Confirmation of what I think we've always known...

[Goddess of Retail]

As the majority (if not ALL) of us on this site are in some retail-type business, I thought it only fair to share this interesting tidbit that I listened to while shopping this past week.

I was at *Clothing/Home/Furniture* store, very similar to a Sears or Macy's. While looking for some new jeans, I passed by the dresses section. I really could not help overhear a conversation going on between a mother and her (13-15 year old?) daughter. I don't know exactly what started off their conversation, but from what I heard, it continued like this;


Daughter: But Mom! I WANT to work here when I'm older! They have cool clothes and shoes here!

Mom: I told you before, NO! You are NOT going to become one of THESE people! You're going to amount to more than a...a...CASHIER! Did you see our LAST check-out person? She was at least 50! Do YOU want your life to be that?!

Daughter: It would only be for the summer!

Mom: You say that NOW, but first you'll be making minimum wage, and thinking it's good enough. Then 20 years from now you'll STILL be here, no husband, no college degree, living in a ramshackled apartment downtown! NO, you are NEVER having a sloppy job like this! You WILL amount to something, young lady!

Daughter: Yes, Mom...


I was very and about this whole conversation.

First of all...We are in a RECESSION! If your daughter CAN get a job, LET her!

Secondly...Really? You believe that everyone who you see at a retail establishment has been there since they were 16? Regardless of how old they are? I mean, yes, some people have worked at the same place for years...but they hardly ever stay as a cashier that whole time.

Thirdly...what does marriage and college have to do with being a cashier?

Lastly...blarghlarght. Congratulations. You weren't even MY customer, and you melted my poor brain. I guess that's okay, as I apparently wasn't using it anyway.

Sad. Just...sad.

[Mr Hero]

If I ever find out who this SC is, I'm flat out refusing her service.

[Fish Taco64]

You should have come up behind and asked if she needed help to see how she would react.

[Goddess of Retail]

Mr. Hero - If she comes into MY store, I'm going to keep a very close eye on her, THAT'S for sure!

Fish Taco 64 - If I wasn't still wearing my own work shirt, I might have. However, you know one of three things would've happened.

A) She would have yelled at me for eavesdropping.
B) I would be yelled at for standing up for cashiers.
C) She would've seen where I worked from my shirt, and probably try to "report" me to my "manager" here at work for being rude...except I AM a manager! Bwahahaha!
This has happened to me once before, with rather stupid and hilarious results. Who thinks I should post this story?

[Akasa]

Oh yes, post that story!

[Food Lady]

Who cares about A and B? She's some lady you don't know, you're not at work, and who's she gonna report you to? We have a lady at out store who is about 40 and has been there since she was 16. She's had the same position since I started 7 years ago. If she likes it and is good at it, who cares? At the end of my life, it won't matter where I worked or what my position was. It will matter how I treated the people around me.

[Mikkel]

Oh yes, post that story!

Yes, please.

[Marmalady]

You believe that everyone who you see at a retail establishment has been there since they were 16? Regardless of how old they are?

Of course, because people's lives and circumstances never change, do they?

Having had a couple of years as a stay at home mum I decided that yes a wage again would be lovely, but my son was still very young and I wanted to be very much around still. So I'm a sales assistant, part time, I'm parked right behind the store and if I'm needed at home I can be there in 10 minutes.

I could have gone back to my job at the city council, and I would be earning twice as much, but I'd be gone for 11 hours every day, what with travelling / traffic / parking and walking to the office.

Too many people think that 'standard of living' and 'quality of life' are the same thing. They're not.

[Bright_Star]

What you say you're going to do when you're a teenager & what you actually end up doing when you grow up are two different things.

[Legal Eagle]

because of course nobody has ever married a cashier.

[mikoyan29]

Unless your last name happens to be Ford, Hewlett, Packard, Gates, etc., you have to start somewhere. Even people with those last names aren't going to start as CEO of the company. In most cases before you are entrusted to run a company, they want you to have some sort of experience with how companies work and stuff. Occasionally this means working the jobs that society deems are "beneath us". In fact, I think there are some companies (McDonalds comes to mind...but I could be wrong) that require it.

And as much as I hated it, I do look back somewhat fondly as my experiences as cashier at McDonalds, working the cooking machines at our campus eateries, working the help desk in our computer lab, cleaning typewriters and computers for two summers, even the day I spent cleaning out a grain silo, working as a cashier at a supermarket for three years, etc. All of those jobs taught me something to get me where I am today.

So basically, that woman is an idiot.

[Andara Bledin]

Too many people think that 'standard of living' and 'quality of life' are the same thing. They're not.

This.

I could have a much nicer job than I have right now, but it would come with a lot stricter management, stress, longer hours, less freedom, etc, etc, etc, and I've found that while I don't have a lot of extra money, I'm living quite comfortably. I'm doing well enough to buy a house, so I must be doing something right.

^-.-^

[Grape The Cat]

I wonder what mommy dearest does that allows her to look down her nose at retail workers and make such snotty statements? It's not like the daughter said she wanted to do it for the rest of her life, she wanted to do it for the summer. Frankly, mom sounds like a snotty, horrible beast.

[MoonCat]

She obviously has no idea how many people working in retail are currently attending college and earning degrees.

[rageaholic]

What a dumb ass close minded bitch.

Her daughter seems to have a much more realistic and logical understanding of retail than mom does (and this is coming from someone who hasn't done retail). Yet moms so close minded that she won't let her daughter get a job because of some fucked up stereotype about retail people.

I hate people like that.