You know you're a retail zobie when...

[Zeeko]

...when you upsell a fellow customer to a more expensive model before staff even attend to her

...when the current staff call you for help on a specialty request that I used to control

...when you still go to their Xmas staff parties (invited of course)

I'm also guilty of facing goods (even at places I didn't work at)

[ArcticChicken]

When "Thank you, have a great day" becomes one word as in:
"Pass the salt?"
"Here you are."
"Thank you, have a great day...Dammit!"

[Listerfiend]

...When you have dreams of being at your workplace (happened to me a few times... most recently i had a dream wherein the store was dark and I was ringing out an endless line of customers. My subconscious hates me).

[Bank Lady]

from my waitressing days

- when you place your order using the shorthand for the grill ticket.

I actually went into the restaurant once and ordered "chik 4 broil lett tom - ff - cs." (Broiled chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomato, french fries, and coleslaw) The waitress was new and thought I was insane. Luckily the cooks overheard my order and just started cooking.

[hotelnpa]

This is what happened to me after I quit Wally World. Maybe some of you do this too:

-->When buying a can of soup (or similiar item), you start zoning after you put the item in your cart. You also know what zone means when it is used by other employees.

-->You can understand the frazzled look on the night shift's faces as they quickly put the items on the shelves.

-->You check the aisle you used to stock to make sure it looks ok. You may also straighten it out if needed.

-->You actually place your shopping cart in the cart corral or even take it back into to the store after you put your groceries away.

-->You worried that you forgot to zone a particular item or items which resulted in a dream where you forgot to zone and your manager got mad at you.

[Nox]

-when your shopping in the store you used to work at, and everytime someone comes over the loud speaker asking, "Assistance to register please, assistance to register." you automatically head for the registor. Bonus points if your friends have to yell after you, "You don't work here anymore honey!"

[ArenaBoy]

Arena related.

You volunteer directing traffic at an arena you've never been to and you're attending the event. (Did this)

When it snows your first instinct is to grab 20 buckets of salt even though one bag will do.

[ericm]

i'm in pizza, i've worked at two restaurants, and can pretty much tell you their corporate policy, recipes, and weekly sales off the top of my head

[HawaiianShirts]

... management still gives you the employee discount, even though you haven't worked there for over three years.

... you order your household cleansers online from places that sell to business customers because the chemicals you can buy at the grocery store just don't clean the same way the stuff you used at work cleaned.

... you bag your own groceries in stores that have baggers to do it for you.

... you rub scuff marks off the linoleum with your shoe while walking through the store.

... when talking about the company you used to work for, you still use "we" instead of "they" and speak in the present tense.

... you scare the store employees by using company-specific acronyms, abbreviations, and nicknames.

... when speaking to an employee at any retail or service establishment, you pretend to be a Sucky Customer (in an overly exaggerated manner so the employee knows you're joking) then laugh and tell them what you really want.

... you look for reasons to tell employees about this site.

... you even find yourself disappointed if you've gone out for a day of shopping and come home without a tale to post under Sightings.

... you have to fight the urge to tell stories related to over half of the posts on this thread.

[Boozy]

Forgot this one from my waitressing days:

You recite the lunch specials out loud, in your sleep.

[Shangri-laschild]

While zoning out on the computer at work between calls, you hear a phone ring in the far distance and hear yourself quietly saying your opening line and suddenly wonder where the hell that came from!

[Becks]

... management still gives you the employee discount, even though you haven't worked there for over three years.

That's happened to me at Goodwill.

... you even find yourself disappointed if you've gone out for a day of shopping and come home without a tale to post under Sightings.

Yep. I always want to go shopping on my day off in hopes of getting a story.

[IHateStupidCustomers]

When working at the mall:

--when you straighten displays of stores you don't work at, and don't even realize you're doing it.

--When you are going shopping at the mall, park at you sold store (when you didn't plan on going there at all) park way out in the employee parking section, and don't even realize that you didn't want to go there until you're already inside the store and heading for the time clock.
--OR when you didn't even WANT to go to the mall, just driving past it or going somewhere near it, and you pull into the mall, park at your old store (employee parking) and don't realize you're there until you're inside heading for the time clock.

--when you know when inventory season is, and are extra careful not to move junk around. You can explain to other customers what the DNI signs mean.

[Shards]

... When you walk into a store and everybody who is working there knows your name, and calls it out as you come into view ("Hi, Norm!"). Bonus points if the customers do it, too. More bonus points if it happens anywhere but a bar. Even more bonus points if it happens somewhere you never worked.

[PorkChop]

You know you're a retail zombie...

When you dream about work. Saying "Can I see your ID" in your sleep.

You visit another store in your district and you notice that the dairy case really needs to be stocked and you head over to the extras to stock more. Yeah, I did that today.

You say "Have a good day" before the cashier does.

I do this at my husband's workplace (KMart), I front face his stuff in his department (Garden Shop) and he gets on me and telling me it isn't my job to front face.