The Things Guests Do/Pet Peeves Thread

[TheProfessor]

A month ago, I had a shift where I was at the checklanes all day. That I don’t mind. Towards the end of my shift, I had a guest whose toddler was wailing horribly and it was that that perfect frequency/pitch/etc to grate on me and make me feel like my nerves were being stripped away with a dull knife. I’m exaggerating, but I was very rattled. I think it distracted me and I made a small mistake on their order. After I clocked out, a heard a few more toddlers cry uncontrollably. I wondered if it was a full moon. A quick search on my phone for which phase of the moon it was showed me it wasn’t.

I bought some vanilla ice cream before going home. It felt like an ice cream evening for sure. A block from home, I wound up buying some Cutwater Moscow Mules from the liquor store. It then turned into a Moscow Mule float evening with some more of the drink to boot.

 

[Kielbasa]

A guest will throw a temper tantrum over a $1 price difference, while acting all superior like I'm a lowly servant.
Dude, I can afford that Tide.
And I know how to read a sign too. Good luck in Illiterate, Cheapskateville!

 

[Amanda Cantwell]

Not sure which thread to post this on. But I really can’t handle guests anymore. I feel like I go to work every day just to be bullied. The guests have gotten so mean. Every day I’m called stupid, worthless, incompetent, etc. I’ve had to go home early multiple times because I’ll have anxiety attacks and throw up because i just feel like I’m being berated the entire time I’m there. I have no self esteem anymore I feel like every single thing I do is wrong and not good enough. I can’t ever make anyone happy or do anything right it seems. I cry myself to sleep because I don’t want to go to work so bad in the mornings. I cry on the way there because I don’t want to go. I hate every single second I spend there. I don’t know what to do or to handle this because I’ll try to have a good day and it just happens again. Today a man looked me in the eyes and called me a useless piece of shit because I couldn’t find the DPCI for the shoes he was buying that didn’t have a tag. It takes EVERYTHING in me to not just walk out every. single. day. I really can’t do it anymore but I can’t quit because I have bills and if I get another job it’ll just be doing the same thing somewhere else. Right now I’m almost in tears because I just got home but I’m clopening so I can’t even relax after the day I had I have to go right back tomorrow and relive it. Idk what to do. I also feel like I’m just being a baby like wow I can’t even handle the most basic of jobs out there how am I going to do anything. I just want a job where I just do tasks and I don’t have to talk to anyone

You are not paid enough to be insulted and called names. If guests start doing that, take a step back and call your SETL or ETL SE. target has a zero tolerance policy for workplace harrassment— coming from other TMs or guests.

 

[Tessa120]

Not sure which thread to post this on. But I really can’t handle guests anymore. I feel like I go to work every day just to be bullied. The guests have gotten so mean. Every day I’m called stupid, worthless, incompetent, etc. I’ve had to go home early multiple times because I’ll have anxiety attacks and throw up because i just feel like I’m being berated the entire time I’m there. I have no self esteem anymore I feel like every single thing I do is wrong and not good enough. I can’t ever make anyone happy or do anything right it seems. I cry myself to sleep because I don’t want to go to work so bad in the mornings. I cry on the way there because I don’t want to go. I hate every single second I spend there. I don’t know what to do or to handle this because I’ll try to have a good day and it just happens again. Today a man looked me in the eyes and called me a useless piece of shit because I couldn’t find the DPCI for the shoes he was buying that didn’t have a tag. It takes EVERYTHING in me to not just walk out every. single. day. I really can’t do it anymore but I can’t quit because I have bills and if I get another job it’ll just be doing the same thing somewhere else. Right now I’m almost in tears because I just got home but I’m clopening so I can’t even relax after the day I had I have to go right back tomorrow and relive it. Idk what to do. I also feel like I’m just being a baby like wow I can’t even handle the most basic of jobs out there how am I going to do anything. I just want a job where I just do tasks and I don’t have to talk to anyone

It's not a guarantee it'll be the same thing somewhere else. Every place has their own rhythm, their own high and low. Someplace else could easily have policies that lead to better customer interaction for you and whatever the not so good part is, it's not that important to you even if someone else would be driven nuts.

 

[tholmes]

I really can’t do it anymore but I can’t quit because I have bills and if I get another job it’ll just be doing the same thing somewhere else.

I'm going to second Tessa here. If you're at the point of actively hating going to work or the idea of work stresses you out, it's time to quit and find something better.
On that note, I can guarantee that a different job will bring different types of days and interactions. Yeah, you'll still get grouchy people sometimes anywhere in retail, but Spot both expects more than their contemporaries and the customer/guest culture is entirely different.
I ended up quitting after a breakdown I had upon getting home after a really rough night, and even though I still spent another two weeks at Spot, it made a difference even just knowing I was going to be done. Do what's best for your health and happiness, I say quit and move on to something better.

 

[happygoth]

Not sure which thread to post this on. But I really can’t handle guests anymore. I feel like I go to work every day just to be bullied. The guests have gotten so mean. Every day I’m called stupid, worthless, incompetent, etc. I’ve had to go home early multiple times because I’ll have anxiety attacks and throw up because i just feel like I’m being berated the entire time I’m there. I have no self esteem anymore I feel like every single thing I do is wrong and not good enough. I can’t ever make anyone happy or do anything right it seems. I cry myself to sleep because I don’t want to go to work so bad in the mornings. I cry on the way there because I don’t want to go. I hate every single second I spend there. I don’t know what to do or to handle this because I’ll try to have a good day and it just happens again. Today a man looked me in the eyes and called me a useless piece of shit because I couldn’t find the DPCI for the shoes he was buying that didn’t have a tag. It takes EVERYTHING in me to not just walk out every. single. day. I really can’t do it anymore but I can’t quit because I have bills and if I get another job it’ll just be doing the same thing somewhere else. Right now I’m almost in tears because I just got home but I’m clopening so I can’t even relax after the day I had I have to go right back tomorrow and relive it. Idk what to do. I also feel like I’m just being a baby like wow I can’t even handle the most basic of jobs out there how am I going to do anything. I just want a job where I just do tasks and I don’t have to talk to anyone

Good god, no one should have to take abuse like that from a guest. There's absolutely no excuse for it - what kind of assholes shop at your store? I would probably call AP or a leader if anyone talked to me like that. And I would most likely be done trying to help him/her. Time to find a place that has a better class of clientele, for your own sanity and peace of mind. Best of luck to you!

 

[Shani]

A month ago, I had a shift where I was at the checklanes all day. That I don’t mind. Towards the end of my shift, I had a guest whose toddler was wailing horribly and it was that that perfect frequency/pitch/etc to grate on me and make me feel like my nerves were being stripped away with a dull knife. I’m exaggerating, but I was very rattled. I think it distracted me and I made a small mistake on their order. After I clocked out, a heard a few more toddlers cry uncontrollably. I wondered if it was a full moon. A quick search on my phone for which phase of the moon it was showed me it wasn’t.

I bought some vanilla ice cream before going home. It felt like an ice cream evening for sure. A block from home, I wound up buying some Cutwater Moscow Mules from the liquor store. It then turned into a Moscow Mule float evening with some more of the drink to boot.

I can't handle that sound. I have really bad sensitivities to particular sounds and screaming child is one of them.

I'm glad I work on the floor cause I can always run off to the back or the bathroom when my ears need a break.

 

[TheProfessor]

I can't handle that sound. I have really bad sensitivities to particular sounds and screaming child is one of them.

I'm glad I work on the floor cause I can always run off to the back or the bathroom when my ears need a break.

It’s a lot different hearing that on the floor. It’s still not pleasant, but at least the kid is not screaming right into your ear, which happened to me that afternoon. And I was having a great day before that.

 

[redeye58]

*me slides a venti iced caramel macchiatto to @Leo47 with a hug

 

[Leo47]

*me slides a venti iced caramel macchiatto to @Leo47 with a hug

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

 

[CeeCee]

Hey mom - if your small child tells you they need to go potty maybe you should take them instead of buying that one item first. I hope the fact you had to clean your kids piss off the floor in front of me and other people using the SCO’s was enough to shame you into not letting this happen again.

Unfortunately, she left the poor kid in the cart as she left the store - so I feel sorry for whomever used that cart after her. 😣

 

[DBZ]

OMG yesterday was screaming child day. I normally can tune out a screaming child as long as they are not right in front of me or behind me (that's actually worse), but last night they were ALLLLLLL crying. This one mom who was checking out in my line, looked at her kid who finished crying a couple minutes before arriving at the CL, said, "oh, you look so tired" I'm thinking, in my head, that all the kids are tired at 10 pm and maybe you would have had a better time shopping if you went a few hours ago.

 

[3LetterDevil]

OMG yesterday was screaming child day. I normally can tune out a screaming child as long as they are not right in front of me or behind me (that's actually worse), but last night they were ALLLLLLL crying. This one mom who was checking out in my line, looked at her kid who finished crying a couple minutes before arriving at the CL, said, "oh, you look so tired" I'm thinking, in my head, that all the kids are tired at 10 pm and maybe you would have had a better time shopping if you went a few hours ago.

This is EVERY day where I work.

 

[Marvin Martian]

OMG yesterday was screaming child day. I normally can tune out a screaming child as long as they are not right in front of me or behind me (that's actually worse), but last night they were ALLLLLLL crying. This one mom who was checking out in my line, looked at her kid who finished crying a couple minutes before arriving at the CL, said, "oh, you look so tired" I'm thinking, in my head, that all the kids are tired at 10 pm and maybe you would have had a better time shopping if you went a few hours ago.

OMG that was our store today. The one kid I saw him hit his mom and he was about 6. I swear he was crying for about an hour while they were in the store. Then a 5 year old girl screamed at her mom that she hates her then proceeds to lay on the floor and have a temper tantrum while crying and screaming.
It go so bad I was going to go up to them and suggest they take the little darlings home

 

[happygoth]

Not to be indelicate, but I have heard some kids that sounded so hysterical that I wondered if they had some sort of developmental issues. And of course, you can hear them all over the store.

One time this boy about two years old was screaming and crying so bad he sounded possessed. It went on forever, and I could hear him from the fitting room while he and his mom were at checkout. One of my sisters happened to be in the store at the time and witnessed the debacle. She said the boy was grabbing things from his Mom's hands as she tried to put them on the counter, and was refusing to listen to her or do anything she said, all the while screaming and crying hysterically. It was like nothing I'd ever heard before.

Man, am I glad I don't have kids.

 

[Marvin Martian]

When my kids were that age I told them I did not want to hear the I want or the I need. If they started to throw a tantrum and scream and yell I would leave my cart where it was and took them out of the store. When I did that I always found someone who worked there and told them sorry about the cart.

 

[Tessa120]

Not to be indelicate, but I have heard some kids that sounded so hysterical that I wondered if they had some sort of developmental issues. And of course, you can hear them all over the store.

Been there, done that. And of course meltdowns that are a pain response to something that doesn't bother neurotypical folks can look a lot like a willful tantrum, so of course you get the judgers and the haters.

When my kids were that age I told them I did not want to hear the I want or the I need. If they started to throw a tantrum and scream and yell I would leave my cart where it was and took them out of the store. When I did that I always found someone who worked there and told them sorry about the cart.

Now that I've worked in retail, I think that's a pretty terrible thing to do. You're teaching your kid that it's okay to just leave a mess for others to clean up. If there's cold stuff, you're teaching your kid that vandalism is okay, since the cold stuff will have to be tossed.

 

[DBZ]

Been there, done that. And of course meltdowns that are a pain response to something that doesn't bother neurotypical folks can look a lot like a willful tantrum, so of course you get the judgers and the haters.



Now that I've worked in retail, I think that's a pretty terrible thing to do. You're teaching your kid that it's okay to just leave a mess for others to clean up. If there's cold stuff, you're teaching your kid that vandalism is okay, since the cold stuff will have to be tossed.

No, kids don't think like that. When a little girl wants an LOL and mom says no, she screams. If you stay in the store, the kid thinks there is still a chance. By leaving, the kid learns the boundary. Screaming means leaving the store where there is a chance she will get that stupid toy.

 

[Leo47]

There was once this kid who we had to call a code yellow for. Once his mom found him she was pissed that he ran off and made him stay in the cart for the rest of the time that she shopped. This child HOWLED the entire time because he wanted to be able to walk. Like I swear I have never heard such a loud, ear piercing, scream in my entire life and the entire store could hear it. She decided to go through my side self-checkout and I couldn’t even hear myself think. She was just scanning her stuff not paying any attention to him and everyone was staring and he was just screaming and screaming and this middle aged woman at the machine across from her turns around and goes “CAN YOU PLEASE SHUT THAT KID UP!” And the mom spins around and goes “HE’S AUTISTIC YOU STUPID BITCH, MIND YOUR BUSINESS” and I was like

 

[JustMeT]

Yikes!!

 

[Tessa120]

No, kids don't think like that. When a little girl wants an LOL and mom says no, she screams. If you stay in the store, the kid thinks there is still a chance. By leaving, the kid learns the boundary. Screaming means leaving the store where there is a chance she will get that stupid toy.

Yeah, kids are smart enough to realize that if they don't put away their things someone else has to and that food goes bad if left out. And they will perpetuate the behavior in their later childhood and adulthood because "that's what those retail workers are for, to pick up after my deliberate messes". Setting one boundary doesn't mean breaking a bigger boundary and the kid could also be manipulating you to leave. Just turn off your ears to a child deliberately throwing a tantrum, not hard.

There was once this kid who we had to call a code yellow for. Once his mom found him she was pissed that he ran off and made him stay in the cart for the rest of the time that she shopped. This child HOWLED the entire time because he wanted to be able to walk. Like I swear I have never heard such a loud, ear piercing, scream in my entire life and the entire store could hear it. She decided to go through my side self-checkout and I couldn’t even hear myself think. She was just scanning her stuff not paying any attention to him and everyone was staring and he was just screaming and screaming and this middle aged woman at the machine across from her turns around and goes “CAN YOU PLEASE SHUT THAT KID UP!” And the mom spins around and goes “HE’S AUTISTIC YOU STUPID BITCH, MIND YOUR BUSINESS” and I was like
View attachment 8498

Love it!!!

 

[redeye58]

There was once this kid who we had to call a code yellow for. Once his mom found him she was pissed that he ran off and made him stay in the cart for the rest of the time that she shopped. This child HOWLED the entire time because he wanted to be able to walk. Like I swear I have never heard such a loud, ear piercing, scream in my entire life and the entire store could hear it. She decided to go through my side self-checkout and I couldn’t even hear myself think. She was just scanning her stuff not paying any attention to him and everyone was staring and he was just screaming and screaming and this middle aged woman at the machine across from her turns around and goes “CAN YOU PLEASE SHUT THAT KID UP!” And the mom spins around and goes “HE’S AUTISTIC YOU STUPID BITCH, MIND YOUR BUSINESS” and I was like
View attachment 8498

I've done that amid some of my son's meltdowns.

 

[happygoth]

Yeah, kids are smart enough to realize that if they don't put away their things someone else has to and that food goes bad if left out. And they will perpetuate the behavior in their later childhood and adulthood because "that's what those retail workers are for, to pick up after my deliberate messes". Setting one boundary doesn't mean breaking a bigger boundary and the kid could also be manipulating you to leave. Just turn off your ears to a child deliberately throwing a tantrum, not hard.

Obviously if a child is on the spectrum, patience and understanding are in order. But I fully support removing a child with no developmental issues from a public place if they are acting a brat. They need to learn, and parents need to be more mindful of how they are disrupting public areas by letting their children run amok unchecked. Back in the day a parent would be mortified if their kids screamed and threw tantrums and would remove them immediately. I completely disagree that a child should be allowed to scream, cry and throw tantrums in public and the parent should just let them, or worse yet, give in to their hysterics.

And yes, for people other than the parent, it can be very, very hard to ignore an hysterical child.

 

[seasonaldude]

Strangers do not know if a child is autistic. Even if they do know, most aren't likely to care. They just want to shop in peace without listening to a hysterical child. I mean it's the parents fault for vaccinating their kid and making him autistic so what right do they have to make their problem other people's problem in Target? (That's a joke.)

 

[Tessa120]

The kid can be taken out in public to painful stimuli that shouldn't be painful as part of desensitization therapy, over time feel things fairly normally, go on to college and get a good job and pay for the haters' Social Security checks when everyone is older.

Or the kid can be kept out of the public eye so others don't have their ears assaulted, stay low functioning, and the haters around can pay the taxes for the child's long term care.

Put that way, guess what the haters choose.