Customer hostile uniforms

[registerrodeo]

Last Friday, I went to Wally World straight from work to get everything for Easter dinner. I will NEVER make that mistake again. I had on my work clothes...tan chinos and a blue polo. I kept getting stopped. Everyone was nice except one woman who seemed exasperated with me so I just pointed to my name tag I was still wearing that wasn't even close to their tags and she walked away shaking her head. Next time I change before going!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Stopped at the local Inbred Carnival™ tonight, nearly got run over by some tweaker/wangster/hick riding a bike down the aisle. If only I had a rake or a shovel or something with a long handle to jam in the spokes and send him flying into a gondola.

And then just outside the doors as I was leaving was some other high-functioning member of society in an Affliction T-shirt spitting loogies on the sidewalk.

I did run into the massage therapist turned former clearance swamp team member who seems to have a thing for me, so all was not lost.

[Deevil]

I was wearing jeans and a tan t-shirt with a pair of medieval archers on it, with the writing "There's always someone who needs to be shot." Um, yeah. Someow I don't think this is the normal uniform for WallyWorld.

That's almost as bad as the time I was wearing flip flops, denim shorts, and a bright red shirt with a strawberry on it that said "Bite Me" and was asked if I worked at Wally.

[smileyeagle1021]

Amen. Current theory is that I was the most sober person in the store...

Either that or you were actually wearing pants... seems like every time I go to WalMart the dress code is pajamas if you are lucky.

Only time I got mistaken for an employee, I legitimately was wearing clothes that looked like the uniform, I was at Toy'R'Us when their manager's uniform was black pants and a red polo shirt with their logo on it, I was indeed wearing black pants, dress shoes even, and a red polo... oh, did I mention that red polo had my MIDDLE SCHOOL logo on it... yup, I was 13. I know our labor laws aren't that strict in Nevada, but even here it is a stretch to think that a 13 year old could have been their long enough to be in management (for the record, youngest you can work in Nevada is 14, 16 if it involves cooking, 18 if it involves potentially dangerous equipment, 21 if it involves gambling or alcohol).

[protege]

I had someone at Pep Boys ask if I worked there. I'd been working on the car (suspension rebuild--fun!), and had to get a few nuts and bolts. Granted, I was covered in oil and grease, but seriously? I mean, I had a battered pair of old shorts on, which had dirt/oil/grease on them, plus my red T-shirt was also stained with the same. The only clean clothes I was wearing were my sandals...and you're asking if I work here?

[Willis]

Last Friday, I went to Wally World straight from work to get everything for Easter dinner. I will NEVER make that mistake again. I had on my work clothes...tan chinos and a blue polo. I kept getting stopped. Everyone was nice except one woman who seemed exasperated with me so I just pointed to my name tag I was still wearing that wasn't even close to their tags and she walked away shaking her head. Next time I change before going!

Unless you forgot at the moment or didn't realize it, having your name tag on with a similar uniform as employees is just asking for it. Even if the name tag isn't close to the stores' just having on similar color schemes of the uniform of the store you're in AND a name tag too? A lot of people don't even look at what's on the nametag. All they see is the store uniform color scheme, some type of nametag then they approach. Sucks but thats what it seems like how these people think in these situations.

[EricKei]

I just got mistaken yesterday for an employee at a local grocery store.

There is a guy who works at the nearest grocery who is supposedly my doppelganger, albeit 20 years younger. I have had employees there come up to me a couple times and start to ask me a question, only to stop and say, "Wait, you're not ___" ^_^

[NorthernZel]

All they see is the store uniform color scheme, some type of nametag then they approach. Sucks but thats what it seems like how these people think in these situations.

Sometimes even less suffices. There was one time where I was checking out at a selfscan and found out that a bag of flour was ripped, so I excused myself to the selfscan assistant and stormed back to get another bag.

Once I got there, a random lady shoved a bag of flour really close to my face and asked in a shrill voice: "IS THIS LOCALLY PRODUCED??!?!?!?"

Clue #1: I was wearing a buttoned-up long coat.
Clue #2: I had Li'l Zel in tow with me.

So I just stared at her, said "Dunno", grabbed a bag and hurried back to the selfscan. I wonder whether that lady ended up complaining to a manager about their rude, coatwearing, childminding employee...

[Ironclad Alibi]

Once I got there, a random lady shoved a bag of flour really close to my face and asked in a shrill voice: "IS THIS LOCALLY PRODUCED??!?!?!?"

Yes, it was produced in the local star cluster.

[Dreamstalker]

I was on a local ghost tour with some friends on Halloween one year, and I was wearing my Ghostbusters uniform (I had worn it to work and didn't have time to go home and change; it was cold out anyway so it worked out well). One or two people taking the tour asked if I worked there; I said that I was just around to make sure nothing followed anyone home (we had just stopped in a public park that used to be a huge burial ground, some of the crypts are still visible), and the tour guide picked that up and ran with it.

[PuckLizardRN]

I was wearing my hospital scrubs (hunter green and white) and stopped in the grocery store after work. I work 12 hour days, and was looking for something to eat for dinner. I had an older lady ask me if someone was going to be assisting her (she wanted someone to slice a loaf of bread for her). I told her I didn't know (it was after 730 on a Sunday night, I have no idea when the bakery closes). She asked me several more times, getting angrier and more pissy until I clued her in to the fact that I DON"T WORK HERE.

[Sapphire Silk]

Unless you forgot at the moment or didn't realize it, having your name tag on with a similar uniform as employees is just asking for it. Even if the name tag isn't close to the stores' just having on similar color schemes of the uniform of the store you're in AND a name tag too? A lot of people don't even look at what's on the nametag. All they see is the store uniform color scheme, some type of nametag then they approach. Sucks but thats what it seems like how these people think in these situations.

There have been times when I've been in Wally World with nothing resembling what their associates wear . . . and still have had people get snippy with me because I "won't help them."

I don't work here, doofus!

[protege]

I've been asked if I work at the hobby shop *many* times over the years. Sometimes, it's because of how I'm dressed. I'll head over there after work, and I'm dressed nice--khakis, polo shirt, etc. and people assume I work there. Other times, it's because I'm behind the counter. The owner sometimes lets "regulars" behind the counter look at things if he's busy. Then there's the fact that I've been building models for the better part of 3 decades, and give off an aura of "I know what I'm doing."

[ADoyle90815]

I've had that happen at other stores, and I can't go into Bullseye with a red shirt as I get mistaken for an employee. By the way, I also have that archery shirt, along with one from the Bayeux Tapestry with Harold saying "I thought that arrow was getting closer, then it hit me." Both shirts I got at different Great Western Wars from the same people.

[prjkt]

In my shopping centre, the closest bathroom is located in a department store, so on the way back I routinely get stopped.
Why? Because I'm in a black uniform with a yellow logo/badge.
Department store has no uniform, just black sensible clothes and white badges.
If I'm in a hurry (more often that I'd like to admit) I just point to my store's logo on my chest.

On a side note, I often wear a short out when photographing nightclubs that says, "Same sh*t, different DJ" - gives security a laugh, and is even more amusing if I'm actually DJing they night too.

I was on a local ghost tour with some friends on Halloween one year, and I was wearing my Ghostbusters uniform (I had worn it to work and didn't have time to go home and change; it was cold out anyway so it worked out well). One or two people taking the tour asked if I worked there; I said that I was just around to make sure nothing followed anyone home (we had just stopped in a public park that used to be a huge burial ground, some of the crypts are still visible), and the tour guide picked that up and ran with it.

This is just awesome