# What retail sales jobs have the most, or least, challenging customer situations? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 5, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-retail-sales-jobs-have-the-most-or-least-challenging-customer-situations/677961 "2014-01-05T19:38:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-retail-sales-jobs-have-the-most-or-least-challenging-customer-situations/677961/21 "2014-01-06T21:53:19Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Wouldn’t a gun store be, like, the safest place on earth? After all, the only thing that stops a bad guy (i.e. black person) with a gun is a good guy (i.e. white person) with a gun. > > :dubious: Holy hell, are you trying to commit suicide by mod? ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-retail-sales-jobs-have-the-most-or-least-challenging-customer-situations/677961/22 "2014-01-06T22:02:35Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Wouldn’t a gun store be, like, the safest place on earth? After all, the only thing that stops a bad guy (i.e. black person) with a gun is a good guy (i.e. white person) with a gun. > > :dubious: This is a warning for trolling. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-retail-sales-jobs-have-the-most-or-least-challenging-customer-situations/677961/23 "2014-01-06T22:20:32Z")
Moving along… I would rule out food services entirely. Prepping, cleaning, time constraints, waste management, and a bonus of heat from the cooking makes food retail a massive pain in the butt. I would rule out retail that lends itself to frenzies such as clothing, electronics, toys, movie premiers, etc. Ultimately I think you stick to the adage of: love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life and the best bet is to retail an item that aligns itself to your interests be it a hobby shop, sporting goods store, comic book shop, jewelry, tobacco, books, etc. Unfortunate for me, I don’t think I command a knowledge of any one item that would qualify me for anything. If I had to choose one, I’d probably say sporting goods but it would be a lot cooler if I could sell wine, books, or some variety of kitsch. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-retail-sales-jobs-have-the-most-or-least-challenging-customer-situations/677961/24 "2014-01-06T22:30:54Z")
Bail bondsmen’s customers probably skew toward “most challenging.” ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-retail-sales-jobs-have-the-most-or-least-challenging-customer-situations/677961/25 "2014-01-06T22:36:21Z")
I worked in a bridal shop for about a year. It was challenging. Lots of money, big ticket items, huge drama, big stress from the majority of clients, plus having to do custom alterations and stuff which meant lots and lots of client contact. I don’t recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![UFBB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/96bed5/32.png) [@UFBB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UFBB)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-retail-sales-jobs-have-the-most-or-least-challenging-customer-situations/677961/26 "2014-01-06T22:50:31Z")
Does retail banking count? Because I’ve had somechallenging customer situations, to say the least. Over seven years of politely helping customers who would call or come in with a myriad of problems. Problems that were never caused by their out of control spending, failure to manage their finances, or maintain any sense of personal responsibility. Instead it was always my fault for “stealing their money” or “letting them go into overdraft”. Two customers threatened me and my employees to the point where restraining orders were filed. Last week, my husband (who is also in retail banking) had to have security to escort a customer out of the bank because he was literally screaming every cuss word imaginable and told my husband he would “beat the fuck outta him”. Why? Oh, because his new debit card had the numbers 9 and 6 in it. They’re bad luck for him. ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-retail-sales-jobs-have-the-most-or-least-challenging-customer-situations/677961/27 "2014-01-06T22:53:39Z")
I see a trend here: anything having to do with contact with the Humans is a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-retail-sales-jobs-have-the-most-or-least-challenging-customer-situations/677961/28 "2014-01-06T22:55:13Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > One of my customer I would say is one of the hard ones, pawn shop. The drama in that place sometimes is so thick you would need a chainsaw to cut it. > > easiest one I see…gaming store. I am unhappy to report that you are wrong. Not as bad as a pawn shop, but still with a rather obnoxious demographic. Gaming stores also attract obscure variants of the gaming geek that is often terrifying. As an example of things you would likely never see anywhere else but a gaming store (although in light of the moderator warning it is a risk mentioning it): Black guys with Nazi fetishes. I wish I were making that up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-retail-sales-jobs-have-the-most-or-least-challenging-customer-situations/677961.md?page=1)