Assumptions

Let’s start tonight with an awesome quote shall we?

[I hate] “the assumption that you are stupid because you work in a shop.  Clearly any young person behind a counter MUST be a teen pregnancy, thieving, no good dropout, not a student who needs an extra few quid”.

I want to start by apologizing to the person who said this. Somehow from the time I hit “ctrl-c” to “ctrl-v” I lost your information… but I still laugh each time I read it. What an excellent observation! Why is it that customers assume that you are a complete loser just because you work in retail? I bet your average retail worker has had more college courses than the average retail shopper.

When I was a manager I was mistaken for a Sales Associate so many times it was laughable. I wish I could say it was because I have remarkable selling skills, but the reality is I just look like I am 16. The minute I let them know I was the STORE Manager the immediate response was…

“Of the entire store?”

People. Please. It was a 4,000 sq ft store. There wasn’t enough room in that place to play a decent game of hide-and-seek. Yes, I was the store manager of the entire store.

Next question.

“Wow, you look so young, how old are you anyways?”  

OMG…. awkward. Who does that? I hated giving people my age. It gave the customer too much power, and I don’t think I should have to defend myself because I answer “27” not “47”.

Next…

“Good for you Sweetie, what an achievement. But… what about college?”

By this time I was resisting the urge to bang my head up against the wall. How dare you assume that just because I am a Retail Store Manager I never bothered to go to College? I went to college… hell, I even graduated, but this is something people just don’t believe. They assume that to sell apparel for a living you need to be an idiot, a “teen pregnancy, thieving, no good dropout”.

Fewer assumptions please. Thank you. :)