When it comes to the joys of working retail, I'm sure the first thing that comes to mind is how wild customers are. Speaking from experience — yes. They sure are. However! The trials and tribulations of working retail stretch far beyond the sales floor. The cruel truth is that unhinged customers threatening violence over an expired coupon is just the tip of the iceberg.
The real struggle is behind the scenes. Trust me when I say every store manager I've ever come into contact with is so unnecessarily intense that they run a boutique in the mall like the Navy. A picture is worth a thousand words, so here are 15 truly chaotic photos that show exactly what I mean:
1.Starting out with this (appropriately named) boss who has implemented a policy where leaving a door open = not getting paid:
2.Policies like this are so common that you'd think being a cashier is a matter of life and death:
3.Anyone who's worked retail can confirm that if the manager wants to fire you, they don't just let you go in a professional way. A more common practice is getting "soft fired" — aka scheduled one single, solitary day a week (one hour in this case!!) until you quit out of frustration:
4.This sign from a pharmacy can give you some insight into how sitting down at work is one of the deadliest sins you can commit on shift:
5.Being on your phone? The deadliest sin of all:
6.You ARE gonna listen to Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" on repeat for the entire month of December, and you are gonna LIKE IT!!!
7.If you're working retail, then spending time with your family during the holidays is a distant memory of childhood:
8.Don't you dare get sick during the holiday season, either — even if you get a doctor's note:
9.Never (and I mean never) has a store manager responded to me calling out sick with a simple, "Feel better!" It's always something like this:
10.Or this, because apparently the manager is the only one who can have a life outside of work <3:
11.The colorful font can't fool me. Paying out of pocket for paid time off feels wrong in every way:
12.Something I never got while working retail? A raise. Something I did get? A single banana:
13.No, the irony of this Labor Day sign isn't lost on me:
14.Are all of these working conditions stressful? Don't worry! You can relax at the staff Christmas party — buuut you have to pay to attend:
15.And finally, if anyone ever needed me during work, this is where I'd be:
