Soooo...I failed to make a post yesterday. Sorry about that. I had a day jammed packed full of spending time with friends, as well as several hours of band rehearsal. However, since I want to make sure I post something everyday, I will make two posts today (the second one coming this evening).
There is something I have noticed the past few year's that has been bothering me. What could be bothering me you may ask? It has to do with courtesy, friendliness, and interaction. I have noticed several times over the past few year's, that cashier's have become quite rude. I usually make a point to go out of my way and ask how the cashier is doing etc. Now when I ask this, I really am interested in knowing how they feel, whether good or bad. However, there have been several occasions where when I asked, I was left with only silence. It is almost like I haven't spoken a single word. The other thing I have noticed is when the cashier say's to me "Hi! how are you today?" When asked this question I will typically answer honestly and say, "I'm doing quite well, good, or fine." I then always follow that up with, "How are you today?" Nine out of ten times, I don't recieve any answer at all, once again nothing but silence.
It seems to me that asking someone how they are isn't a legite question, it has simply become a way of saying hello. This frustrates me a lot. If I didn't geuninely care about how you are doing, I simply wouldn't ask. I only ask the quesiton, because I really care. Over the past decade as we have become more introverted due to technology, and fear, we have seemed to also lost our sense of compassion. Now, I'm certainly not saying everyone is guilty at all times of being rude in this fashion. But, there is a good majority of people in my experience who are.
I want to encourage you all to go out of your way today to be friendly to a cashier. Ask them about how they feel, and how their day is, and really mean it. I can understand while cashier's may be weary, and hard pressed to answer your question of how they are doing. They are on their feet for hours at a time. For that reason alone, I have a great deal of respect for cashier's. So if you are reading this and you are a cashier, I salute you, and I also really care for you.
It's time we put an end to this form of impersonal communication.
Thank you for reading,
-Nick
How very true! I can't tell you how many times I have been to the south and had everybody and their mamas dog talk to me out of the blue. Then I get back home, and I have to wonder if I smell bad or something because almost everyone avoids and or ignores me! What is it about this city or maybe even this state that makes people so introverted? Or is it just the north in general? Anyway, yes please be kind to the cashiers - most of the time if you go out of your way to be genuinely kind to someone, you really make their day, whether they outwardly show it or not.
ReplyDelete~Nick~
ReplyDeleteI realize your comment is about people in general basically keeping to themselves (it had a lot to do with 9-11) and not about cashiers specifically, but I do want to say that if you become a regular customer, you have a better shot striking up a random convo w/them. And they appreciate that extra effort by someone they have seen in the store before.