Possible contraception in family

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Just to clarify, are you saying that you come from a long line of check out clerks, or that your family tells you information about their reproduction in addition to the checkout clerks?
 
Hmmm. Have you considered going to one of those markets that has the self-checkout? It’s a total pain in the butt, but a lot less awkward than what you are describing.
 
Yeah but you know how AI is. “Keep your kids from sitting on the scale valued customer” “aren’t you forgetting the condoms?” “Roses and chocolate ohhhh la la.”

And dont even get me started on alexa!
 
Last time I tried to use one, my kid kept trying to put things on the scale and almost got me charged $45 for grapes.
 
Next time this happens, keep your reciept. Contact the owner of the store or the Corporate HQ. When you provide the information on the receipt the management will be able to coach that employee and help them to learn how to professionally do their job. Honestly, such questions from staff opens up the owner/corp to all sorts of legal ramifications.
 
Having worked in the service industry, and more pointedly the grocery one. I’d never do that. The culture at large is being reflected by the behavior. We dont need a bunch of Karen’s asking for the manager. I’m a big boy I can handle my own problems.
Have you ever worked in the service industry?
 
For years. I led teams that always scored highest in customer service, professional behavior was expected. None of my employers from Corporate America would have wanted a CS Rep acting in such a manner with customers.

Both my son and his fiancee have now been years in the grocery industry. They have fired people for speaking that way to customers.

ETA

Years ago, I was checking out at a big box grocery store. The checker had “flair” on her vest. One little button said “Religion is a Mental Disease”.

I called the corporate HQ in Bentonville, gave them the info on my receipt and what was on the employees vest. Next week, same checker, the button was gone. She was obviously coached by her manager and learned a bit more about professionalism.
 
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That’s too bad. One should not lose a job or livelihood because they may have not used discretion in interacting with the public. And it’s the number one reason I would never escalate something so small (though annoying) having worked at both store and corporate levels and been treated horribly by the public I appreciate handling things like adults. Which was kind if the point if how this tangent got started. Running to management is something that should be reserved for real problems.
 
And I believe professionalism starts at the interview. Different schools of thought.
 
Lucky for the employee. We live in a snowflake era. One where merry Christmas is offensive and management is called. Instead of striking up a conversation with someone you complain and that person only learns some religious person didn’t Like their button.
There’s a reason why “can I speak to your manager” is a punchline. Think about all the things people are offended by. Any one of us would have managers called on us by someone who thinks they were treated poorly. CHIC fil A has taken the proactive step of teaching “manners” to their employees. That model works well. But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to call the manager of KFC because the worker said ok dude here’s your order…

Just like most people who have waitressed will leave bigger tips than those who havent and are less likely to call a manager. People who have been a checker, or janitor or whatever in a store are less likely to call a manager. Whatever happened to plain old conversation between people where resolutions can be worked out.
Why was that girl wearing that pin? We will never know, but her misconceptions of religion were certainly reinforced
 
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I’ve worked in retail and food service for years and years. I don’t know that I’m less prone to call a manager over everything, but I think I’m more selective about what I will call one about. In this case, if I was the manager I would really want to know about someone wearing such a pin on their uniform. It would be petty if it was on their personal clothing, backpack, or bumper-sticker, but wearing it on their uniform indicates it as approved by the company. If for no other reason than the next person could take that moment of extremely poor judgement and post it on facebook for the world see, I would probably say something about it to the manager and let them have a chance to fix it before it became a viral, national news story. If the employee got in trouble over it, well, it was a deliberately offensive thing to say. One can express their disagreement with religion, a political group, or whatever without calling them mentally diseased. It’s been my experience that when a person is a decent employee, they won’t be fired over one incident that can easily be cleared up with, “I don’t care what you think, you can’t wear that on your uniform.”
 
I really dont have a problem with the pin. I suppose its crass, uninforrned and insensitive but then I also would support someone wearing an image of a corpse hanging on a cross for jewelry which could be a graphic image as well. But I do see your point. It may offend someone on some level. But I prefer a more face to face way of dealing with it than running to a manager. You would be amazed at what just a simple question might accomplish there. Its also modeled in our own faith. If we have a problem with someone we take it to the person first. Then if no resolution and you are still being harmed then go up the chain of command. That very logical as well as biblical. I have a hard time thinking one should tell on someone for a pin. Even if no resolution is to be had. Many of these employees are stressed and hurt and poor and uneducated just trying to earn some scratch to pay rent. The pool of potential employees is limited and you could do real damage to someone who wore a pin or made a comment about kids… nope that’s not the way I interact with others. I understand some people do though. I can also picture someone saying " I dont appreciate your little pin" or " your rude comment about my kids offended me" even though it did. That’s not how hearts and minds are changed. Of course my sarcastic responses are probably no better. But that’s just how I deal with customer-employee interactions.
 
The issue with the pin isn’t that it’s crass, uninformed, or insensitive. The issue is that it is an intentional insult to a significant majority of my customer base, being worn on the company uniform. If I was a manager, I would want to know about it and put an end to it, but that’s just me. Again, in my experience, its’ the manager that generally is the one who is most likely to get fired for any tiny thing, even if they didn’t even know about until after the fact. Particularly in food service, if your manager was fair and not a jerk, you didn’t want to do anything that would screw them over because everything they did was their fault and every thing you did was their fault too. I would be much happier with a customer coming by the service desk and telling me that my employee was wearing a pin with an insult on it than than saying nothing, thinking they were being whatever the opposite of a “snowflake” is, than the next person in line calling corporate, starting an altercation in front of customers, or taking a photo and posting it on the internet. But that’s just me.
 
It also may be a reflection of the part of the country you worked in vs. where HD may be at.

Certain parts of USA have very “friendly” service workers, who would be considered grossly overfamiliar/ unprofessional in major cities or on the coasts, but are considered to be just normal and friendly where they are at.

When dealing with such overly friendly service workers, a better strategy is just to josh them right back. If you turn into a “Karen calling for the manager” then the manager and everybody else is likely to just be put out, view you as some outsider, and completely miss the point of why you are upset, so unless you’re trying to go viral on Yahoo and get everybody in NYC to be outraged along with you, it’s pointless.
 
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Yeah, telling people that they have a mental disease is pretty universally understood as “unfriendly”. Comments about family size might be a little more subjective, depending on the tone, circumstances, etc, but accusations of mental illness are a little different.
 
Never once did I suggest stopping in the middle of a check out line to “school” a rude checker nor to call for a manager at that moment.

I suggested going through channels, informing the superiors of a training issue. As I have said, my past career was one where we lived and died by our customers. If they were unhappy, they have plenty of other options. Making sure every customer facing person was acting with professionalism was critical.

Perhaps 10 years later we as consumers have stopped expecting courtesy and professionalism. I, for one, behave exactly as I would if I owned that store. I would want to know if my customers were asking rude questions or making completely brash statements to my customers.

Also, I live where there are choices, I will spend $10 more on groceries to shop where the staff is well trained.

Heck, I get rude comments every time I sit foot outside of my house, terrible comments, rude questions, I get them for free. Why would I pay someone to make comments about my sex life in front of my children?
 
I’m just pointing out that what you did in your “past career” wouldn’t go over well in a place like where my dad came from.
“Courtesy” and “professionalism” are varyingly interpreted based on where you live in USA. While I agree that a cashier shouldn’t be swearing at customers or making racial slurs, a cashier making a joke about family size or sexuality is not always interpreted as a big breach of courtesy or professionalism, no matter how much you or I think it should be. This is also not something that just cropped up in the past 10 years or 20 years. It has to do with local culture like I said.

Hoosier Daddy has to live in the area where he lives, and it sounds to me like he is handling it just fine.
 
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