Retail jobs suck. (Or most of them do. Employees at Costco seem to be pretty happy.) Retail jobs used to be exclusively for young guns like us and high school students but with the economy in the crapper retail jobs are a mixed bag of a merry band of misfits. That’s totally fine. There’s nothing wrong with earning an honest living, nevertheless working at a clothing store, coffee shop or fast food joint used to be the memory-making stuff of our teens and early twenties. It was like a grueling summer camp. You had to work but the menial wages were compensated for by being around people your own age and after-work hangouts. At least that’s how my parents described it.
Working retail has only gotten worse as minimum wages have stagnated and of course, employees are totally disposable. Doing a job that “anyone can do” means that employers can treat you anyway they want because if you quit they can just get someone new. It also means you have to treat a douche nozzle with the utmost respect because he can fire you whenever he wants. Not to mention that people have a twisted perspective on customer service and believe that working a register, serving you food or coffee or organizing your groceries somehow means your are beneath them. Retail workers are trying to pay bills and put food on the table just like everyone else, whether it’s for themselves or their family, there is honor in being responsible. Yet, retail workers get treated like crap by everyone around them. The actual grunt work isn’t even the worst of it.
[Shutterstock/Boguslaw Mazur]
The 10 Worst Things About Working A Retail Job
