I’m not sure if I can say that Otto’s point is entirely valid, but I don’t disagree with it very strongly and there is at least some validity to it. As you note, however, my comment was mainly directed towards the other posters here.
Did anyone else notice that Otto is concerned about civil rights, yet expresses great umbrage that the lowly checker expressed her rights to free speech? How dare she not have an opinion about GLBT which parallels his own?
No, I didn’t notice that, because it didn’t happen. In the OP, Otto expresses disagreement with what the checker said. In no way in that post does he express the view that the checker should not be allowed to express her view.
-FrL-
Oh, and this is what?:
Sounds to me like he’d like the employee censured for an opinion which runs counter to that of the majority customer base.
As a business decision, it is likely not a great idea to voice things which will upset the majority customer base. Letting the manager know about this is, while admittedly targeted at preventing such voicings in the same context in the future, not a stifling of free speech; the checker would continue to be free to say whatever she wants about whoever she wants, in her personal life (that is, when not acting in her on-the-job capacity)*. It’s no more a violation of rights to expression than would be a workplace dress code. [Indeed, Otto’s rant is no more an attack on freedom of speech than is your suggestion that he should not have complained to the manager]
Letting the manager know about it will indeed allow the cashier to exercise her right to free speech- in a different job, after she gets her ass fired.
IMHO, you should NEVER complain about service staff, unless they actually personally, specifically insult you. Saying they don’t consider a story about gay marriage to be interesting doesn’t qualify. Complaints get people fired, even for stuff that you might consider not that important but “Worth bringing to someone’s attention”.
And speaking as someone who has worked as a checkout cashier: Fuck You to the “Shut up and scan” crowd. I’m a person, not a fucking robot. I want to talk to you and ask how your day is because I’m stuck standing behind a fucking checkout for several hours a day. Granted, I wouldn’t go making personal comments about people’s groceries, but I would ask about specific vegetables or interesting products in a “Is this good? I’d like to try this myself” vein.
I never had a customer complain about it and was often complimented on how glad the customers were that I’d talk to them instead of acting like an automaton.
Fortunately for all you people who are too good to talk to the person scanning your groceries, many supermarkets are introducing self-serve checkout aisles where you scan and bag your own groceries. You’ll note that your groceries aren’t any cheaper than if you go through the register, and if the trend continues your kids won’t have jobs in a few years time, but for now you’ll be spared the inconvenience of exchanging pleasantries with another human being who is performing an unrewarding job for your benefit.
Couldn’t agree more.
Sounds like it to me, as well.
But where’s the part where the employee’s right to free speech is being hindered in some way?
Do you think that an employer who fires employees who are not polite to customers is violating his employees’ right to free speech?
-FRL-
The hordes of people who go to the polls specifically to vote down gay rights would seem to indicate other wise.
I’m going to have an eachway bet. The cashier showed poor form commenting on an article on the front page of a paper. A paper being purchased to read. Possibly the purchaser wanted to read exactly that article and the cashier ignorantly made a judgement call, essentially “You want to read this? What the fuck for?”
(I get cranky with the Australia media when they cream their pants because Nicole Kidman is in town and they plaster her pasty features all over the front page and I have dig to pages 3 and 4 for the ‘real news’. You want celebrity? Buy the fucking ‘Who Weekly’ - and leave my major dailies for real news.)
I’ve also been taken aback by a cashier (check-out chicks, we call 'em) who commented “Gee, have a NICE night” when purchasing a 12 pack of condoms.
But, they work the till because they need the money, and most of them are kids working after school. I always make the effort to address them by name and thank them, because they’re providing a service. They aren’t rocket scientists, they’re young, (and we should be nice, because one of these inarticulate unsophisticated brats just might one day be looking after us).
I agree. Hard news stories, like “chatty cashier affronts message board activist,” should not be buried. I know The Onion would have the dignity and good sense to run it on page one…
I agree with you. People either complain that cashiers and other workers aren’t friendly enough, or they complain that they’re too chatty. They really can’t win. Unless they are annoyingly fake and sunshiney, I don’t mind at all when cashiers talk to me for a few seconds. I worked as a cashier all through high school, and I remember how tedious it is to stand there all day dealing with mostly unhappy, impatient customers. You’d do just about anything to make the time go faster, including making small talk with people.
I’ve always thought that everyone should have to wait tables or work a cash register at some point in their lives. It would give them a little more understanding of what it’s like to be in that position, and maybe they’d treat service workers with a little more patience.
“Well, you stupid bitch…”
I think there’s an obvious valid case to be made for panty-bunching.
The only time I get annoyed about checkers talking is when I’m trying to catch a bus to get my groceries home and they’re chatting with the customers in front of me instead of ringing up their items. Generally I don’t mind a cashier being friendly or even a bit chatty. When I’m not in a hurry, and there’s no one behind me in line, I’ll even chat back at them.
There are times when I’m in a bad mood and not particularly interested in talking, but I try not to take it out on other people. And I agree with Indygrrl’s suggestion about everyone having to work as a cashier or wait tables at least once in their lives. I’ve never done either myself, but sometimes I’m appalled at the way people treat others just because they’re in a service job.
Honestly, the “annoyingly fake and sunshiney” ones don’t bother me. But every now and then, I get the “bitter ex-retiree who couldn’t make end meet and feels this job is beneath her and how dare the customer come to her register” ones. Other than that, I have no problem making small talk with the cashier. But I don’t appreciate (me or my purchases) being talked or comented about to a coworker while I still standing there. And that is at the core of Otto’s comment. Had the cashier waited until he left and then turned to the bag boy and said “did you see that headline? …” I doubt we’d be having this discussion.
If it’s in Wisconsin (where the OP is), then, by law, the cashier must have been 18 and must have an “operators licensce” (aka bartenders licensce). Or someone that meets those requirements is required to supervise the sale.
Whatever. I worked as a cashier too and am in no way too good to have someone talk to me. I live in a small town and expect chit-chat. It’s the commenting on my purchases that gets me–I shouldn’t have to feel uncomfortable at buying whatever I damn well please, in whatever quantity I want. Yes, I drink a lot of water-beverage and don’t feel like coming back to the store every few days so I stock up. Teasing me about it doesn’t help.
Ok, let me rephrase. Promoting gay rights isn’t a big deal to most people who aren’t gay.
“So… duct tape, rope, and a shovel! Guess we know what you’re doing toni… hey, why are you glaring at me like that?”
Hi, you may have heard of this place called the Pit - it’s where people can get their pet peeves out in rant form without actually, for example, calling people stupid bitches in real life.
As for the rest of you stupid bitches 
here’s my take on the thread:
For the “shut up and scan” folks, feel free to die in a fire. The person working the register, no matter how jaded-looking, is still a person with feelings. They would maybe rather not be there. They would maybe rather be at a job where they can engage people and learn things, but for various reasons that may or may not be in their control, they aren’t currently. Asking you questions about your purchase, even leading questions for humor, is an attempt to engage you on a human level and learn things. If you want to talk to a robot, go here. If you want your daily cooking supplies without gasp! the horror of potentially being asked how one might prepare that strange mushroom you’ve chosen to buy, then you should maybe see about getting your groceries online, then putting a li’l basket on your front porch (and some damn tip money) so you don’t actually have to see the delivery person and their dirty, judging eyes.
For the “free speech” crowd: no. Just no.
I currently work as a register monkey, albeit in a specialty retail store. I’ll almost always offer my opinion when it’s solicited and plenty of times when it’s not - when I’ve heard bad reviews on a product from other customers, for instance. We’re a small store, so engaging people is what we do. It helps people feel welcome and also we sell more stuff. I’m one of the friendliest customer service reps you’ll meet - no one leaves my line unhappy unless they’re damned determined to. But I understand that, in taking my job and being on the clock, my right to free speech is necessarily hindered in favor of offering a safe and friendly environment for all our customers. If it’s one of our regulars, sure, I’ll argue politics and history with them, but I’m not going to judge them or their views, and I’m certainly not going to get caught spouting things which could alienate whole segments of the population.
That’s not censorship - that’s part of the territory of customer service. I’m definitely not of the opinion that the customer is always right, especially when it’s something way off topic of the actual service being rendered, but part of the job description involves making a rewarding and non-hostile experience for the customers, and I’ve seen people get rightly fired for being unable to express their views politely while on the clock.
But maybe that’s just me, and maybe I’m weird. After all, I also believe that those who already have certain civil rights should be the ones most loudly promoting them for those for whom they’re being unfairly denied.
I’ve complained about the service staff in a store. Exactly once. I went into a fabric store on a Sunday, and the young women who were working were playing some really, really offensive rap music – very popular, but the lyrics were all about calling women hos and bitches and suggesting they should be raped, and so on and so forth. Frankly, (a) that’s inappropriate in just about any store, and (b) it’s especially inappropriate in a store that caters almost exclusively to women.
So next time I was in, I mentioned it to the manager. She sighed and said that the girls had been told they could play whatever music they wanted to when the store wasn’t open, but they knew they weren’t supposed to play certain music when customers were in the store.
Was it bitchy of me? Yes. Did the girls deserve it? Yes. They were also being rude, spending more time yakking with each other than helping customers, and they made everyone feel like it was a real imposition to ask them to do their job. So to get them in trouble for playing music that would offend probably 99% of the customers in the store? Didn’t bother me in the slightest.
Sometimes people who work retail need to remember that they do actually have customers they’re supposed to be helping. A basic tenet of which is, don’t go out of your way to offend them. Especially when it’s easily avoided.
So, strangely enough, I am totally in agreement with Otto. A situation which rarely happens.