As mentioned in another infamous thread, I work at a coffee shop and have worked various retail jobs since I was 16, all through college, and so on. Lately, I’ve noticed two customer behaviors, both occurring at the time of transaction, that completely blow my mind. I would never, ever do either of these things any more than I’d lower my pants and poop in the middle of the sales floor or bring up a handful of pebbles and attempt to pay with them - it’s not even that they’re rude as much as I have to wonder if the person doing them is even a human being.
Walking away from the register in mid-transaction. Seriously, who does this? I actually had to ask a customer, “Ma’am, are you feeling ok?” the other day because she just wandered away from the register mid-transaction and started browsing through items while a line of people was waiting behind her. Seriously, who does that? It’s as completely irrational and confusing behavior to me as if somebody came in and proceeded to remove each garment of clothing and then stand on their head.
While it’s infuriating to the customers waiting in line when somebody does this, it’s even worse when there’s no line, as invariably somebody will approach the register to purchase something and I have to tell them, “I’m sorry, but I’m mid-transaction with somebody who just wandered away.” They look at me like I’m insane because somebody just decided that it was appropriate human being behavior to do that. It seriously baffles me, and occurrs several times each shift that I work.
Throwing payment onto the counter rather than hading it to me. Extra points of confusion for when I’m standing there with my hand out and you throw the money onto the counter instead. Again, who does this? What human being does this? I’ve never, ever done this as a customer, and the idea of doing it is just as bizarre inappropriate as reaching out and grabbing the boob of the person behind the register or picking up things off of the floor and putting them into my mouth. Discounting the .00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% of the population that are germophobes, why would anybody do this? I honestly do not understand it. Please note that I’m not referring to people doing this when the cashier is not at the register (such as when bagging the items or filling a cup of coffee), but doing it during the face-to-face moment when the cashier is holding out their hand for the money and the person puts (or more often just tosses) the money onto the counter instead.
Does anybody do these things? Why do you do them? Do they seem as bizarre to you as they do to me?
Never did it, never seen anyone in front of me do it. Sounds really odd.
That’s downright rude unless maybe the customer is counting out their change onto the counter or something. But the tossing gesture is just ill-mannered.
(2) may be a cultural disconnect–I think that’s the normal way to give and receive change in Europe (and possibly elsewhere). If you have a lot of tourists or immigrants as customers, that may be the explanation.
The first one, no, not unless I had some type of emergency. If the lines were slow, I might excuse myself if I realized I had forgotten one of the major items I came to the store to get. Still, though, if I were working the register I would try to be nice to the person. From the store owner’s perspective, it’s probably a good thing if some shiny object catches their attention as an impulse purchase.
I do set money on the counter sometimes, I did it today in fact. I was rummaging through my purse for change to buy some Tylenol (yes, headache…) and had bunches of other stuff in my hands. I wasn’t intending to be rude, but I suppose as the customer in the transaction I didn’t feel the need to juggle any more than I had to so the cashier didn’t have to pick up the money. It wasn’t a fast-paced line or anything, we were the only people in the store.
Among certain ethnic and religious groups, unmarried men and women are not permitted to touch each other. If one party is from such a group, then he or she will probably not hand the money directly to the cashier, but rather take the intermediate step of putting it on the counter.
I first learned of this when shopping in the heavily orthodox Jewish Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh. The male store proprietors would put the change on the counter. I thought it was rude until it was explained to me. They would accept me handing them the money, as there isn’t actually a prohibition against unmarried males and females handing things to one another. They were accomodating my ignorance of the customs. But since their general practice was to put the change on the counter, that’s what they did.
Of course, in these cases, the money is placed on the counter, not thrown on the counter.
Anyway, your patrons who do this could be orthodox Jews or members of a group with similar customs. Even if they are not currently practicing, if they were raised orthodox, they could just find it more comfortable and natural to do it that way. Sort of like how a lot of people who were raised in kosher households don’t keep kosher, and will even eat things with pork in them, but given a choice, will opt for something other than the ham sandwich.
I’m just getting a chuckle out of the capitalization here. It looks like the section is heavily orthodox, and that it’s called Jewish Squirrel Hill.
Anyway, I have seen people do that in retail. Once I offered to buy the woman’s merchandise (she was up to about $20 when she wandered off, and it looked like her stuff would have fit my wife). She came right back. I’ll bet that’s not as much fun for the cashier as it was for me, though.
The first behavior is incomprehensible to me. As for the second, the only thing that would tempt me to do that would be if the cashier insisted on handing me my change with the receipt and the coins balanced on top of the bills. Or had been massively hostile or disgusting in some way.
I know what the OP is talking about with #1. I worked as a supermarket cashier in high school and people (even older adults) would sometimes just wander away while I was ringing them up. Some of them just kept migrating and then just disappeared completley without any explanation. Some people seem to go into some weird hypnotic state in retail locations. All the sounds and lights are like hypnotizing a chicken.
I often wish adults could be recommended to remedial raising if the first one didn’t take (kind of like Jerry Blank in Strangers with Candy). When someone is often noticed doing these kinds of things, they could be sent to a system of special foster homes for 5 - 10 year periods where they would be raised again by loving, responsible, yet strict parents. Then, when someone just threw their money on the counter, it would be followed by a sharp hand slap from behind and being drug out of the store in shame.
Many, many parts of the world think it’s not appropriate to hand money to the cashier. I’ve noticed this when eating in small Asian restaurants often - they tend to have a tray they hand it to you on. Of course, that’s hardly throwing it.
And yeah, when I worked retail I hated the wanderers with a screaming passion. It’s one thing to say “Oh, I forgot ____ - let me run get it!”, but another to wander off like a cow chewing its cud.
I work retail, and the first happens to me often. I have no idea why people just wander away, but it happens every couple of days. Very strange.
As for the second, it doesn’t bother me if they put the money down on the counter, especially since I’ll probably be ringing up while they do it, and my hands would be busy. Throwing money would get them at least a nasty look.
They don’t just wander away at the register. Say I have to run to one of the in-store scanners to check a price on something (because they are too lazy to do it themselves or something) and I say, “I’m going to go scan this right back there (pointing at the sign hanging from the ceiling that marks where the scanner is) and I’ll be back in a minute.”
Half of the time, when I get back, they are gone. Not even near where I left them. I’ve had to search the whole department looking for them before, and then half of that time they don’t want it because it’s too expensive for them after making me walk around and around trying to find them. All they’d have had to do was to stay put, or at least don’t go very far from where they started, and it’d have been a lot quicker and easier for them and for me.
Easiest would have been for them to go scan it themselves, but what else do I get $6 an hour to do? sigh
I do occasionally SET my money or card on the counter, if there are a lot of items fo ring and I’ve already counted out my bills, etc. At the grocery store I sometimes set the card on the edge of the little payment stand so the cashier can easily grasp it. It just kind of depends on whether they have their hand out when I’m ready to offer payment; I don’t care to stand there holding the money until they’re ready to take it, and I might be digging out my sunglasses or keys, putting away my wallet if I’m paying in exact change, etc., to try to keep the line moving. But I would never THROW the money, not even if I were really, really pissed. I have other outlets for that. :^)
Walking away from the register. I don’t think I’ve done this in the manner described. However, if I’ve ordered something and it takes a while to get my item, I will step aside so the person behind me in line can place their own order. That’s not what you mean is it?
Throwing money on the counter. I don’t throw money except into fountains. My grandmother always places (never throws) her money onto the counter. She grew up where that was the polite thing to do. She’s not Jewish though.
Green Bean, I just wanted to let you know I thought it was ironic that you were posting here about a culture disconnection between mainstream America and Orthodox Judaism, because the Spanish words for “green beans” translate literally to “green Jews” (judias verdes, with an accent over the I).
Anyway, kind of a stretch, but enjoy.
Anyway, the first one sounds really weird to me. I’ve never done it, seen it, or heard of it. It’s absolutely boggling that it happens a few times a shift where you work. I have a haunting suspicion that your customers are cat owners tripping on LSD.
The second–I don’t get that either. Although let me point out here that it bothers me that cashiers feel the need to give me the receipt, bills and coins in the same handful. I have to stop, put my coins in my jacket pocket, my receipt in my pants pocket, and the bills in my wallet, while my food/coffee/groceries/coughdrops/whatever are getting cold and everyone’s glaring at me all the way down the line. And I can’t exactly say “Give me the coins, bills and receipts in three seperate sessions”, because that would be even worse.
Reading further, it seems like just about everyone here who’s worked retail has dealt with wanderers. That’s the weirdest thing. You should ask the manager to make them wear shock necklaces while they’re in line.
Me and some of my friends used to get a kick throwing nickels at the other kids in my (irony #2) Jewish Sunday-school classes when I was around 12. I don’t think I’ve ever thrown money since then, though.
I found out on another thread here on the Dope that some Asians consider the sound of jingling money to be good luck. If your customers are Asian, that may be why they are throwing the money.
1a - I can settle a price dispute faster then the store manager by bringing the display up to the register faster then the manager can get to the register, even if I have to go in back and get a forklift to bring the entire thing up.
1b - when the line is too long, I will either just leave the cart in line and walk out, or if I don’t have a cart just place the itemes on the floor and leave, but this is not while I am being rung up.
As for leaving the money on the counter, I don’t think I ever did that unless the cashere was unprepaired to accept it. If I did that I would expect the checker to ask me if I needed help counting the money.
This used to get me when I worked in retail as well. I’ve not heard of the cultural ‘non-touch’ rules but they sound fair enough. Those rules mustn’t apply to everyone who puts their cash down on the counter, though, because I’ve had customers who won’t put their payment on my outstretched hand but who will put out their hand to receive the change.
What the hell?
Why wouldn’t you just hand them to someone at customer service on your way out, or otherwise move them out of the way? Why leave a hazard for the rest of the inconvenienced and irritated folk to step over and around? At least then you could tell someone why you were leaving.
Easy way to deal with this: Extend your thumb and forefinger and slide out the paper. Flip your hand over so they can drop the change into your palm.
Of course, if you want to be irritating, I suppose you could slide out the paper, slowly but it in your billfold, and then go back for the change. I usually save that for my third trip…
