookies that apparently were missing something in the dough (baking soda/powder or something, probably)...they didn't spread out like they should have, they just stayed in the shape they were frozen in. They tasted fine but they since they didn't look right they couldn't sell them. So, cookies for everyone!!

[GingerBiscuit]

I will admit that during the last hour of my shift I'm not as cheerful and polite as I am at the start. Especially if, like last year, it's boiling hot outside, the aircon is broken, and I've been on my feet for around seven-eight hours (if doing my contracted shift it's five, unlike last year where I spent a month doing full days).
Not going to be the most cheery girl in the world.

So if I get rude people at the end of my shift the urge to respond with excessive rudeness back gets increasingly hard to resist.

[Catwoman2965]

I always get a little cranky about the last half hour before closing..because there are always people who think its ok to wander in and meander around 15 minutes to closing, and because god forbid, we do everything for the customer, company policy dictates we cannot tell them we are closing and that they have to leave.

We can however, lock the doors at closing, but on many ocassions we've had ladies in the fitting room, trying stuff on, looking for this and that like its no big deal...um hello, i work full time and here part time, and yes, i would like to go home too.

but since we can't leave until the store is put back together, we work around them, although have to leave the vacuuming until the last one has gone.

had one lady on memorial day; when we closed at 5, say in kind of a snotty voice "and what time do you close NORMALLY?" i very politely told her normally 9, but today 5, as it was a holiday...then the light went on....she commented i guess you need a holiday too - ya think?

[BookstoreEscapee]

company policy dictates we cannot tell them we are closing and that they have to leave.

I don't understand that...they post closing times for a reason...and not letting you tell the customers to leave just means they're paying you to stay longer...and I guarantee you in the vast majority of cases anything the stragglers might buy isn't going to offset the extra payroll. The stores I worked in always do at least 3 closing-soon announcements in the last half hour (30-, 15-, and 5- minutes; sometimes more/earlier if it's really busy or a holiday early closing), and then a final announcement at the actual closing time. And then they check all the aisles and tell any stragglers it's time to leave. Anyone making a purchase is allowed to check out but they gotta do it NOW.

[mischugenah]

Once when I was working in Pizza Hut (thankfully only over the summer) there was a group that came in about 30 minutes to closing and got a pizza (pre-ordered), then decided to eat it there. At 15 minutes to closing, I was anxious to get the dining room cleaned so I could leave on time, but the manager said we weren't allowed to say anything to them. That seemed kinda stupid to me (they seemed like nice guys, and most people don't actualy enjoy inconveniencing others) so I waiting until one glanced in my direction and discretely tapped my watch. He quickly hopped up and got a carry-out box so they could leave. A little hint can go a long way.