I worked in a retail pharmacy and customers would make me cry multiple times per week.
Why do people treat retail staff like uneducated trash? The vast majority of my coworkers were getting masters degrees and some were older immigrants who couldn’t afford school (who I felt especially sorry for, cause they were trapped in that toxic job with barely livable pay)
After quitting, my mental health has improved exponentially. But I still get anxiety attacks and bouts of crying when I think about all the cruel customers I dealt with.
I don’t know why people are so nasty and horrible to cashiers and service people. It’s like some people would come in just to go on a power trip and make me feel small.
People say “remember they’re sick” to make me understand their cruel behavior. But I suffer from depression and mental problems, and I would NEVER treat anyone how I was treated. It’s absolutely disgusting the way these cretins treat retail staff. I genuinely do not understand the mentality. I even got berated and treated like shit on thanksgiving and Christmas Day. You must be truly miserable to treat others so poorly.
Some days it was so bad that 30 percent of people would be nasty and horrible to me. One guy even called me an idiot because I asked how to spell his surname. And one crazy lady screamed at me for 5 minutes because I told her she had no prescriptions at out pharmacy (her dumbass came to the wrong location) and not one other customer comforted me or told her to stop. And she was absolutely unhinged. It just hurt so much . The lack of empathy and humanity that people have for retail staff.
I also had to deal with customers ordering me to smile more and geriatric men making sexual comments to me. And I couldn’t say anything back.
Worst most dehumanizing job I ever did in my life.