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**RecoveringKinkoid** · 07-28-2006, 07:47 PM

Well, look at it this way. That "lad magazine" (I like that slang) might be the only human interaction that poor slob gets.

**toolbert** · 07-28-2006, 08:06 PM

I tend to be very quiet when I shop because I usually know what I'm looking for. I do say thank you and hello, but I rarely say more than that at all.

**SwanJun** · 07-28-2006, 08:37 PM

Heh...

I notice the opposite, actually. <please don't get mad at me for this comment> I find that the cashiers are the ones who won't talk to me.

I could talk underwater with a mouth full of marbles...I love to joke around with and have fun with the cashiers. But lately I've been finding that they're pretty grumpy and silent.

Perhaps there are too many SC's ruining their days - more than bloody likely, I say.

I had one cashier who was so ... um ... having a bad day ... that even after I gave a smile and said "Good afternoon!", she glared at me and said nothing. Then throughout the whole process still said nothing. When it came time to cash out, she still didn't say a word, she just turned the display around to me so I could see it.

I didn't quite know how to react or what to say. I didn't want to even say "Have a great day" after I walked away in fear she would think I was being sarcastic.

Someone must have really, re-ea-aa-lly ticked her off.

**LostMyMind** · 07-28-2006, 10:48 PM

I'm one of the silent customers, usually because I don't want to go through the song and dance of.

Me: I'm deaf, I can't hear you.
Them: You're talking, you can't be deaf.
Me: What? I'm deaf, speak clearly so I can read your lips.
Them:

Me:

Them: You're not deaf, you just heard me.
Me: Did you momma drop you on your head when you were a child? The ear is not connected to the mouth. Just because I'm deaf don't mean I have to talk like a mumbling idiot.
Them:

So now I just nod and don't say a word.

**karma_gypsy** · 07-28-2006, 11:07 PM

Quoth SwanJun

I notice the opposite, actually. <please don't get mad at me for this comment> I find that the cashiers are the ones who won't talk to me.

I agree, this has happened to me a time or two . . . But then again, usually a nice, decent customer can cheer you up . . .

I hate it when I'll ask a customer if I can help them with anything and they'll just ignore me and keep walking. I'll usually just answer the question myself, "no thank you, just looking, I'll give you a holler if I need anything. . ." I know sometimes people might not hear you, but then there others who just flat out ignore you.

**Mixed Bag** · 07-29-2006, 12:53 AM

I've had restaurant servers joke that they approached me when my mouth was full right after they asked me if everything was all right. I know they're trying to lighten the moment, but my preference in life's microscopic frustrations is for everyone to ignore it rather than fish for a response (but then I'm not on the talkative side unless I think I'm being witty or inspiring--sure, I try to say gracious thank yous for refills and such, but I prefer moments like the time I made a pun about my server's name; you know, the little things that make customer service worthwhile

).

**air914** · 07-29-2006, 02:05 AM

Ooh I hate that waiter thing - okay, you MUST have seen me just put a big wad of food in my mouth and I KNOW you were just waiting for that moment so you could come ask me "how is everything" and when I can't answer... just leave. Don't wait for me to finish chewing or anything.

You know what, I might not mind the silent customers - what I hate are the ones that want to tell you their entire life story............. listen - I don't care!!! Hello, how are you, can I help, and goodbye - I don't want to hear your life saga..... You can tell me a little bit about yourself to make conversation - but I don't need to know your favorite color, the name of the first person you kissed, all the different jobs you've had in your life, what errands you've run that day, etc....

**JustaCashier** · 07-29-2006, 02:53 AM

If Waiters are going to insist on interrupting Customers when their mouths are full, maybe they should take whatever training that Dentists take to understand what the Customer is saying. In the Dentist's case, of course, the mouth is full of his/her hands, while he/she is yanking, scraping, digging, pounding, and drilling on the Patient's teeth.

Dentist: "So, what's new since your last visit?"

Patient: "Eye Uh-uh Oh-ay-ee-oh eye."

Dentist: "Oh, I'm terribly sorry to hear that. How old was Uncle Horatio?"

Patient: "Ee uh ay-ee-ay, oh-ee ah ay-ee-eye."

Dentist: "Eighty-eight, going on eighty-nine, eh? Well, he lived a good, full life. Still sad though."

**CanadaGirl** · 07-29-2006, 03:12 AM

Quoth SwanJun

Heh...

I notice the opposite, actually. <please don't get mad at me for this comment> I find that the cashiers are the ones who won't talk to me.

I could talk underwater with a mouth full of marbles...I love to joke around with and have fun with the cashiers. But lately I've been finding that they're pretty grumpy and silent.

Perhaps there are too many SC's ruining their days - more than bloody likely, I say.

I had one cashier who was so ... um ... having a bad day ... that even after I gave a smile and said "Good afternoon!", she glared at me and said nothing. Then throughout the whole process still said nothing. When it came time to cash out, she still didn't say a word, she just turned the display around to me so I could see it.

I didn't quite know how to react or what to say. I didn't want to even say "Have a great day" after I walked away in fear she would think I was being sarcastic.

Someone must have really, re-ea-aa-lly ticked her off.

Not to be rude, but how do you know she wasn't a mute or had laryngitis? When I used to work at a Canadian grocery store, one of my co-workers had a badly sore throat and couldn't talk very much, so I pretty much had to inform any customer that gave her a bad time, of her current condition.

**Reyneth** · 07-29-2006, 03:31 AM

Quoth Crafty1289

What makes these silent customers think we enjoy our jobs so much that they dont have to acknowledge us as human beings? They must have had really crappy childhoods to think its ok to not say a single word to the person who is serving you.

Granted, this doesn't explain nearly all of the apparent CS-iness, but some of them could be Deaf.

For one of my classes, we have to do a lot of time in many different situations pretending to be Deaf - and let me tell you, it's bloody hard. 1) Because as a life-long retailer (until this point), I feel very rude doing so, but also 2) You get tired of people's reactions, and having to really work to even get basic communication with someone who doesn't sign, or doesn't want to bother writing it down on a piece of paper. (The point of the assignment)

So, a few of them may just be tired of trying to make themselves understood and just want to get back to the comfort of people they can communicate with - nothing intentional, just the way things are.

But I'm sure a good % of the "ignore the lowly peon" people are legit SCs.

**Reyneth** · 07-29-2006, 03:35 AM

Quoth LostMyMind

I'm one of the silent customers, usually because I don't want to go through the song and dance of.

Me: I'm deaf, I can't hear you.

So now I just nod and don't say a word.

Ahhhh, I should have read further down!

While I can't feel your pain exactly, I admire you - I dealt with only a little crap like that, it would be frustrating to constantly be dealing with clueless idiots or just plain jerks.

**Spiffy McMoron** · 07-29-2006, 03:39 AM

Quoth air914

Ooh I hate that waiter thing - okay, you MUST have seen me just put a big wad of food in my mouth and I KNOW you were just waiting for that moment so you could come ask me "how is everything" and when I can't answer... just leave. Don't wait for me to finish chewing or anything.

I don't know if this is true, so maybe a waitress can confirm/deny it: I heard that waiters and waitresses ask you when your mouth is full is so they won't have to hear any complaints.

I doubt that there's any truth to it, but it's amusing to think about anyway.

**Jester** · 07-29-2006, 08:30 AM

Quoth Spiffy McMoron

I don't know if this is true, so maybe a waitress can confirm/deny it: I heard that waiters and waitresses ask you when your mouth is full is so they won't have to hear any complaints.

I doubt that there's any truth to it, but it's amusing to think about anyway.

No truth at all to it. I have been a waiter, a bartender, and (Lord help me) a server trainer, and all told in the food service industry long enough that my apron requires carbon dating, but we are not trained to do that. Sad fact of the matter is that the nature of the job is that we have to ask people who are eating how they are doing, so there is a relatively good chance that when we do this, they will have food in their mouth.

It has become such a "cliche" that I now just tell guests flat out that approaching them when their mouth is full is "the first thing they teach us in waiter school!"

FIVE DAYS UNTIL VACATION!

**ladodger34** · 07-29-2006, 09:25 AM

Quoth Crafty1289

One guy came in today and went straight for the lad magazines, the ones with semi-naked celebrity women in, tossed it on the checkout, gave me a £20 (the mag cost £1.30 i think). I gave him his change, was tempted to give him 18 pound coins, but thought he might say thankyou on receipt of his change. No such luck. grabbed the change, and his mag, and walked straight out. Oh, and he left the door open. There's a big sign on the door saying "please close the door" because we have air con running inside and it doesn't work very well with the door wide open, believe it or not!

The guy could be a butthead or he could have been a bit shy about buying the magazine.

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