Elizabeth Harvey
Journal 1
Prompt: Time to rant, rave, and foam at the mouth: the piece of mind you would like to give that old so-and-so.
When I am home on Christmas break and over the summer I work at an ice cream shop. It is an extremely fun job, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes the customers can get on my last nerve. I come home and tell my parents stories about customers and they say “This is why you are going to college”. I now know that I could never work full time in retail!
I get some really dumb questions from customers. One of my favorites usually happens when I go in at 9:00 AM to open. I usually get the call from the customer about whether we are open or not. The conversation usually goes like this:
Me: “Hello, Hoffman’s. How can I help you?”
Customer: “Hi, I was just calling to see if you were open.”
Me: “Yes we are.” [No, I was standing outside in the parking lot, heard the phone ring, broke the window, climbed through, and answered the phone just to tell you that they were closed.]
Customer: “Well, thank you. Bye.”
Me: “You’re welcome and have a good day!”
Sometimes I just wish people would think before they spoke or asked another question so they seemed intelligent. Along with asking if we were open, they could ask “Do you have pumpkin ice cream yet?” because then they would be acting like they wanted to know some other information besides our hours.
Another thing customers do that annoys me is that they think we can read their minds. I wish I could be that good, but I am not. Sorry! If a customer orders a milkshake, we will make it with vanilla ice cream unless they tell us otherwise. People usually tell me when they want something other than vanilla ice cream, but I am not sure what it is about strawberry milkshakes, because people do not speak up! When I first started working there a customer would order a strawberry milkshake and I would add the strawberry syrup, milk, and vanilla ice cream to the cup. After mixing it, I would hand it back to them, ask if they wanted anything else, and they would turn to me and say “Is this made with strawberry ice cream?” Politely, I would say “No” and they, acting shocked that I didn’t know that they actually wanted it made with strawberry ice cream, would ask for it that way. Being as polite as I could be, I would take it back, putting it in the freezer. Then I would make the infamous milkshake that they had always wanted and had not informed me about. Now after working there for three years, I know that when somebody wants a strawberry milkshake, I should ask: “Do you want it made with strawberry ice cream, vanilla ice cream with strawberry syrup, or strawberry ice cream with strawberry syrup?” and the correct milkshake always gets made.
Sometimes I wish I did not have to deal with these and many other oblivious customers, but I have learned many things from them. They have helped me learn patience, politeness, and how people in retail feel. Now when I go into stores, I am nice to clerks, having been in their position. Also they have supplied me with a topic for my journal and I always have funny stories to tell to people about work!
Feel better?