Sarah Warsi

Happy New Year, lovelies! I hope 2019 is amazing to each and every one of you.

So earlier this week, I went grocery shopping and as I was cashing out, the cashier handling my order couldn’t grant me a discount for the redemption of some points I had accumulated. It seemed to be a system glitch and because the discount would have been minimal anyway, I wasn’t going to make too big of a deal about it right then and there.

Anyways, as she was trying to apply the discount, she very politely apologized for the delay, and then turned to her colleague who was manning the till beside her and simply asked for some help. The colleague turned around and very rudely retorted, “Oh, what do you want now?!”

Her annoyance was clearly evident and I was so taken aback by how unnecessarily nasty and disrespectful she was being, and in front of a slew of customers no less. I discreetly shook my head in disbelief as I bagged my items. The worst part was that the lady she was being so unkind too (the one looking after my order) seemed oblivious to how rudely she was being treated. She was genuinely just asking for some help and was so wrongly chewed out for it.

The unfriendly colleague just dismissively said it was an issue at head office level and that they couldn’t do anything about it. I wasn’t about to exacerbate the issue there anyway on a busy Saturday afternoon, and I also wasn’t interested in getting my own head bitten off!

Anyways, as I left the store, I just felt really bad for the cashier that was looking after me. A huge part of self-growth is asking for help when you need it. It’s also an integral part of delivering quality customer service; so to be embarrassed and condescended like that in front of people and for the person to show such little regard for their own actions and the impression they were leaving of the business, was just disappointing.

I hope this lady eventually realized her own actions later. Of course, we all have our bad or off days, but that doesn’t give us the right to take it out on our peers. A person should never feel ‘small’ or inadequate for simply reaching out for some help.

You never know what someone is going through or what their silent struggles are. This can never be reiterated too many times; being kind can do wonders for others in ways that you could never imagine.

As the old saying goes, ‘treat others the way you’d like to be treated’ – and I’m pretty sure none of us want to be treated like crap when simply asking for some guidance from someone they have enough respect to seek help from.

Here’s to a year and way of life, dedicated to respecting and valuing one another more and practicing the simple yet valuable act of just being kind.