I agree, and furthermore a pharmacy that fails to protect patient privacy in the way you described is probably violating HIPAA.
Since when does gossiping about someone behind their back qualify as small talk?
“Looks like snow!” is small talk. “Did you see the game last night?” is small talk. “Haven’t seen you in a while, glad to have you back again.” is small talk.
“Hey, Mrs. Jones was here earlier. You live in her building, don’t you? I see her twice a week these days.” is gossip, bordering on the malicious.
There’s no excuse for it.
Sounds like a no-win situation.
If someone thinks you’re an alcoholic, and you deny it, they’ll think they’re right.
If someone thinks you’re an alcoholic, and you don’t deny it, your silence looks like guilt.
You could always hand over a written note. And hope no one thinks it’s a stick-up.
I think malicious gossip is on par with the deadliest sins.
Of course, if they had a life, would they be cashiers?
(Note to all the cashiers I’ve just insulted: I keed! I keed! :D)
I worked during college in a small town grocery store. I got to know most of the regulars pretty well, recalling their bagging preferences, usual purchases, lottery requests, etc. I once made a comment about a previous purchase that proved useful. A woman came through the store buying a round loaf of bread and the generic brand of grape juice. A man came through hours before, buying the same exact thing. I looked up at the woman and commented on the coincidence. Then, she looked somewhat surprised and questioned the appearance of the man, who I described as best as I could. It turns out the man was a minister buying items for communion that Sunday; she thought he had forgotten and was picking it up for the same occasion. Apparently, my observational skills had saved her a purchase.
Yeah, me too. I’d be more annoyed with the friend than the cashier.
I see Mrs. Jones twice a week is malicious gossip? That seems…kind of insane.
Definitely. Just in case, though, you should never buy tires in that store again!
Best wishes,
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I don’t see how anyone should have any expectation of privacy or confidentiality about anything they do publicly. I certainly make no such assumptions myself. Hell, they have cameras in most of those places. Why would you expect confidentiality?
Incidentally, I think it would take more than hearing about a single purchase of alcohol for me to jump to a conclusion that someone I knew was an alcoholic. If I had no prior reason to believe that, I’d just assume a large purchase meant they were buying for a party or something, especially if it was during a holiday season.
In Tumbledown’s example, I picked the cashier working at a liquor store.
What exactly did you buy?
IMHO your nosiness and indiscretion canceled out the $5.00 you saved her. Your remarks were completely inappropriate ESPECIALLY in a small town (I live in one) where people already know too much about each other.
In tonight’s top story: Cashier’s unexcused nosiness leads to massive rioting and looting in the town! Story at 11.
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.
I don’t agree that we have any such expectation whatsoever. We are in a public place engaging in public behavior. There is no entitlement to secrecy.
The issue isn’t the shopper’s entitlement to privacy. Of course, anything we do in public is, well… public. Everyone has to make decisions about what they will/will not do in public, taking into account the possible behavior of others. The responsibility for those decisions resides entirely with the shopper.
That’s not the crux of the matter is here. The issue here is the behavior and conduct of the cashier, APART from expectations of the shopper. As the cashier, how do YOU decide what to do? To say, “The shopper has no expectation of privacy, therefore, I don’t have to be concerned with the shopper’s privacy,” is shirking YOUR duty to honor your own values. Your decision, as the cashier, about whether to comment on or reveal the shopper’s purchases out loud should not be based on what the shopper’s expectations of privacy are. That is completely muddying the water. That would be like saying, “Well, the guy left his wallet on the table, so he EXPECTS someone to steal it.” It’s still wrong to steal the wallet.
The realistic expectations of the shopper are completely separate from the cashier’s own decisions and values re his/her conduct.
The cashier isn’t doing anything wrong, in my opinion. I don’t care if they tell somebody what I bought. That doesn’t hurt me. It doesn’t violate any “values.”
I guess I’m still not seeing the big deal. It might be a bit intrusive, yeah, but it’s not like you can expect total silence from a cashier. It’s nice if they are, but if you’re really that hung up on it, order online or wear a disguise.