Is it ME??

[Boo3711]

I work at a supermarket in the CS desk. We have self check outs flanking the desk so we not only handle lottery, western union, cigs and maintaining the service level for the whole front end, we also have to help the customer on the self checkouts. Here is what I consider one of my biggest peeves, I will be waiting on a customer in the middle of a sentence and a customer will come out of no where (not in the line, not in the self check out, not a cashier asking for help) "excuse me" (I'm in mid sentence here???) "excuse me" ???? (trying to still answer the customer I'm waiting on)......."excuse me"
JUST BECAUSE YOU SAY EXCUSE ME DOESN"T MAKE IT RIGHT, IT'S RUDE!

I guy did this to me this week I was polite and then apologized to the customer I was waiting on for the interruption and he did it again...."excuse me"
That did it, "Sir, I am helping this customer, just because you say excuse me it isn't okay, you're being rude"
My CW quickly picked him up and I completed my customer without interruption and then went off for a smoke break to calm down.
Now, I know how to do several things at once and have been doing it for years but when I'm in mid sentence talking with another customer, it just makes me nuts!

[Apathy]

"Excuse me! I'm a fuckwad and need help!"

For some reason, people think that if they have a problem that doesn't tie in directly with waiting in line (self check for example), that they can skip it and interrupt anyone.

"Well, I'd wait in line for lottery tickets, but this is different, so I'll barge in and be a douche. I mean, being a total twatwaffle has really worked for me in the past, so why not?"

[looney_librarian]

That drove me nuts as well. When that would happen I would apologize to the customer I was currently helping and then to the interupting customer, "I'll be with you in a minute," and then ignore them no matter what they did short of them touching me or the customer I was helping.

[MannersMakethMan]

<SC on>
Y'know, this store would be great if it weren't for those other customers. How dare they want something when I do? Don't they know who I am? I'm being polite and everything - why haven't you dropped them to serve me?
<SC off>

Newsflash: Other people exist. Deal with it, and wait.

Yeah, it annoys me too...

[nomorecarts]

what a fuckwad


I've found that the more these things happen the easier they are to ignore though,

what I really hate is how you can be standing around twiddling your thumbs for 10 minutes then a customer has something that can't go through a self check(at my store this is anything with a serial number to be scanned and checks) so you have to suspend it, then right when you get to your register someone needs an age approval, then a few more seconds later someone else needs one, then on the way back to do that I get stopped by another customer. on a self check where I only watch 4 terminals. and that's because it backs up the self checks, and I rarely get bitched out about it, so it's cool people being inconvenienced. apologizing helps. always apologize, even if you/the store did nothing wrong, it will save you some suck. I had one time I was helping someone and a customer came up to my podium as I was helping someone else, stood there for a second, then went back and hit help like she thought that would make me get to her faster, but I am better than most at letting things go, so I just helped her(probably a price override, it always is) and almost forgot about her until I saw this post

when you learn to find SCs funny instead of infuriating is when retail gets really, really easy

[Jay 2K Winger]

I get this with people I'm helping, too. Usually I can get them to stop the interruption with a glance to them, a "one second" gesture, and then I turn back to my current customer. The ones that really get to me are the ones who move WAYTOOCLOSE while I'm finishing up. I always have this urge to check to make sure they didn't pick my pocket while they were doing it.

Ol' Scarface was a frequent practitioner of the interrupt-you-while-you're-helping-someone-else routine. Only she ignored any attempts to tell her to wait a moment.

[One-Fang]

I'm in two minds.

When I have a quick question and the person in front of me is getting up into three minutes or more so far of discussion about whatever problem they've got, I really want to say "Excuse me can you just tell me xyz?" I understand queues. I know she got there first. But dammit, I'm gonna take about 10 seconds of your time and you can go back to discussing just exactly why it is that the store requires a receipt or whatever the issue is.

[evilhomer]

I'm in two minds.

When I have a quick question and the person in front of me is getting up into three minutes or more so far of discussion about whatever problem they've got, I really want to say "Excuse me can you just tell me xyz?" I understand queues. I know she got there first. But dammit, I'm gonna take about 10 seconds of your time and you can go back to discussing just exactly why it is that the store requires a receipt or whatever the issue is.

You do have a point there, but it's all about how you do it.

Wrong: "Excuse me!" (cutting off in mid sentence)

Right(ish): (waiting for a break in the conversation) "Excuse me, I'm very sorry to interupt but I have a very quick question, could you tell me..."


I generally don't condone interupting but I can definately feel the frustration of patiently waiting while some assclown is asking about the life history of the store and the product they're considering buying.

[ArcticChicken]

JUST BECAUSE YOU SAY EXCUSE ME DOESN"T MAKE IT RIGHT, IT'S RUDE!

I have a friend who wants to write a book on driving etiquette called Waving Your Hand Like That Doesn't Mean You Weren't Just an Asshole.