It’s Saturday and I head to Beachwood Mall. I’ve been meaning to pick up a few things and I have this assignment, so as is my style, I plan to kill two birds with one stone. When I enter the mall I am starving, so I head straight to the food court, for the Chick-Fil-A. As usual, the line there is the longest, and the staff is working at a feverish pitch to get everyone served as quickly as possible. Forever the person who never does things by the book, I decided to test my “low-carb” custom order during this chaos, both for my health and (social?) science. I get in line and observe the staff. “I can help the next customer over here,” they say, most of them look relatively young, a multiracial group. It appears more females than males are working (at least at the front). The customers are also a diverse group, ranging from families to teens hanging at the mall to other mall staff on their lunch break, etc.
Everyone else is ordering by the book so I am a little nervous about my order. It’s a swift process — step up, say what you want, swipe a card, step aside until your name is called. Finally, they get to me. I step up to the young lady and ask “can I get a grilled chicken club sandwich without the bun please?”. Her smile falters a little. I’m sorry what? No bun, please. Okay, so you want the patty? Just everything that comes on it except bread, please. It takes her just a few seconds longer than the people before me, but it felt like forever. As I watch her try to figure that out, I know I have complicated her day a little bit, and she is probably trying not to roll her eyes. Will that be all for your order ma’am. Yes, please. I pay and step aside. She whispers to the next cashier, they both glance at me and then … next.
After, I head over to Victoria’s Secret PINK store. The staff here seem a little older than at Chick-fil-a, (more like later teens/early twenties to thirties?) and there is not one single man working there. As expected, most of the customers were also female, and the one man that was there with a woman (girlfriend? wife?) stand uncomfortably to the side looking at his phone. Many of the customers were young girls (the PINK brand targets a more youthful brand than the flagship store) with their mothers, or college-age ladies. “Do you need any help miss?” a young lady with braids says to me. No thank you, I’m just looking. Okay, just let me know if you do she smiles, my name is Rachel. I end up picking up a sweatshirt I’ve been eyeing. Did anyone help you today, the cashier asks, yes Rachel, I feel obligated to say. Okay thank you, would you like to put that on a VS credit card today. No thanks. She tells me my total and I pay and leave the store.
It was really interesting to observe both places because when I was younger I have worked in both places (in a different state obviously). I remember working the register at a Chick-Fil-A in the mall when I was 16. Joey, the manager, said I got to be up there because I had a pretty smile. And boy did I have to smile, no matter how annoying the customer was, so I know how that cashier felt about me. It always seemed like the rushes came in waves, one minute there would be nobody, then suddenly everybody, especially right before closing time. If they join the line even a second before closing time they must get their order.
I was a little older when I worked at Victoria’s secret. If a customer tells the cashier that you helped, then you would get some kind of commission. That is why even till today if someone tells me their name at the store, I tell the cashier, even if I don’t use their help. It seems like the right thing to do. The best customers were the men who wandered in alone looking for something for their daughters or girlfriends during the holiday season. You could always tell they wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible. So much fun to help. Mothers and their young teenage daughters? The absolute worst. I fondly remember (but don’t miss those days — don’t get me started on Black Friday at the mall) and so when I’m not stressing people out with custom orders, I try to be as polite and appreciative as I can.