My turn to rant -- NO, I DO NOT WORK HERE!

[Denninmi]

I get so sick of being asked "Do you work here" or "how much is this" or "where are the _____" when I go into a retail store.

Went to the garden center at lunch, pushing my shopping cart down the aisle, with ad in hand. Some older guy literally grabs my arm as I walked past him and said "Are these the pansies that are buy 2, get one free".

WTF. Doesn't everyone who works in a garden center wear a suite and tie at work? Does this happen to everyone, or just to me?

OK, rant off.

[ret5hd]

1. Sorry, that was me.

i just like bothering people.

[WolverineDG]

2. And that's why I don't wear red when I go to Target

sheesh.

[sarge43]

3. No. Wear an Air Force uniform and walk through an airport.

"Ah stewardess, what time does Delta 26 leave for Denver?" (Me, four story stack of ribbons and six stripes)

"Wow, I bet it's fun to fly those big things." (Husband, equal stack and stripes. Lens script that could double as the bottoms of coke bottles)

All the things we might have said

[MiddleFingerMom]

4. Consider yourself lucky.

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[Taylor Smite]

7. Im curious

about the person with the umbrella emerging from their head.

[suninvited]

5. I get that from older people in a store, too

not sure if they think I work there, or they are just reaching out to a stranger for help.

I usually help them find what they are looking for.

[csziggy]

6. At least there was only one of you

80 people wear blue polo shirts and khaki slacks into Best Buy:

[Bolo Boffin]

9. "Do I look like I work here?!"

[Taylor Smite]

8. I got mistaken for being in the Air Force once (long story)

Anyway the guy was thanking me for my service and he was tearing up....he just really needed to thank a member of the military and it seemed like he had been waiting so long to say it. I didnt correct him because it would have embarrassed the heck out of him. I just said thanks and told him to remain vigilant (that's what the OPSEC dragon poster by the printer says to do).


So to everyone in the Air Force....the guy who runs the model trains says thank you for fighting for our freedom.

[IndyJones]

10. Maybe try not to look so friendly?

[unionworks]

11. Oh, there you are!

Thank God! I just posted a thread in G.D., and it didn't show up under "my posts". Please fix!

[gkhouston]

12. Yeah, I get that, plus people on the street asking for directions, etc.

One time, I complained about this to a friend and she said, "you look like someone who would know". So, maybe you look like someone who would know.

[kentauros]

13. There's a whole site out there just for you:

I Don’t Work Here Does Not Work Here, Part 2
http://notalwaysright.com/i-dont-work-here-does-not-work-here-part-2/7997
Retail | New York, NY, USA | Crazy Requests

(I am shopping at a retail store where employees don’t wear uniforms, but encourage their sales associates to wear clothes purchased from their store. I’ve picked up a shirt from a stack of folded clothes, looked at it, and folded it again. A woman comes up to me holding a scarf.)

Customer: “Do you have this in blue? I saw it in blue last week but now I can’t find it.”

Me: “Oh, I don’t work here. But I think I just saw a sales person over there.”

Customer: “Don’t lie to me! I know you work here. I just saw you fold that shirt! If you can’t be bothered to help me, call someone else on your little radio or something. But don’t lie to me – I’m not stupid! Use your radio and find me a blue scarf!”

Me: “Listen, I don’t know what else I can tell you. I don’t have a radio to call someone as I do not work here.”

Customer: “Just stop it already! Someone needs to teach you how to treat customers with respect. Of course you work here; you are wearing clothes from the d*** store! I’m not stupid! Where is your manager?”

(I decide to ignore her and continue about my business. A couple of minutes later I hear a now familiar voice.)

Customer: “That girl right there. She didn’t want to help me, so she just pretended she didn’t work here.”

(I turn around and see the woman standing behind me with the store manager.)

Manager: “Ma’am, this lady doesn’t work here. She is just a shopper like you.”

Customer: “But… she is wearing clothes from this store!”

Manager: *looking at me apologetically as I’m trying hard not to laugh* “A lot of people wear clothes from this store, ma’am. That’s the whole point of buying them. Our employees all wear a name tag; that’s how you can tell them apart from customers.”

Customer: “I think you are just covering for your employee because you know she messed up. This is unbelievable! I just wanted this scarf in blue! I am never shopping here again!”

(She turns around to leave. As she storms out, she spots another customer and yells at her.)

Customer: “I suppose you don’t work here either, huh?!”

Other Customer: *without batting an eye* “Nope. But I have that scarf in blue, and let me tell you – it’s gorgeous!”

Related:
I Don’t Work Here Does Not Work Here
http://notalwaysright.com/i-dont-work-here-does-not-work-here/5449

[HopeHoops]

14. Curiously, I often take over when he clerk in a store is clueless.

Someone asks a simple "Where's the (whatever)" question to a clerk who mumbles something back like, "I think it's down that way or maybe the other way - I just work in this aisle." I usually know so when the clerk gets done babbling, I'll answer "Three rows down that way, half way up on the right, third or fourth shelf up." I know my stores.