As soon as I started to unload my grocery cart onto the store’s counter I could tell that it was the young checker’s first day on the job.
“Hi! How are you today?” he greeted me with a bright face and a cheery smile. Enthusiasm bubbled out of him like soda pop. He made a few mistakes ringing things up, which were quickly corrected by the mentor standing beside him, but he never lost his engaged touch with me.
I’ve grown so used to clerks at all kinds of stores barely acknowledging me at all, much less with joy, that I’ve come to expect it. Sometimes there will be a wan smile or a soft, “Good morning.” Occasionally, especially with younger clerks, they will ask that annoying question: “So how’s your day going so far?” It’s kind of a flip side to the ubiquitous “have a nice day,” and is sometimes difficult to answer at 8:30 in the morning before the day’s barely begun. But at least you have to give the clerk credit for trying to infuse a little customer service into the exchange.
I try not to be too judgmental in these cases. The clerks who fail to make eye contact and wear a weary expression may be having a hard time at home or on the job. And if I had to stand behind a counter eight to 10 hours a day tallying up people’s groceries or dealing with their credit cards that don’t work or their complaints about this and that I’d probably be less than charitable myself. In fact, it doesn’t take even that much to make me crabby. I’d probably be fired after the first shift.
And I have also seen customers who treat clerks like they are less than human — mere peons there to do the customers’ bidding and who cares if they’re treated like dirt? Even a clerk who may have started out his or her career with cheerfulness could easily become discouraged dealing with that unkindness day after day.
So maybe it’s just easier to remain emotionally detached. It is a financial transaction, after all, so no need to try to get into another’s head or form a meaningful relationship over the three and a half minutes it takes to tally up your grocery bill and check out.
On the other hand, retail store dealings are sometimes the only contact some people have with other people during the day. There’s a lot of sitting alone, watching TV or playing video games in the solitary confines of one’s home that goes on in this world. Getting out of the house, buying a bunch of bananas and having a brief but cordial chat with the clerk behind the counter may be the only human interaction some people get.
So it’s really a welcome surprise when one meets a young clerk, like I did that day at the grocery store, on his first day of the job and filled with the excitement of a new adventure. Here I am, having finished up my long career but still remembering those early days when I just couldn’t wait to grab a pen and notebook and head to town to interview somebody. I always learned something new.
It’s still that way. I learned (or relearned) just how pleasant, how welcome a kind smile and a happy greeting can be, no matter how brief.
Hedberg may be contacted at khedberg@lmtribune.com.
