"cathy" > wrote in message
...
snip
> Apparently it's store policy that they =have= to ask that question, no
> matter what the size of the customer's order. Aside from the
> ludicrousness of the question, I feel it's an insult to me - do I look
> so decrepit that they genuinely think I =need= help? And it's an
> insult to the checker - why can't the store trust their employees to
> use common sense - ask the question if there's a =large= order, or the
> customer is elderly and might need the help. Let the employee assess
> the situation. Its not rocket science. I've complained several times
> and have been told "it's company policy".
snip> Cathy

I'm replying to no one in particular and I'm not going to make myself
popular either.

There is a large and growing larger portion of our population that has no
choice about taking go-nowhere jobs that are mind-killing tedious where they
are subject to constant humiliations whether the humiliation is inflicted
upon them by stupid company policy or customers. The old folks at Wal-Mart
aren't there because they need a broader social life, they're there to pay
for the spouse's oxygen or pills or other life's necessities because the
retirement they thought they had has dwindled or been snatched away. People
in their middle years are working these jobs because they have been laid off
and their skills are not wanted by anyone else. Company pension? Gone.
Health benefits? Gone. IRA's? Eaten by the stock market. You know all
those jobs that are supplied by the great entrepreneurship and small
business this country? The majority of that self-employment doesn't supply
enough income to get you a pot to pee in. Of course the unemployment
numbers are dropping. . .people fall off the lists after the payment
entitlement ends and then they go to low-paying jobs or start a small
business that just barely keeps the wolf from the door. These people work
really hard for their money. To generalize about them that they are all low
intelligence and don't understand what is going on is shameful. Many of
these people had the same hopes and aspirations just a little while ago that
you do and now all they can look forward to is a constant, hope-deadening
grind. Give them a break. It's not their fault that some bozo has decreed
they have to do or say something in order to keep their job. Most of them
have a hard enough time just getting a 40-hour work week from their
employer, they are not going to jeopardize the job they do have to ignore
the manager's orders. Say thanks, smile and leave.
Janet