So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[Fading Fast]

And whilst there, please look up, read and digest the true meaning, and usage, of the word unique.
There is a set of adjectives—including unique, complete, equal, infinite, and perfect—whose core meaning embraces a mathematically absolute concept and which therefore, according to a traditional argument, cannot be modified by adverbs such as really, quite, rather or very.

I am not a grammar expert nor scold, but I am with you on this one - it is nails on chalkboard to me when someone writes "it is very unique," and you see and hear that written or spoken every day.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It's right up there with "added bonus."

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

A variation on your theme is the people who, only after the total has wrung up, go hunting in their pockets or pockets book for change and then start trying to find the right combination of nickels, dimes, etc. to hit the cents figure. If you want to use up your change, have it out, in your palm - even sorted - so that you can quickly give the cashier the correct amount. It is rude to hold up an entire line of people while you hunt in your pockets, sort out your change and then start handing it over (and this happens a lot) one coin at a time.

Or when giving change, the cashier hands you the bills first and then the small change which causes the change to easily slip out of your hand. It seems that back in the day cashiers were taught to do the opposite and hand the customer the small change first which makes a lot more sense.

 

[AmateisGal]

People throwing their cigarette butts out of their car windows. ARGH. Drives me nuts.

 

[dh66]

People throwing their cigarette butts out of their car windows. ARGH. Drives me nuts.

Me too......but not near as much as when they pitch their empty 40s out.

 

[Fading Fast]

Or when giving change, the cashier hands you the bills first and then the small change which causes the change to easily slip out of your hand. It seems that back in the day cashiers were taught to do the opposite and hand the customer the small change first which makes a lot more sense.

You are spot on and they used to do that because the proper way to give change is to "count up" form the items cost back to the amount of money the buyer handed the cashier. I was a cashier and that's how I was taught, but I also saw it done that way all the time.

So if an item costs $3.25 and you give the cashier $10, they should hand you back change this way while saying "$3.25 and this makes 4 [while giving you three quarters say) and five (handing a dollar) and $10 (handing you a $5 bill). It avoids all confusion and used to be standard operating procedure. Now its all haphazard and you - if you want to check - have to look persnickety by counting the change out after you receive it.

That is definitely not something that has gotten better with time.

 

[Fading Fast]

People throwing their cigarette butts out of their car windows. ARGH. Drives me nuts.

Or people who don't blow their exhaled smoke up or away from the people who are around them. How rude is it to take a full blast in the face from a smoker. I am not a smoker and admit I don't like being around it, but if I am somewhere where it is legal, then I will never complain or say anything. But really, even if legal, wouldn't courtesy be to try to at least blow it up or away. Coughing and sneezing are legal, but common courtesy is not to do those things directly into someones face.

 

[Nobert]

Me too......but not near as much as when they pitch their empty 40s out.

A story a guy I knew told me about his dad, who he described as 'a horrible litterbug:" This guy was driving along one day and had just finished a beer. He subsequently chucked it out the window, as was his wont. Except he had forgot that the windows were up, and ended up shattering the glass of the driver's seat window.

 

[dh66]

A story a guy I knew told me about his dad, who he described as 'a horrible litterbug:" This guy was driving along one day and had just finished a beer. He subsequently chucked it out the window, as was his wont. Except he had forgot that the windows were up, and ended up shattering the glass of the driver's seat window.

:rofl:

 

[LizzieMaine]

You are spot on and they used to do that because the proper way to give change is to "count up" form the items cost back to the amount of money the buyer handed the cashier. I was a cashier and that's how I was taught, but I also saw it done that way all the time.

So if an item costs $3.25 and you give the cashier $10, they should hand you back change this way while saying "$3.25 and this makes 4 [while giving you three quarters say) and five (handing a dollar) and $10 (handing you a $5 bill). It avoids all confusion and used to be standard operating procedure. Now its all haphazard and you - if you want to check - have to look persnickety by counting the change out after you receive it.

That is definitely not something that has gotten better with time.

Cashiers are usually judged by their supervisors on how many customers they process per hour, especially fast-paced environments like supermarkets and fast-food restaurants. They're taught to hand the change back and say "and your change is $3.08" not because they're rude and inefficient, but because their masters, er, supervisors demand that they do so so that they can move people thru the lines most quickly. Cashiers who can't keep up with the pace are usually terminated before their probation period expires, and there's constant pressure to pick up and improve the pace. Blame the companies that insist on this speedup system before criticizing the employees who have no choice but to carry it out.

 

[sheeplady]

When it comes to change, I hate that no one knows how to deal with giving them an odd amount to get a higher bill back, rather than all ones.

For instance, let's say something is $5.65. If I want a five back and some change (rather than 4 ones and some change) I hand them $11. If I only have a twenty and a one, I might want a $10 and a $5 back.

Normally they look at me like I have two heads and tell me (often condescendingly) that I've made a mistake.

I've taken to telling the cashier, "Make the change for $21 (or $11 or whatever) and then tell me why I handed you that."

 

[hatguy1]

I make a point to thank a cashier for counting change back to me..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LizzieMaine]

When it comes to change, I hate that no one knows how to deal with giving them an odd amount to get a higher bill back, rather than all ones.

For instance, let's say something is $5.65. If I want a five back and some change (rather than 4 ones and some change) I hand them $11. If I only have a twenty and a one, I might want a $10 and a $5 back.

Normally they look at me like I have two heads and tell me (often condescendingly) that I've made a mistake.

I've taken to telling the cashier, "Make the change for $21 (or $11 or whatever) and then tell me why I handed you that."

We have a button on our register for situations like this. Because of the way theatre POS software is configured, it actually takes longer to enter the transaction into the system when people do this than it does to just enter the transaction straight. People will get their change the way they like it, but they'll wait a few seconds longer for it. It's not that we're dumb, it's that we're required to do things a certain way for transaction-documentation purposes. I imagine many other operations have similar setups.

What I absolutely can't stand is when people do the "extra money for the transaction so I don't get a bunch of ones" bit on a busy night when I have a sign in the window that says "EXACT CHANGE APPRECIATED -- $5s and $10s NEEDED," which happens a lot when you've got a lot of single people attending a show and paying with $20 bills (or as we call them "yuppie food stamps.")

In such cases, they'll get ones whether they like them or not. Take your eyes off your I-Phone for five seconds and read the damn sign.

 

[F. J.]

Inconceivable . . .

And whilst there, please look up, read and digest the true meaning, and usage, of the word unique.
There is a set of adjectives—including unique, complete, equal, infinite, and perfect—whose core meaning embraces a mathematically absolute concept and which therefore, according to a traditional argument, cannot be modified by adverbs such as really, quite, rather or very.

Reminds me of a certain movie . . .
[video=youtube;OHVjs4aobqs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHVjs4aobqs[/video]

 

[AmateisGal]

Or people who don't blow their exhaled smoke up or away from the people who are around them. How rude is it to take a full blast in the face from a smoker. I am not a smoker and admit I don't like being around it, but if I am somewhere where it is legal, then I will never complain or say anything. But really, even if legal, wouldn't courtesy be to try to at least blow it up or away. Coughing and sneezing are legal, but common courtesy is not to do those things directly into someones face.

Yes. I've never understood this mentality, either.

 

[sheeplady]

We have a button on our register for situations like this. Because of the way theatre POS software is configured, it actually takes longer to enter the transaction into the system when people do this than it does to just enter the transaction straight. People will get their change the way they like it, but they'll wait a few seconds longer for it. It's not that we're dumb, it's that we're required to do things a certain way for transaction-documentation purposes. I imagine many other operations have similar setups.

What I absolutely can't stand is when people do the "extra money for the transaction so I don't get a bunch of ones" bit on a busy night when I have a sign in the window that says "EXACT CHANGE APPRECIATED -- $5s and $10s NEEDED," which happens a lot when you've got a lot of single people attending a show and paying with $20 bills (or as we call them "yuppie food stamps.")

In such cases, they'll get ones whether they like them or not. Take your eyes off your I-Phone for five seconds and read the damn sign.

I think then the appropriate way to do that is to say, "I need to take the change out of the ten" as opposed to "You've made a mistake." Or point to the sign and say, "We need X type of money" and then make the change the way you want/need.

If you tell me I've made a mistake, then I am going to assume that you honestly don't know why I handed you $11. I will take time to hold up a line if someone tells me that they don't understand the transaction to explain it to them, particularly if they are a young cashier who's obviously new. (You can tend to tell new cashiers by how they handle the money, typically.) I've never had this problem with an older/ more experienced cashier.

Other people might not be as nice when cashier tells them they made a mistake or that they can't count; if they honestly believe I made a mistake I'm not going to rat them out to their boss or embarrass them by screaming at the or being tense or rude, like some people would. If teaching them how to make change saves them that issue in the future, then so be it.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I avoid that by having few young cashiers. Our youngest is 19, but I'm willing to bet she's smarter than most of the customers.

I think the biggest problem I have is that people today *just don't bother to read signs,* or if they do, they assume that the message on the sign doesn't apply to them. I can put a sign with giant black letters in the window that says DOORS OPEN 6:30PM and I can guarantee there'll be at least a dozen people outside at 5:45 who'll rap on the glass, make that "hey, DUHHHH! The door's locked!" gesture, and otherwise ignore the sign. They'll often *look over and around* the sign in an effort to make eye contact with someone inside. I'm planning to install big black pulldown shades on all the front windows this summer to put a stop to this.

I can't imagine any other kind of business where people feel they have an intrinsic right to come inside before said business is open. Do people stand outside grocery stores or auto-parts stores or poultry slaughterhouses banging on the windows and demanding to be let in 45 minutes before the places are open?

I don't know anyone who's worked in retail or the service sector for any length of time who hasn't developed a very bitter perspective toward the arrogant, entitled attitude of the public. The customer might not always be right, but when he's wrong you can bet he's also a jackass about it.

 

[sheeplady]

I avoid that by having few young cashiers. Our youngest is 19, but I'm willing to bet she's smarter than most of the customers.

I think the biggest problem I have is that people today *just don't bother to read signs,* or if they do, they assume that the message on the sign doesn't apply to them. I can put a sign with giant black letters in the window that says DOORS OPEN 6:30PM and I can guarantee there'll be at least a dozen people outside at 5:45 who'll rap on the glass, make that "hey, DUHHHH! The door's locked!" gesture, and otherwise ignore the sign. They'll often *look over and around* the sign in an effort to make eye contact with someone inside. I'm planning to install big black pulldown shades on all the front windows this summer to put a stop to this.

I can't imagine any other kind of business where people feel they have an intrinsic right to come inside before said business is open. Do people stand outside grocery stores or auto-parts stores or poultry slaughterhouses banging on the windows and demanding to be let in 45 minutes before the places are open?

I don't know anyone who's worked in retail or the service sector for any length of time who hasn't developed a very bitter perspective toward the arrogant, entitled attitude of the public. The customer might not always be right, but when he's wrong you can bet he's also a jackass about it.

Yes, most of the cashier's I've been told that is a mistake by are very young- much younger than 19- more like 16. And it is typically in temporary work environments- like the State Fair or around the holidays. (Mainly State Fair.)

Dealing with the public is no fun. I've worked customer service (IT support for faculty) and it is difficult to be all sunshine and roses when people start their interactions angry with you. I started keeping track and within a two week period I had a pretty complete list of all the profanities used in American English- and I was a new employee.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The customers can abuse me all they want, but the moment they turn the abuse on one of the kids, I throw them out. I don't want the business of some entitled middle-aged jerk who puffs up her -- and it's usually a woman -- self-image by yelling at kids who're just trying to do their jobs. I've banned a couple of people over the years because of the way they'd come in and browbeat the staff over trivialities.

 

[Trapped in T-wilight Zone]

I often give an odd amount in cash to control my change and my cash on hand. I mostly do so either prepared to make it fast and/or when it isn't busy in the checkout line. Sometimes, when there is no line behind me, as I count what I give to the cashier, I tell them that the long line behind me will just have to wait. Usually I get a laugh and a smile from the cashier with that.

To quote LizzieMaine
"Cashiers are usually judged by their supervisors on how many customers they process per hour, especially fast-paced environments like supermarkets and fast-food restaurants. They're taught to hand the change back and say "and your change is $3.08" not because they're rude and inefficient, but because their masters, er, supervisors demand that they do so so that they can move people thru the lines most quickly. Cashiers who can't keep up with the pace are usually terminated before their probation period expires, and there's constant pressure to pick up and improve the pace. Blame the companies that insist on this speedup system before criticizing the employees who have no choice but to carry it out."

Maybe it is different at your end of the country. One of the biggest grocery chains West of the Mississippi has had the slowest checkouts for decades. That and their phony sale pricing is why I have shopped there very little the past forty years. Unfortunately, most of the other big chains are following in their footsteps and becoming just as bad. The belt and customer line is set up so that you cannot place your items on the belt until the person ahead of you is often nearly done. The person ahead of you is handed a receipt and change in such a way that they cannot seem to move out of the way until the checker is half done scanning your stuff. THEN you MUST scan your "club" card (otherwise you don't get the sale prices). The card scanner is slow. The checker has now finished scanning your stuff. Now you must answer a question about today's donation? Only then can you tell the computer how you intend to pay. THEN scan your card if you need to use one. Then enter your pin number, (this whole time the checker is standing there waiting for you to do what you couldn't do because of the way they handed change and receipts to the person ahead of you and the fact that the card scanner and keypad is placed so that you cannot get to it and use it until after the person ahead of you has left). Somewhere in all this you have to try to remember to hand the cashier the coupons you brought from home from the ads or previous visits. Then you answer "cash back" yes or no, then amount approval, finally the cashier takes numerous coupons (to be used on future visits and slow the line down again on another day) and receipts and your change and dumps it all in a wad into your waiting hand.
I immediately move forward to sort out the paper and put away my change. But I almost never see anyone else do that.

I cannot think of a "good" reason to set up to slow down the checkout this way. Waiting in line is a known way to entice last minute purchase decisions (doesn't work with me, I get irritated while waiting and watching all this unfold again and refuse to buy anything more).
The other thing I notice, is that the cashier's screen is set up so that I cannot see it until the person ahead of me has moved out (usually half done with my scanning by then). And if I try in any way to be considerate and take care of my transaction quickly? I cannot watch the scanner results AT ALL most times. And, yes, they do sometimes make scanning mistakes, usually in the store's favor.
One simple change could shave nearly a minute off the average transaction. Move the silly card scanner/keypad back about four feet so that the next customer can reach it while the customer ahead is putting their stuff together. Yes, I know that one of the reasons for keeping it forward is so that the following person doesn't play with it too soon. But any good programmer could fix that problem (and THAT is whole different subject of "pet peeves").