# Cashier Confidentiality: How Would You Feel About This **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 24, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239 "2010-12-24T00:36:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/61 "2010-12-27T17:35:32Z")
A True Tale The Scene: Blockbuster Video, Circa 1997 The Players: WhyNot, a devastatingly charming young store manager Mrs. Smith, an elderly shopper WhyNot: HiwelcometoBlockbusterhowareyoutoday? Mrs. Smith: Oh, I’m fine, just fine, dear. Tell me, do you have _The African Queen_ available for rent? WhyNot: Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t yet. But it’s coming out on video next week, actually! We should have a copy on Tuesday. Would you like me to take your name put it aside for you? Mrs. Smith: Oh, that would be wonderful. WhyNot (rummaging for a pen): Funny thing, actually. There was a gentleman in here just an hour ago and he preordered a copy to buy! He told me it was the first movie he took his sweetheart to when they were dating, and he wants to give her the tape for their anniversary. Isn’t that sweet?! Mrs. Smith: … WhyNot: Uh… Mrs. Smith: Did he have a red jacket on? WhyNot: Oh, dear… :smack: It’s not about rights or ethics or anything else Important. It’s about ruining some poor old couple’s 45th wedding anniversary by letting the cat out of the bag. There was just no need for me to do that, no way to \*undo \*it, and I felt utterly miserable about it. (And I had much the same happen to me when I first started, when I left a message for someone that said, “Hi, this is WhyNot from Blockbuster Video. Your special order of Grease is in, ready for you to pick up!” Of course, it was a gift for someone else who listened to the machine. :smack: I quickly learned to leave vague “This is WhyNot from Blockbuster, please return my call,” messages just like the SOP manual said I should.) ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/62 "2010-12-27T17:40:27Z")
I dunno Dio, you seem to embrace a form of message board victimhood. So misunderstood, eh? I could take this to ridiculous extremes, of course. Suppose the clerk was discussing your young daughters underwear purchase with the local sex offender? Absurd, but would you not concede that every job carries the expectation of professionalism? Should your dry cleaner discuss your skidmark stained silk shorts with your boss, who happens to use the same facility? Should the bank teller inform your wife every time you take out some cash? On and on we go, where it stops, God fucking knows. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/63 "2010-12-27T17:40:28Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I do not agree that any such ethical obligation exists. You don’t have an ethical right not to have your public actions discussed by witnesses. Whether or not an obligation exists, I would complain to the owner and take my business elsewhere. Just sayin. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/64 "2010-12-27T17:40:48Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > One draws the line wherever one wants; I was talking about what I would do myself. If I know, or think I know, something about someone simply because I was cashier on a purchase, I feel like I shouldn’t talk about any of that to others. > > Well, some people have various reasons for caring about such things Too bad. They shouldn’t do those things in front of the world then. They are not victims. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/65 "2010-12-27T17:44:54Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Too bad. They shouldn’t do those things in front of the world then. They are not victims. It seems to me that the only person using the word “victim” in this thread is you. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/66 "2010-12-27T17:45:02Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > I dunno Dio, you seem to embrace a form of message board victimhood. So misunderstood, eh? You’re confusing me with somebody else. I’ve never claimed or felt any such thing. > [@](#): > > I could take this to ridiculous extremes, of course. Suppose the clerk was discussing your young daughters underwear purchase with the local sex offender? Absurd, but would you not concede that every job carries the expectation of professionalism? Should your dry cleaner discuss your skidmark stained silk shorts with your boss, who happens to use the same facility? Should the bank teller inform your wife every time you take out some cash? On and on we go, where it stops, God fucking knows. Yes, everybody should say all of that stuff. Nothing unprofessional about any of it. My wife and I have joint accounts, by the way, so any money I take out is her business. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/67 "2010-12-27T17:47:09Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > It seems to me that the only person using the word “victim” in this thread is you. So we agree that these people having their public grocery purchases discussed are not victims? Good. My work is done then. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/68 "2010-12-27T18:01:16Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > So we agree that these people having their public grocery purchases discussed are not victims? Good. My work is done then. You seem to have won an argument with yourself. Congratulations. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/69 "2010-12-27T18:04:56Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > One draws the line wherever one wants; I was talking about what I would do myself. Certainly everybody draws the line in every situation where one wants. That’s pretty much missing the point, though - the discussion only works if we try to couch it in terms of reasonable standards of society. Otherwise any such discussion is simply shut down with a statement such as yours; that’s contrary to the reason for engaging in the debate (well, unless your reason is to shut down the debate, but I’m going with the assumption that it’s not). At some point the line one has drawn can be regarded by society as unreasonable. The debate here is where _that_ line is. It’s obvious that all of us will fall on one side or other of that line to some degree; that’s not in question. I might draw the line at the fact that you just quoted me; you just told people what I said (despite the fact that I said it in public). Clearly that is unreasonable. > [@](#): > > If I know, or think I know, something about someone simply because I was cashier on a purchase, I feel like I shouldn’t talk about any of that to others. But everything you know about someone is simply because you are . You can’t know anything in a vaccuum. My question is - what is so special about being “cashier” that makes you feel that way? What if it was another customer, instead, who mentioned you to a friend. > [@](#): > > If you went to the pharmacy to buy Lotrimin, how would you feel if the cashier told the next few customers that your wife had a yeast infection? But we’ve established it’s a scale, and where one draws the line is the point of discussion. Obviously you can pull out examples where such things are not appropriate; that doesn’t make it a general rule, though - at least not _reasonably_ so. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/70 "2010-12-27T18:33:03Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Certainly everybody draws the line in every situation where one wants. That’s pretty much missing the point, though - the discussion only works if we try to couch it in terms of reasonable standards of society. Otherwise any such discussion is simply shut down with a statement such as yours; that’s contrary to the reason for engaging in the debate (well, unless your reason is to shut down the debate, but I’m going with the assumption that it’s not). > > At some point the line one has drawn can be regarded by society as unreasonable. The debate here is where _that_ line is. It’s obvious that all of us will fall on one side or other of that line to some degree; that’s not in question. > > I might draw the line at the fact that you just quoted me; you just told people what I said (despite the fact that I said it in public). Clearly that is unreasonable. > > But everything you know about someone is simply because you are . You can’t know anything in a vaccuum. My question is - what is so special about being “cashier” that makes you feel that way? What if it was another customer, instead, who mentioned you to a friend. > > But we’ve established it’s a scale, and where one draws the line is the point of discussion. Obviously you can pull out examples where such things are not appropriate; that doesn’t make it a general rule, though - at least not _reasonably_ so. Not everyone agrees that there is a scale; see some comments above. But you and I do; good. I did not intend to shut down any debate. I view transactions in stores to be somewhat private. Obviously, they take place in a venue that is open to all, and what we choose to buy and how we pay for it are visible to some of the people who happen to be in the store at the same time. I think most people have no problem with the fact that the person in line behind them may observe some of what is purchased. I also think that most people would object to the store displaying their purchases and payments on a Jumbotron screen that faced the parking lot, or having the clerk routinely announce the name of each item purchased in a loud voice. I guess where I draw the line really has nothing to do with commerce. I believe that most of the things I know about other people are not suitable subjects for me to reveal to third parties. I live in a small city, so small that divorces are announced in a small “court transactions” section in the newspaper. If I happen to read that my acquaintances Dick and Jane got divorced, I would consider it just wrong for me to tell every mutual acquaintance I ran into that the divorce had happened. It would be true, and truly public, but not something I should disseminate. I should leave that to Dick and Jane. My personal ethics probably make me a boring acquaintance, gossip-wise. None of my scruples here involve a perception of rights. If my purchases were blabbed about by a cashier in a store and I found out about it, I would probably express my displeasure to a manager or owner. I actually expect that most managers or owners would see such blabbing as a poor business practice. If they didn’t see it my way, I wouldn’t view it as my rights having been violated, but rather as my preferences not being catered to. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/71 "2010-12-27T21:15:20Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It’s not gossip. It’s factual information about what they did in public. > [@jz78817](#): > > I’ve always felt that “gossip” was something that was intended to be catty and judgemental, not like the offhand blabbing in the OP. Gossip is spreading information about people behind their back. It doesn’t have to be catty to be destructive; so long as it’s Party A telling Party B something about Party C that Party A doesn’t have any authorization to tell _or legitimate reason to believe that Party B has a need or right to know_, it qualifies. And in this case, if the information is someone’s buying habits at a particular store, or something that implicates someone’s financial status or health status, all the moreso. > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Do you live in Pleasantville circa 1953 or something? Oh noes, people saw you at the bottle shop buying a bottle of alcohol twice in one week! This could really hurt your chances of becoming captain of the bowling team! Perhaps not captain of the bowling team, but President of the Jewish Sisterhood, perhaps. _Trusted_ as the leader of the gossip-receiver’s daughter’s Girl Scout troop, quite likely. _Trusted_ in any position in which people have an expectation of sobriety and uprightness like doctor, dentist, lawyer, elected official, also likely. When people make it a point to tell us things about people we know, we presume that they’re doing for a reason, that the information is something that we’re meant to draw some inference from. If the information is “I saw Betty, in the nicest blue dress, it’s such a good color on her” then the inference can be as simple as “Betty has good fashion sense.” If the information is “Betty’s been in here a lot this last month” where the here in question is the liquor store, the inference isn’t going to be so benign. > [@](#): > > but realistically, it’s human nature for people in retail to talk about what they perceive to be fairly minor or inconsequential things, and saying “I saw Joe Bloggs in here this morning” would qualify as that, IMHO. When I worked in retail, I talked to my customers about various details about what they were buying, about interesting jewelry or other things they were wearing (leading one woman to _give_ me a necklace I complimented; she had made it, had a jewelry business, I send her customers to this day), about things going on in our community at the time, about their cute kids that they brought with them, about the song on the muzak even. Was I just smarter than your average retail worker that in my couple of years standing, essentially, behind a register, I was able to find better things to talk about than _other customers_? I honestly doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/72 "2010-12-27T22:12:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Gossip is spreading information about people behind their back. It doesn’t have to be catty to be destructive; so long as it’s Party A telling Party B something about Party C that Party A doesn’t have any authorization to tell or legitimate reason to believe that Party B has a need or right to know, it qualifies. yeah, well, that’s just, like, your opinion, man. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/73 "2010-12-27T22:23:22Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > I disagree slightly with some of the above posts. You don’t have a right of secrecy to actions you do, and people who know you have no obligation not to talk about things you did. Well no, you don’t have the right to secrecy for everything you do, and the person isn’t legally bound to silence about your purchases, but it does kinda make you a busybody making commentary to customers about other people’s purchases. > [@PunditLisa](#): > > I’d be more worried about my friend who jumped to the conclusion that I was an alcoholic based on nothing but a cashier’s innocuous comment. Hey, it might be a good thing. _The great thing about being an alcoholic is that nobody depends on you for shit, okay? Nobody ever asked me for a ride to the airport. I’m always like, “That sounds like a hoot, but I’ll be drinking that day, good luck with that.”_ Ms. Handler. > [@Crotalus](#): > > I view transactions in stores to be somewhat private. Obviously, they take place in a venue that is open to all, and what we choose to buy and how we pay for it are visible to some of the people who happen to be in the store at the same time. I think most people have no problem with the fact that the person in line behind them may observe some of what is purchased. I also think that most people would object to the store displaying their purchases and payments on a Jumbotron screen that faced the parking lot, or having the clerk routinely announce the name of each item purchased in a loud voice. If this happened, I would go to the store for no other reason than to make bizarre-sounding purchases. “The young lady has purchased 1.75mL of over-proof rum, porn, condoms, and ammo.” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/74 "2010-12-27T22:25:10Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I do not agree that any such ethical obligation exists. You don’t have an ethical right not to have your public actions discussed by witnesses. You’re still talking about something different to me. I guess this is pointless. (scrolling down, I see you already declared yourself the winner in this discussion, so I suppose that’s that.) ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/75 "2010-12-27T23:01:42Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Indiscretion is poor customer service. I think we should be able to expect adequate customer service, including a reasonable level of professional discretion on the part of the staff taking our money. Professional discretion at minimium wage and no benefits? Yeah, right. When cashiers are paid on the same level as professionals in health or law, you might have a case. However, as things stand adequate customer service is getting your order right and giving the correct change. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/76 "2010-12-27T23:24:09Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Professional discretion at minimium wage and no benefits? Yeah, right. When cashiers are paid on the same level as professionals in health or law, you might have a case. However, as things stand adequate customer service is getting your order right and giving the correct change. Well, to be honest, I expect it because it’s what nearly always happens. Maybe things are different where I live. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/77 "2010-12-27T23:37:02Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > … “The young lady has purchased 1.75mL of over-proof rum, porn, condoms, and ammo.” Most desired gal in town! ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/78 "2011-01-03T19:54:14Z")
Pulling that kind of crap behind the register of high-end department store x where i used to work is/was grounds for dismissal at worst and a severe reprimand at best. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/79 "2011-01-03T21:15:10Z")
> [@Scubaqueen](#): > > Pulling that kind of crap behind the register of high-end department store x where i used to work is/was grounds for dismissal at worst and a severe reprimand at best. In some high end department stores, clerks who earn commission may well be making professional level wages as well as receiving employee discounts that amount to thousands per year, so there may be an argument that protecting customer privacy is part of their job. But for the eighteen year-old minimum wage slave behind the counter at the local liquor store or convenience store? Just be glad they’re not taking your photo to later send to their buddies as examples of their lame customers. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239/80 "2011-01-03T21:35:06Z")
It’s not about the pay scale. It’s about being circumspect enough to forgo blabbing about other people’s business when there’s no compelling reason to do so. It falls under the areas of common sense and good manners. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cashier-confidentiality-how-would-you-feel-about-this/565239.md?page=5)