A Customer Told The Cashier To “Figure Out” How To Ring Up A Watermelon — It Left Him Frustrated With Gen Z
Pexels/Reddit
You never expect a quick grocery store stop to turn into an awkward standoff at the register. But that’s exactly what happened to this shopper when his watermelon didn’t have a sticker for the cashier to scan.
Rather than ask someone for help, the cashier repeated that she couldn’t scan it and pushed it back toward him. He wasn’t sure what she expected him to do, so he told her she needed to figure it out.
That finally got things moving, but the whole thing left him wondering why she didn’t just ask for help in the first place.
Read on to see what you think about it.
Gen z customer service
I know people always defend Gen Z workers, and I get that every generation gets criticized, but I’ve had so many weird interactions lately that I honestly don’t get it.
The most recent one happened when I was buying a watermelon.
The cashier looked at me and quietly mumbled something… I didn’t hear and asked for clarification… She then said, “Your watermelon doesn’t have a sticker… I can’t scan it.”
It was almost as if she was telling him not to buy the watermelon.
I waited because I assumed she was about to say, “Let me get someone,” or “I’ll do a price check.” Instead, she just repeated, “I can’t scan it,” and kind of pushed the watermelon back toward me.
So… I just stood there. Was I supposed to go find another watermelon? They were all across the store, and none of them had stickers anyway. I genuinely had no idea what she expected me to do.
Finally, I said, “I think that’s something you need to figure out. I’m not really sure what you’re telling me.”
She gave me this annoyed look… like how dare I say that… then we stood there in awkward silence for a few seconds, and then she finally called someone over. The other employee immediately gave her the watermelon code, she typed it in, and that was it.
The whole thing left him feeling some sort of way.
That’s the part that confuses me… If you don’t know what to do, why not just ask someone? Or at least tell the customer, “Hang on, let me get some help.” It seems like such an obvious next step.
And before anyone says, “They’re new to the workforce…” these aren’t 15-year-olds working their first job. A lot of them are in their 20s. This wasn’t some complicated situation… it was literally just a watermelon without a sticker.
This also isn’t the only time I’ve experienced something like this. I’ve had a lot of interactions where people just seem completely unwilling to communicate or solve even simple problems. I know it doesn’t apply to everyone, but it’s happened often enough that I understand where some of the stereotypes come from.
Eek! It sounds like he’s had some pretty awkward experiences.
Let’s see what the fine folks over at Reddit think about his stereotype.
Apparently, this reader knows exactly what he’s talking about.
This reader thinks it all boils down to a lack of training.
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These food delivery workers have also had problems with them.
Here’s another reader who thinks it’s just their lack of training.
She could’ve just asked someone instead of making this so awkward.
Nobody expects her to know everything, but the customer can’t do her job for her.
Still, though, blaming an entire generation is taking it a little too far.
Plenty of people give bad service, and they’re definitely not all in their twenties.
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