‘Don’t be an annoying customer’: A simple guide from a grocery store cashier

Working at a grocery store can be really awesome or truly dreadful. If you’re a cashier, customers have the ability to make or break your mood in an instant.

You might want to read this to make sure you’re never “that person” in line.

Please respond to our greetings

It’s not easy for us to greet all customers with a smile and a warm, “Hey! How are you doing today?” So when we do, please just fake a smile (like we do) and say, “I am well, thank you.”

There is nothing more rude than you hearing our greeting, staring at us blankly and then continuing to unload your buggy, with no reply to what we just said.

Please control your children

Our jobs can be very stressful, especially if we are understaffed or have an unexpected rush of business. With that being said, please prevent your children from swinging on parts of the register, screaming at their siblings, or spilling their drinks all over the floor.

Once, a customer wasn’t looking after their child and the kid walked behind the service desk where Western Union and lottery transactions are processed by expensive equipment. Don’t be that person.

Please have your loyalty card ready

Seriously, you shop here on a weekly (sometimes twice weekly) basis. Why do you never have your MVP card ready to scan? Do you not want to save money? Also, don’t expect items to ring up at sale price without your loyalty card. No, I will not let you leave without a discount, so chill.

Don’t be surprised at the cost of your items

You are responsible for whatever you put in your buggy, so when I’m done scanning everything, don’t pull the whole, “What the hell did I buy? Why is it so expensive?” We both know exactly what you bought. It’s called a budget – try using one.

Please put bloody meat and chicken in a bag before you place it on my conveyor belt

Not only is it unsanitary and a health risk, it is also just rude. The register is my work space, so please respect my work area. How would you like it if someone walked by your desk at work and slammed down a big bloody bag of chicken thighs? You probably wouldn’t enjoy that.

I don’t have time to clean the register between every customer, so be courteous to those behind you in line by protecting them from food-borne illnesses.

Chicken in a bag, YES.

No bag for the chicken? NO. Shame on you.

Don’t use fake IDs

We are trained to pick out fake IDs, so just don’t.

Be nice to your cashier

If you are nice to us, we will be nice to you (even more than required by corporate). Quite simply, if you are a nice customer and you made a mistake with a coupon, i.e. you misread the specific item listed, I can still manually input your discount.

I want to help customers save money, especially when they’re good people. However, if you are a jerk to me, I will smile and say, “Sorry ma’am, this coupon does not match the item you chose,” and I will feel a sick sense of satisfaction from telling you “no.”