The company I work for is closing and it’s through this closing process I’ve realized how cruel people can be to retail workers. On a daily basis people lash out at me for the fact that something is overpriced despite us closing. Customers share their “wisdom” as to why the company is closing without asking us why. The simple answer: bankruptcy. It’s the only answer, at least. I’ve had people tell me, looking me in the eye, that they’re glad my company is going out of business. Glad because their orders never made it to them. It’s as if one pair of $20 shoes is more important than thousands of employees lives. We’re all losing our jobs. We aren’t happy about it. We’re scrambling to figure out what our last day will be and sending out applications and resumes to any company we can before we’re terminated. We’re thinking about how to stash away paychecks without letting our families go hungry. We have bills to pay still. People come into work and make a big show of offering us jobs, talking loud enough to gather the attention of others who praise them on their humanity. Meanwhile, I’m carting away their business card in file 13. Managers at other stores come in to offer us positions that pay nearly a dollar less than we’re making now. Taco Bell pays $13/hour. I make $8.50. Retail is a dying brand and It’s simply because we are so entranced into shopping online. Everything is ordered right to our door so that we never have to leave our couches. We push rave reviews on items that come quickly meanwhile we curse out the company because “That’s not a small!” We want everything to fit perfectly while looking exactly like the picture. That’s not reality though. The people I work with and I can attest that we love some of our shoes but the second we try them on, the sizing is weird or they simply don’t make the style we emulate. We face people’s screaming when we explain that no, you can’t return this. It says so on your receipt. I understand that’s a problem but it’s your problem because we tell you at the register when you purchase it.

If one of our stores near you is closing, please be kind to us. Treat us with respect. Do not make fun of our situation or make a big deal simply because you’re unhappy with the current sale. We’re unhappy with the entire situation but we still have to come in every day and smile and treat all customers with the respect we would like the receive. We still do ou