I have a rule when it comes to customers: if they ignore me, then I will ignore them. That is, if I approach them with a greeting or an offer of assistance and get nothing but silence, then that customer is dead to me. I will not approach them again or try to help them, no matter how confused they look, unless they decide to actually ASK for help. Technically, this runs contrary to policy, but I have found that the overwhelming majority of people who ignore me are either being passive-aggressive due to some intense desire to NOT be bothered or a deep-seated belief that I am unworthy, OR they are totally oblivious to the world around them. Both are bad. The passive-aggressive types are generally assholes, and the oblivious ones are the sort of people who can't find things that no human being with functioning eyes has any business not being able to find. They could walk past the ENTIRE AISLE of envelopes ten times and not see it, even when I point it out to them, or fail to find a pen even if someone shoved it in their hand and said "WRITE!" I do not wish to interact with either type, so I just pay them no mind. If they want help, they can come find me.
For the record, if there's some doubt as to whether or not they heard me, I do not enact this rule. So if it's noisy, or the person is elderly or is wearing a hearing aid or turns out to be on their cell, I'll make another attempt. But I'm talking about the people who don't respond when you stand right next to them in an otherwise dead-quiet part of the store.
I've been getting a lot more of this than usual lately, and I find it irritating.
Double bonus points when one of these people then walks up to the service desk demanding to know if anyone's working in the department.
For the record, if there's some doubt as to whether or not they heard me, I do not enact this rule. So if it's noisy, or the person is elderly or is wearing a hearing aid or turns out to be on their cell, I'll make another attempt. But I'm talking about the people who don't respond when you stand right next to them in an otherwise dead-quiet part of the store.
I've been getting a lot more of this than usual lately, and I find it irritating.
Double bonus points when one of these people then walks up to the service desk demanding to know if anyone's working in the department.

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