My Side Of The Counter Mine Part 3

[TruthHurts]

What is it with people who stand behind my side of the counter? Do they not get the distinction? This was a big problem when I worked at the liquor store and is now a problem at the grocery store.

This week alone, an elderly woman went on my side of the counter to put down her basket because it was too heavy. There was nothing hindering her from going to her side of the counter.

A woman followed me down my side of the aisle and tried to reach around me to unload her groceries. Her husband had to tell her to move since she didn't listen to me.

One of our regulars who knows better has done this twice already. For her, carrying more than three items at a time is a hardship. Again nothing stopping her from setting her stuff on her side.

Last but not least, I see a customer go to my side of the counter and mistook the customer waiting on the other side as a cashier. Yes, a guy not in a uniform, standing on the side of the counter without the register, holding a bag of charcoal and she just assumed he was the cashier.

They are not stealing anything but it's a matter of common sense and personal space. I wish work would allow us to carry Super Soakers.

[rerant]

At my work our register area is one step up and is set up as a semi circle with the computer in the centre and counter space on each side.
There's also an entrance on each side and people ALWAYS think they can come behind here.
The only items we keep behind the counter are gift bags and batteries and at least once a week I have to ask someone to step down and remind them that I will fetch the item of their desire for them.
Sometimes I set the step ladder up beside one of the entrances and the stool at the other.
I don't like doing this because it makes the place look messy cuz it's so small, but some people really need the point driven home that this is my space, not theirs.

[fireheart]

Ours are set up as a semi-circle, but with two people facing back-to-face, so it's basically a circular pair of registers.
As I've mentioned previously, our express lanes are in the S shape, with people standing in the gaps.
But yes, I do get people who reach out and scan their loyalty cards for me....seriously, if you wanna have the thrill of scanning your own card, get a job doing so?!

[ralerin]

Hm, we've not had this problem at Aid of Rite, even when we had only a puny swing door slab thing to our registers. Since we have this giant, clear bulletproof glass partition, it's a bit more obvious. I wonder if the problem could be fixed by the installation of one?

[rerant]

When i worked at IKEA the registers had NO division of space between customer and employee; they were completely open.
This drove me NUTS! It's bad enough when someone comes into your employee-only space but a lot worse when they're constantly in your personal space as well.
People would touch the registers, stand inches from us, literally breathe all over us, stand inches from the open cash drawer and whenever we asked someone to take a step back either from us or the register no matter how polite we were they would complan 9 times out of 10.
And 9 out of 10 times those complaints would result in us being reprimanded for being "rude". And often in front of customers, too.

Ugh. The management at that place is some of the worst I've seen, coming in second to the management at the Wal Mart I worked at.

[Shalom]

But yes, I do get people who reach out and scan their loyalty cards for me...

I always scan my own loyalty card at the supermarket, and it never occurred to me that there was anything wrong with this behaviour, nor have any of the cashiers ever expressed annoyance, even non-verbally. Why is this a problem?

.seriously, if you wanna have the thrill of scanning your own card, get a job doing so?!

I have a job doing so, actually...

(For those who don't, I suppose there's always the self checkout.)

[fireheart]

I always scan my own loyalty card at the supermarket, and it never occurred to me that there was anything wrong with this behaviour, nor have any of the cashiers ever expressed annoyance, even non-verbally. Why is this a problem?

I think it's just me, but there are some people who seem to get a thrill out of reaching around into my personal space and doing so.

I was just ranting tis all.

[BrenDAnn]

Our counter is like this |_____| with one end against the wall, the other open so we can get behind it. I have customers try to get behind it quite a bit at the C-store, but most often it's customers trying to grab their own chew or cigars, since they're the closest to the open end of the register counter. It's bad enough when they're leaning over the end, squinting to try and see what we have (just ask me, I'll tell you), but when htey grab their own stuff, it irritates me to no end! We also have those that get some sort of thrill from scanning their own items. Next time, I'm going to ask them if they'd like a job!

[hinakiba777]

That never happened to me because there was always a display or a partisan or door that either made it impossible for the customer to be in my space, or very easy to stop them

However, I did have a personal bubble issue at the grocery store I worked at. I must first admit i do this horrible thing, but I usually do it in unoccupied lanes. There are garbage cans under the conveyor belts in the check out lines. This means that they are directly in front of the cashier and under. Unless you are the cashier themselves, you have to really lean in and shift yourself to toss something in the garbage. Most people think it's rude, or just a waste of their time to ask the cashier in front of them to throw out their refuse for them. So instead they just lean around the cashier behind them and toss the garbage in the visible waste basket. You have no idea how many times I've turns to see a hand slinking past my thigh to toss a bottle of milk in to bin. Way to in my bubble.