I’m employed at Schnucks so when people ask me how work is, I always say, “Business is booming.” It’s true, people will never forget about needing food. But apparently people have forgotten about needing manners.
When a customer comes up to check out, we first say hello and ask how the person is doing today. Then we ask what kind of bags they want, and then at the end we tell them to have a good day.
Recently, I’ve had a countless amount of people not only ignore the greeting and ignore the bag question, but also not even making eye contact. Many times I am tempted to say things like, “I know you can hear me, stop being a jerk.” My favorite customers are the ones that just stare at you, still not answering anything.
I can understand if a person doesn’t want to discuss their life story in the check out lane (that’s happened to me, too) but there’s something wrong with humans being unable to have even minimal interaction, especially when someone else is doing a service for you.
Ultimately, there is nothing anyone can do about the customers at Schnucks, but I see the same things at school. If a teacher says hello to a student, some will avert their eyes and pretend they didn’t hear. It’s actually sad and makes me wonder if there will come a time where no one greets each other in a friendly way.
It’s not difficult to return the gesture of a greeting. If someone says hello, say it back. It’s not a binding life contract just because one interacted with another.
Love and Nargles,
Alex