10 Types of Cashiers You Meet at The Supermarket (Video + Poll)

[NurseJackie]

That's a pretty comprehensive list. Can you think of any others? Add a comment to describe the one/s that were omitted from this list.



POLL QUESTION: Which of these is your least favorite one to encounter?

10 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	The Dependent Cashier
	0 (0%)
	The Slow-Poke
	4 (40%)
	The Speedy Cashier
	0 (0%)
	The Rookie
	0 (0%)
	The Organizer
	0 (0%)
	The Diva
	0 (0%)
	The Chatty Cashier
	0 (0%)
	The Detective
	0 (0%)
	The Texter
	2 (20%)
	The Judgemental Cashier
	4 (40%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[hlthe2b]

1. So many stores are trying to shift everyone to self-check out lately, I'm just glad to see a human

now and then.

[luvs2sing]

2. The Bad Attitude Cashier

I’ve encountered some doozies.

[NurseJackie]

16. BOB! I NEED A PRICE CHECK ON OVERNIGHT DEPENDS, EXTRA ABSORBENT!"

(That one, too.)

[NewHendoLib]

3. I've seen as many bad behavior customers in my days as bad behavior cashiers

I worked my way through high school and college in a grocery store. And - I do most of the cooking and all of the grocery shopping, so find complaints to be an equal opportunity thing.

[NurseJackie]

5. I was looking for a humorous tongue-in-cheek video...

... that showed different types of "bad customers" but no luck yet. (Plenty of REAL videos with screaming Karen customers though.)

[NewHendoLib]

7. my "favorite" fellow shoppers are the ones that park their carriage in the middle of the aisle

and decide to chat on the phone for a bit...then give you a dirty look when you ask that they move their carriage so you can get by.

[NurseJackie]

13. At costco, they do that... then WALK AWAY to explore other aisles.

I guess it's too much trouble to take the cart with them.

[luvs2sing]

18. Gotta agree.

I haven’t worked in a grocery, but I’ve worked in other retail stores over the years. I try hard to be a good customer because I know what it’s like to be on the other side of a bad customer.

[NewHendoLib]

19. working the deli before holidays was the worst. Man, do I have stories!

[luvs2sing]

21. As do I. Yikes.

[ChubbyStar]

47. I'll share my working at the deli story

High end health food market, pre Whole Foods etc, in the Bay Area CA. Lots of Marin & Sonoma county money customers. The kids were just the worst, spoiled, whiney, privileged and always seemingly wearing expensive red leather European shoes. That just always stuck with me those shoes, anyhow right before Thanksgiving the deli was a nightmare and busy AF. One day after chopping the feet off a Rocky Range chicken I just stuck them in my apron. They came in handy as Prudence (or whatever the hell her name was) melted down in her cart that Mom left parked in front of the deli. I just took out those chicken feet and shook them in her face. She was so gob smacked and thrilled she shut the hell up. Ah deli days. Jesus.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Cashiers are best when they're professional

I get small town cashiers. The type that have never traveled 50 miles away in their entire lives. Known as "lifers".

One was friendly for years. It was just formality. Suddenly she started looking at me like I stole half the store. I stopped going to that store because of the weird vibes. I have no idea what it's about. For a long time I thought she had me confused with someone else.

Another one injects herself into self-checkout. I do fine, I'm a tad slow at it. Her constant interruptions distract me and slow me down more. I avoid that store quite a bit too.

Walmart has the best checkouts. Professionals. Hello, how you doing, scan, scan, scan. Never a doubt of what to say or how to respond. I think it all gets back to training, and management direction. During the earliest COVID crisis, one store dressed some employees in security guard uniforms. I walk in the store and one comes over to look me in the eyes, I've got my mask on. I don't know if it was a paranoia move to make customers know they're watching, or if they were looking for someone. Same store, all the employees at that time are suddenly saying hello. Yeah, because the shelves were half empty and they thought business was going elsewhere, which it was. Now they can't give you the time of day.

[NurseJackie]

10. The self-checkout option seems to be dependent on the neighborhood too.

In MY not-so-affluent neighborhood, the nearby CVS does not have self-checkout. But 20 miles down the road in the next town, they DO offer it. It's unclear if this is offered because customers will use it and know how to use it. Or if it's not offered here because it would be abused or misused, or because it's too confusing.

But at this late date... it's difficult to imagine that there's anyone alive (and still mobile) who hasn't seen or used a self-checkout.

[XanaDUer2]

6. I'm lucky they's a Publix here

great, nice cashiers, people bagging your stuff and helping you unload groceries in your car

[NurseJackie]

14. Helping you to load groceries? Is that normal, or by-request only?

Nice!

[XanaDUer2]

15. Normal

and I cannot life heavy stuff, so I don't have to there

[Retrograde]

26. Used to be normal here, but it went away with Covid

I usually shop at smallish family-run grocery. They're a bit more pricey than Safeway, but they have better quality produce and real butchers. They used to offer to take bags out to your car, but haven't since Covid hit.

I was shopping there once the day before Christmas (yeah, I know, but I wanted fresh fish for my Christmas Eve dinner). The store was packed. I usually decline the offer to take out my bags, but the packer insisted, and could not be stopped. I think if I asked he would have come home with me and unloaded - anything to get out of the zoo for a few minutes!

[ProfessorGAC]

38. They Do It For My Wife, Here

I don't ask, but at both supermarkets (both small chain stores), all you have to do is ask.
Even if there's nobody up front, both stores have earpiece radios for everybody working. So, a quick buzz & someone comes running to help.
Good deal, given her bad back.

[alphafemale]

55. It is a normal Publix thing

And they actually pay people pretty well.

[Treefrog]

48. Same here, though I never let them go to my car with me.

I have a system lol. I love Publix, always friendly, helpful, and they keep the store clean.

[Hoyt]

8. Having worked as a cashier, there are two types of customers-- Aholes and decent.

[NurseJackie]

11. Try waiting tables. Try being a bartender.

(I've done both.) That's no walk-in-the-park either. But the kind people and the over-tippers make up for the jerks and the ones that stiff-ya.

[Clash City Rocker]

27. Service jobs would be great if it wasn't for customers

I was a cashier at a convenience food store in my youth. People would angrily complain that something was too expensive and expect me give them a discount. Dude, I’m not going to rob my employer for you, I don’t even know you. Then there were the quick change artists, the drunks, etc. People can be real jerks in those situations.

[ProfessorGAC]

44. For Bartenders,...

...there's a 3rd type of customer.
The nice people, until they've had a few!
At least with the a-holes, you know what you're getting from jump.
I didn't tend bar long. Maybe 15 months near the end of college. I quit doing it when I joined a band that played 20 Saturdays a year. Same money, more fun.

[NurseJackie]

45. There were the friendly-drunks, the sad-drunks, the flirty-drunks, and the mean/angry-drunks.

I could deal with them all except the mean/angry ones. My boss would take over on those customers. I stopped serving them and he served them instead. Some got the message and left on their own. A few were asked to leave.

[Hoyt]

58. Oh, I know. Was always too clumsy for food service.

[wryter2000]

9. I like to talk to cashiers

I usually end up with some favorites.

Second choice was the Organizer. He seemed to be enjoying himself.

[NurseJackie]

12. That one made me laugh.

Wheee!

[Beatlelvr]

17. How about

The cashier and the bagger having a conversation. Drives me nuts.

[NurseJackie]

29. You have baggers in your grocery store?

Two persons helping at a single register? That's a luxury I do not recall seeing in a very long time.

[wryter2000]

35. We do sometimes

The baggers wander from register to register. When they finish with one customer, they move on to another register.

[NurseJackie]

39. Last time I saw "baggers" (or "bag-boys") ... we were still using PAPER BAGS!!

None of the grocery stores near me offer paper bags. (Here in MD there aren't any prohibitions for plastic bags... but I mostly use my reusable canvas totes anyway.)

[Treefrog]

49. Publix has baggers. I bring my own totes and they always thank me for that.

They usually bag things pretty well too!

[NurseJackie]

50. I often hear: "These totes are nice! Where did you get them?"

"Amazon."

[Treefrog]

52. I bought mine at various stores.

When I was a kid traveling (which we did a lot) I HAD to have tshirts from everywhere I went.

Now I go to the local store wherever I am and get a new bag lol. It’s the little things.

[XanaDUer2]

56. I love Publix!

The baggers are usually great kids. I tell them hold onto your Publix shares they give you

[Retrograde]

20. The comedian, a subset of the chatty cashier

There's one at the market I frequent. Once he stacked the tomatoes I bought and announced "I've made a Tomato Man". He's also tried to juggle onions, and tells grammar-school quality jokes. I think he's related to the owner. OTOH, we once got into a discussion of Charles Dickens' work.

I used to be a kinda judgemental cashier. I used to make up stories for myself about why people were buying that particular assortment of items, and what they intended to do with them. I kept these to myself, though.

[NurseJackie]

23. Shovel. Duct-tape. Zip-ties. Plastic sheeting. Bowie knife.

Is he camping? Or is it Dexter?

[wryter2000]

37. We had one really sweet guy

He kept a rock in a basket at his register. The rock had "turn me over" painted on it. When you did, the other said "that felt so good."

[iemanja]

22. This on Labor Day? Seriously?

[NurseJackie]

24. These are real cashiers and they obviously have a sense of humor...

... it's rather amusing, don't you think?

[iemanja]

25. I think on this of all days

we should respect American workers. Cashiers have a hard job because they have to deal with self-entitled people all day. They deal with anti-maskers, people who scream at them, everything. https://www.democraticunderground.com/100215828208

[NurseJackie]

30. Clearly they're able to laugh at themselves... wouldn't you agree?

[iemanja]

33. So you oppose Biden

on remembering that this day is about respecting workers?

[NurseJackie]

34. ...

[iemanja]

40. unsurprising

[NurseJackie]

42. I feel the same.

[Treefrog]

53. Seriously?

I thought this thread was all in good fun.

I did a stint in college as a cashier. There’re some funny stories there!

[hunter]

28. The cashiers at my local supermarket are all great.

I've witnessed some extreme patience and occasionally heroism from them in dealing with the worst possible customers.

A few weeks ago some huge white guy got frustrated with the kid bagging his groceries and then, for some unknowable reason, said a most vile racist thing which I only partly overheard and will not repeat. The bagger stepped back in shock, speechless. The clerk, who was less than half the size of the guy, instantly quit ringing up his groceries and told him to leave. He refused and started bellowing about how he knew the manager and she was going to lose her job. She came around and got between him and the bagger. He was still bellowing bullshit when the security guy hustled over and escorted him out without his groceries.

Everyone around, myself included, was telling the clerk, "Yeah, yeah, we heard him," and that she did the right thing.

She's still working there, as friendly as ever to 99.9% of the customers, even the grumpy unreasonable customers who are having an especially bad day.

But it's nice to know there are limits to "The customer is always right."

[wryter2000]

41. Good. I really like cashiers.

My husband and I had our favorites. We always got into Lisa's line so we could say hi to her.

I haven't been to the store since the pandemic started, both because of the virus and my degenerating hip. The hip has been replaced now, and I hope when I go back the really sweet lady I used to talk to is still there.

[Turbineguy]

31. I had a wonderful experience at the self-checkout today.

A checker invited me over and checked all my jazz. It was fine.

I can never get these things to work. My engineering education never prepared me for self-checkouts.

[Jim G.]

32. I Seldom Have Problems With Cashiers

I usually try & cheer them up. When I'm done paying I'll usually say something like, "Well, all your important work is done. You can take the rest of the day off.

They usually chuckle & either say something like, "I wish, I just started, " or "I get off in a half hour so not too much longer." But it always seems to cheer them up for a bit.

[Treefrog]

51. Yeah, I bet they think that's hilarious.

[Jim G.]

54. Maybe Not Hilarious, But Pleasant Anyway

Unlike some interactions I'm sure.

If it doesn't brighten their day I think it lightens it.

[Hekate]

36. Trader Joe's and Costco take care of nearly all my needs. Trader Joe's asks if they can help me...

… get my stuff into my car. There was about a 2 year period where I most-gratefully said “Yes, please!” That was the year before and the year after I had the total knee replacement.

After my recovery, after my cane was stowed in the closet, I made a point of stopping by the customer service desk at TJ’s to tell them how wonderful they were.

Costco is just huge. They meet my standards for courtesy, returns policy, cleanliness, and masking in all respects. They do have one self-checkout station, which we don’t use. If you need help with carry-out, just say so.

I never worked in a grocery store, but I worked my way thru college in a fashion department store. My feet broke down. My temper was tested. The pay was low. But I got my BA.

[XanaDUer2]

43. I love telling Publix mana gers

how great the staff are.

I once dropped my wallet at home. Realized it while checking out. They let me go home to get it, checked me out while I was gone, bagged my stuff, kept the frozen stuff in a refrigerator for me, and had it ready for me when I came back to pay!

Cashiers are great Happy Labor Day to them all!

[DBoon]

46. union cashiers are the best

They are polite and efficient. That is a chain grocery store.

Non union stores, they are often slower and less efficient, and you sometimes get the male cashier who is trying to chat up a female customer while the line keeps getting longer and longer

[Sherman A1]

57. Did Grocery for 43 years

Happily never as a checker. Produce, Grocery, Manager on Duty and Receiver (the best job in the house). I have had all sorts of “interesting” customers through the years and many an “interesting” co-worker.