Newsflash: It's time to become self aware, especially at the check-out line

By: Jordan Orenstein

4/4/23

People have absolutely no self-awareness, no, scratch that, people lack consideration and empathy. Maybe it was the pandemic, or maybe it's always been like this. I work in a grocery store, and it awes me everyday how people can be so ignorant when it comes to how their behaviors affect others.

Why on Earth would you go up to a checkout counter and completely ignore the person there who is trying to help you? If I greet you and ask how you are, the polite and considerate thing to do would be to respond, even if it's fake. Don’t come up to me and start barking orders about what you want done and how you want it done- I assure you, I know how to do my job.

Also, please do not come up to me when you're talking on the phone. Either wait to checkout until you're finished with your call, or just tell the person on the other side to hold on for two minutes! I don't care about how important your call is; you need to be cognizant that I have a job to do and you being distracted by other things and standing there giggling with your friends makes my job ten times harder.

The other day, I had a woman who came up to the register with her phone on speaker against her ear, and was screaming at the person on the other side. Then the woman told me she needed a pen and paper to write down a phone number. WHAT? She then proceeded to reach over and take the pen off my register, and stood there staring at me while waiting for a piece of paper, as if I was the dumb one. My job is to scan your groceries, not wait on you hand and foot!

Some customers act as though their cashiers are invisible, and don't take into consideration the effect that treating them this way could have. Imagine working a four, six, or even eight hour shift when you're treated less than human for the entirety of your time. This is terrible for your mental health and could completely destroy someone's self confidence.

There is no reason to be a jerk to someone who is simply trying to help you, and acting this way shows who you truly are. Misery loves company, and miserable people love to make others suffer for their own twisted and cruel enjoyment. Does it make you feel good to make someone feel bad? If it does, you need to do some self reflection and change your ways.

And please, please, please, stop telling workers about your political opinions. THEY DON'T CARE! Stop trying to get them to side with you on what you think about the government, and please for the love of god stop handing them business cards with conservative websites and church programs. Since when is that at all socially acceptable? I assure you anything you hand them that has no monetary value is going straight in the trash can.

I can't even count how many times someone has told me that kids these days have no idea what's going on in our government - and then they hand me a card with the most biased, conservative viewpoint ive ever seen. If you have to trick someone into taking your side by telling them it's fact, I have news for you. If I go onto a website that will “teach me all about the government”, and the first headline I see starts with “Sleepy Joe…”, I'm not going to read it. I’m not stupid, but you might be.

Moral of the story is that people need to be more aware of others, and your childish and tone deaf behavior is a nuisance to everyone around you. People should be embarrassed of how they act in public these days, especially towards retail and food workers. Get a grip of yourself and understand that what you do affects everyone around you.