August 2014 - Page 2 of 14 - I Hate Working In Retail

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20 Annoying Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

In an attempt to support myself in New York City as I perused my dreams of being a writer, I started working at an upscale clothing boutique on Madison Avenue. Nothing could have prepared me for the people I would meet and lessons I would learn amid all the cashmere and silk. To be fair, I don’t think anything can prepare for the very particular annoyances and frustrations that occur while working in retail except the stories of those who have done it themselves. Commiserating time!

1. The true meaning of “mess.”

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

The only thing messier than unsupervised children is said children’s parents in a room full of perfectly board-folded cashmere. The stacks of sweaters you spent all morning folding are tossed to the floor faster than your post-graduate dreams of a full time salaried job right out of college. And their fittings rooms! There are few sights and smells more disturbing than the ones found in a fitting room after an hour-long styling appointment.

2. Regulars turning you into their own personally employed BFF.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

You are often confused for a therapist, a baby-sitter, a financial consultant, a maid and a clothing rack. You are pretty sure you know more about your clients then their respective husbands; after all they aren’t being paid to listen.

3. You live both on and for caffeine.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

If you have a 15-minute break you better believe you’re waiting in the 14 minute long Starbucks line relinquishing any chance of food, fresh air or rest. There is nothing that can’t be improved by a triple shot of espresso or you know a Grande Mocha Frappuccino with extra whip.

4. Never being able to make plans.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

You have an ever-changing schedule that makes it almost impossible to make plans further than a week in advance. You also perpetually have no idea what day of the week it is thanks to your non-existent weekends. TGIF has lost all its once sacred and joy-inducing powers.

5. Getting called in.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

There is no stronger feeling of anger than the one that overcomes you on a Saturday morning when your phone starts ringing at 7 am. You have thrown your phone to the floor, against a wall, and across the room all with the hopes that it may break and you may not have to go into work again today. You often dream about how you would like to answer that phone call asking you to come in on your one day off.

6. December is ruined forever.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

Holiday season no longer conjures memories of Christmas trees and carols rather you immediately feel a sense of anxiety as your mind runs rampant with images of the war zone that is your store starting Black Friday and raging all the way until January.  The long lines, the stressed out, angry customers, the piles of clothes thrown on the floor, the gift wrapping ribbon, the endless closing shifts, there is no room for dancing sugar plums only war.

7. You are convinced Black Friday’s name was inspired by Black Death.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

The similarities are shocking!

8. There is only thing worse than Black Friday: inventory.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

Inventory is the worse that your deepest, darkest fears. Whatever you are thinking of, doing inventory is worse than it.

9. All top 40 and Christmas music is ruined.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

The mind-numbing loop in which these songs are played is enough to make anyone feel completely and utterly insane. When you catch yourself humming them on your walk home you know you have been completely and utterly brain washed; seek help as soon as possible.

10. Your store’s phone greeting is forever inscribed in your mind.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

You often answer your personal phone with the same greeting by mistake to the amusement of your friends and family.  You imagine your last words will be “how can I help you?”

11. That awkward moment you tell a customer their desired item isn’t available.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

They look at you as if you personally set out to ruin their day and deprive them of the best pink blouse in the whole entire world. Because of course we would rather lose the commission and spend the next twenty minutes finding them one at another store and having it couriered to their house.  Contrary to popular opinion the stock room is not a magical fairyland that consistently replenishes itself it’s more like a toddler’s closet or a hoarders garage.

12. You can no longer shop happily at other stores.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

You mindlessly fix piles and finger space racks. A quick trip to a store finds you finishing go-backs for a half an hour before you can peacefully try something on.

13. “Look ma, no eyes!” is your motto when it comes to texting on the sly.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

You can text flawless, grammatically correct texts from your pocket without a single glance at your screen.

14. You are extremely comfortable with rejection.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

Most all of your attempted sales pitches and credit card offers are shut down immediately with a fast and hard “no.” People act as if you’re trying to rob them or sell them some sort of illegal substance, no attention is paid to the fact that you are simply doing the job you are paid to do.

15. Nightmare customers do not die from kindness.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

The “kill them with kindness” routine only perpetuates the system of abuse. They are aware that the “customer is always right” and will work that notion until you’ve let them return every one of their two-year-old sweaters that have started to pill and given them every discount they can justify.

16. You’re aware of the strange effect being near a cash register has on people.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

Something about parting with money renders people completely irrational. People will say the craziest things if they think it will help them save a few dollars. Women rummaging through Birkin bags–yes, BIRKIN bags–will argue over the tax until you return the items, re-buy them, and ship them to their mother’s brother’s cousin’s house because the sales tax is lower there.

17. No good deed ever goes unpunished, ever.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

You think staying an extra half hour after the store closes to help your customer find her perfect interview outfit was a great idea…until she says she doesn’t even have her credit card with her. And then leaves another extra half hour of work all over the floor of the fitting room. Cool!

18. People have very little respect for your time or job in general.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

People start fitting rooms long after the music has been turned off and the front doors have been locked. They ask you, “what do actually want to do?” and “when are you going to get a real job?” Their comments will only further encourage your dependency on wine.

19. Wine and whining are your two favorite activities.

20 Things You’ll Only Understand If You Work In Retail

There is nothing more rewarding than a post work drink with your coworkers where you can complain about everything that is wrong with retail and thus the world.

20. Not all humans are horrible.

You will be annoyed by 60% of the customers you help and unphased by the other 30% but the remaining 10% of customers will restore your faith in humanity and give you the strength to refold another shirt and hang up another dress. These people give you hope and you hold on tight to those interactions often referring to them in your darkest hours (say 5 a.m. on Black Friday).

Sourced from thegloss.com

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Zara Is Sorry for Making a Shirt That Looked Like a Nazi Concentration Camp Uniform

zara_shirt
No comment necessary.

Screenshot

Zara says it is very, very sorry for selling the children’s T-shirt you see up above, which looks awfully similar to the uniforms Jews wore in Nazi concentration camps. The gold star says “Sheriff,” because the tee was apparently meant to invoke old westerns. (Were Texas law men ever into blue sailor stripes?) Anyway, here are some Jews dressed up at Buchenwald, as a frame of reference. Their stars have a big N on them, which stands for Niederländer.

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Dutch Jews at Buchenwald concentration camp.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Suffice to say, Twitter was outraged, and Zara is pulling the garment.

This seems like a tidy demonstration of why diversity is useful in the workplace. I’m just spitballing here, but it feels pretty unlikely that any Jews got a look at this shirt before it went into production. Had they, maybe one of them would have said: “Hey, this looks like something that might trigger my grandmother’s PTSD.”

 

Sourced from Slate.com

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15 Signs Your Barista Hates You

1. You order croissants in a French accent.

15 Signs Your Barista Hates You

2. You complain about prices.

15 Signs Your Barista Hates You

We didn’t make them up. We also didn’t decide what we paid, or what you tip.

3. You don’t wait for your drink to be called.

15 Signs Your Barista Hates You

Is this a small cappuccino? No, it’s a large iced latte. So, similar.

4. You order gross drinks that shouldn’t exist.

15 Signs Your Barista Hates You

A large breve is 16oz of cream and espresso. Would you like your heart attack for here or to go?

5. You make a point of not going to Starbucks, then order in Starbucks lingo.

15 Signs Your Barista Hates You

Can I get a grande mocha frappuccino? Why, yes, across the street at Starbucks.

6. You ask silly questions.

15 Signs Your Barista Hates You

How big is an 12oz cup? There’s no way to answer that without making you feel like an idiot.

7. You don’t look at the menu till you get to the register.

15 Signs Your Barista Hates You

The rest of the line hates you, too.

8. You stop for coffee when you’re running late to work, and you’re mad when things don’t move fast enough.

15 Signs Your Barista Hates You

Too bad you can’t have this sweet barista gig with coffee at your fingertips.

9. You’re mad at me when the cafe is out of things like iced decaf or whipped cream.

15 Signs Your Barista Hates You

You got me, I ate all the whipped cream and dumped the coffee down the drain.

10. You round to the next dollar on credit card tips.

15 Signs Your Barista Hates You

A 16 cent tip?! That’s a solid 4 cents each for me and my coworkers, after taxes. Yay!

11. You’re on the phone while ordering.

15 Signs Your Barista Hates You

No. Just… no.

12. You ask me to break a 50 dollar bill, then don’t tip.

15 Signs Your Barista Hates You

13. You ask why the customer ahead of you got a free coffee.

15 Signs Your Barista Hates You

Hint: they always tip and/or I want to bang them.

14. You have dumb nicknames for coffee.

15 Signs Your Barista Hates You

We don’t serve joe, java, brew, mud, or wakey juice. Can I interest you in coffee?

15. You don’t actually like coffee.

15 Signs Your Barista Hates You

Adding sugar, flavors, milk, and syrup at once to your coffee means you are lying to yourself about your love of coffee.

Sourced from buzzfeed.com