It takes a special type of person to work in retail without losing their mind. Retail jobs are both mentally and physically taxing and the pay isn’t usually that great either. Most retail workers spend all day on their feet and they have to have a pleasant attitude even when dealing with the most difficult customers.
On top of customer drama, there’s inevitably a boss or manager lurking around to make sure you didn’t take too long of a lunch break or that you’re wearing the appropriate amount of flair.
One great thing about retail is being able to bond with coworkers who are going through the same thing. Retail employees tend to be friendly, social people so it’s a great environment to build friendships. You’re gonna need somebody on your side after you’ve spent an hour dealing with a customer who keeps demanding they speak to your manager.
The Retail Problems Instagram page does a perfect job of explaining what it’s like to work in retail through hilarious memes that anyone who’s ever had to work a cash register understands.
Here are 17 of the best memes at Retail Problems.
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The first thing you lose after taking a retail job is your love for Christmas music. Having to hear the same 25 songs on repeat for eight hours a day is seriously traumatizing. I left my retail job in 2004 and it took 15 years for me to be able to listen to Christmas music again.
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Having a retail job is like being on a treadmill. No matter how hard you work, you never seem to get anywhere.
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The coworker who switches shifts with you at the last minute is worth more than gold.
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You’ll never truly understand what the general public is like until you’ve spent at least six months on the floor of a retail store dealing with people from all walks of life.
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A great way to see what someone’s character is like is to go out with them to a restaurant. You can learn a lot about someone by watching them interact with a server. Good people go out of their way to be nice. Entitled people do whatever they can to make the server’s life miserable because they can’t fight back.
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“The badge says I work here.”
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Coworkers in a retail job are like war buddies.
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There should be a law making it illegal to subject anyone to more than four hours of Christmas music a day. It gets burned into your head and never goes away, even when you’re not at work.
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Seasoned retail people know to avoid their managers at the end of the day. They’re known for suprising you at the end of your shift with one last task. “Could you go clean up the register on aisle six? Do you have some time to put up the new signs for the sale tomorrow?”
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“Just start with the number at the top of the receipt and we’ll go form there, ok?”
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Everyone working in retail should have received hazard pay for having to be around people during a pandemic.
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Retail people are the masters of going from joking around with a coworker to quickly throwing on their professional smile to ask, “How may I help you?”
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In retail, success can feel like failure. If you get your job done quickly, they pile more work on your plate.
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There are few things that feel lonelier than when your bestie at work finds a new job and leaves you behind.