STAY!! I said STAY!!

[FlamingSickle]

I've had a customer whistle at me just once (so far, at least, but I'm sure I'm jinxing it now). This was back before I was a manager, and another employee and I were cleaning one side of Concessions (which is separated into two halves on either side of the lobby), and both of us were crouched down for some reason or another. Well, since it was way past the last movie start, we were closed, but that didn't stop this one "gentleman" from approaching our side and, upon seeing that we were down on the floor, whistling at us and pointing upwards with one hand. Luckily, our reaction was to stare at him in surprise for a second then explain that we were closed. It would have been so shameful (to me, at least) had I stood up, as is, of course, the normal and automatic reaction to an approaching customer.

Edit: Oh, and as for wandering customers, I had plenty of those at the library where I used to work. To make matters worse, I'm not that great at remembering faces, so if I forgot to pay attention to the customer's clothing or something equally memorable, it'd be a pain in the neck to try to locate the correct person again, especially on the busy weekends. One lady I don't recall finding again at all; I just hope she got what she needed, because she was nice. Another girl I had to try to locate by asking a couple people if they had requested my help. One of the people was apparently her friend, and both of them were Asian, and this caused her to get offended and mutter about how I couldn't tell them apart. Thinking about it later I wanted to be able to go back in time and retort how I couldn't tell pretty much anyone apart if I didn't know them at least somewhat, regardless of race, but, alas, the good responses never come when you need them.

[Bank Lady]

i had a boss snap his fingers at me like i was a dog. he'd known me for 2 years, i was not but 5 feet away from him... yet he snapped his fingers to get my attention. and it worked. i turned and gave him such a glare he apologized instantly.

(but i know from talking to others who worked for him later, that he didn't change much)

I'm embarrassed to admit that I've snapped at coworkers before. If I was talking to a customer on the phone and another customer walked in the door, that my coworkers were ignoring, I would snap to get someone's attention. I thought it was the best way to get their attention without interupting the customer service I was providing.

I've since stopped doing this for two reasons; (1) I realized how very demeaning it was and (2) my coworkers started paying better attention. I hate to say it, but maybe a little rudeness made a difference.

[TryNotToBeThatOne]

Another girl I had to try to locate by asking a couple people if they had requested my help. One of the people was apparently her friend, and both of them were Asian, and this caused her to get offended and mutter about how I couldn't tell them apart. Thinking about it later I wanted to be able to go back in time and retort how I couldn't tell pretty much anyone apart if I didn't know them at least somewhat, regardless of race, but, alas, the good responses never come when you need them.

If it comes up again, act all offended, 'well, miss, I'm sorry that my disability that prevents me from recognizing faces offends you."

There really is such a thing. If I wear my hair differently, "Jane" doesn't recognize me. To her, TNTBTO is not such & such collection of facial features, TNTBTO is long blond hair worn in a braid or in a knot.

[Saydrah]

Yup, it's called Face Blindness. There's also a more technical term for it, but face blindness is the more commonly used one it seems.

[FlamingSickle]

Yup, it's called Face Blindness. There's also a more technical term for it, but face blindness is the more commonly used one it seems.

Well, I wouldn't say I don't recognize faces at all, so maybe I have more of a face myopia? I remember one time at a field hockey practice way back in middle school where I looked at a girl I'd known for six years or so and suddenly realized that, despite the fact that I knew who she was and that she lived across the street from me, her face was spontaneously unknown to me. It was weird, like I was seeing my neighbor as someone slightly different.

Then I snapped out of it and went on with practice. I don't think I have any problems like that now, at least with people I know and see often, but it's kind of discouraging to realize that those family members I see infrequently would be entirely unknown to me if I saw them on the street. Oh, well...