Food service and retail workers of Reddit, what can your customers do to make your day a little less awful?

1. Just... be a decent human being. Be understanding about reasonable delays or long lines. Smile and say hello. Just be fuckin' normal. Pleasant customers make my day so much easier than difficult ones. I don't even care if you need a lot of adjustments to something you order. Just be nice and I'll literally high-five you over the counter.
   — SolidVirginal


2. A lot of stores will have a link to a survey website on the bottom of the receipt. I know it is easy to forget about, but I always love it when people fill out those surveys. The employees usually get a tiny bonus of some kind if our name is mentioned/we get a good review and the customers usually get a coupon or some kind of reward for taking the survey. It helps us both out!
   — spaceturtle1138


3. If you decide not to buy something, it is a million times better to leave the thing with a staff member — who will probably thank you! — than to extend your arm, relax your grasp, and let the thing fall wherever it may.
   — neutrinoprism






4. If a cashier holds out their hand for your cash, don't put it on the counter instead.
   — AdmitNothingButYou


5. I’m not in retail *anymore*, but 1. Be succinct. I don’t need to hear the whole story about why you’re buying a white T-shirt and tie dye. Especially when there’s ten other people in line and we only have two cashiers. 2. Don’t yell at me because you didn’t read the specifications on the sale sign. We’re not trying to deceive you with “fine print.” The words are 1.5 centimeters tall. 3. Just don’t be rude. You’re not better than a customer service employee just because you’re not one. They work *hard.* And they get treated like crap to boot.
   — low_calorie_doughnut


6. Honestly just be polite. Say please and thank you. Smile if you feel like it. It’s super annoying as a host to get people seated at a table and have them immediately say “ice water.” Usually this interrupts my spiel about how their server’s name is [x] and they’ll be right with you. My main beef with the demand for drinks is: 1: That’s not my job. I seat people, run food and clean tables. 2: Would it kill you to say please?
   — tbubui






7. "If it doesn't scan it must be free!" Stop. Please.
   — thatgumdrophippo


8. Understand that you're not my *only* priority.. I have 10 different tasks to do by the time I leave. I will do my absolute best to make your experience pleasant but if I can't make it to the counter in .5 seconds, please understand. Also you have *no* fucking idea what's going on at the job. Today alone I'm doing a favor for my boss by working 11 hours, my first day back from the hospital. If I seem sorta tired or ask you to repeat something, I genuinely am trying to process it and not be rude. I'm *trying* my best so please understand I can't always be happy, I'll fake it, but I can't promise to jump off the wall the moment you walk in the building.
   — ForeverPizzaPrincess


9. Clean up the coffee area yourself if you made a mess, especially if it's early in the morning and I'm the only worker at the gas station.
   — bebekakes






10. When I go check for something in the cooler/backroom please stay in the vicinity of where we last spoke. More often than not I'll come back out onto the floor and my customer is nowhere to be found.
    — Goombaw


11. Please just understand that employees are just employees. We have no control over things. We can’t make decisions on our own most of the time. But if you’re nice and polite and understanding I will 100% go out of my way to do anything that I CAN do to help you. It is not our fault if something is out of stock or it didn’t come in the order. We literally have no control whether the warehouse sends us something or not. We also have no control over prices. I did not raise the cost of your cigarettes by 20 cents, Marlboro did please don’t yell at me for it. If an employee tells you they can’t do something it’s because they are not allowed to and begging and screaming at them won’t help. Cal corporate if you really must it’s not the employees fault they don’t want to lose their job. Not every place has magic tricks for discounts and sales. My register system is set up so al discounts are automatic and if we need to do one ourselves, it requires a description of why and usually comes with a follow up call from corporate to make sure it’s something they approve of. This part I feel only applies at certain retail places, but if you bought a product that’s new to you and it’s not working right, don’t come in freaking out demanding a refund and shit. At my store 90% of issues are because of user error and for some reason people can’t accept that they aren’t experts.
    — NattyIce97


12. 1. Please don't obliterate a napkin or coaster into a billion little pieces and just leave it on the table. 2. If you're going to stack the plates (which I do appreciate) try to have a little more sense about it, and put the silverware on top.
    — Steverodrigi






13. Also...realize that I have no say whether or not your card fails or the prices of things, especially gas and that if you have a complaint you're probably not the first, second, tenth, or fiftieth person to say this.
    — bebekakes


14. From my experience of working retail, about 5% of customers are extremely friendly and bring a smile to your face, about 5-10% are angry as hell mofo's, and the rest just treat you as though you are one of those checkout machines with no soul. They just chuck items at you without even looking at you or smiling at you or saying thank you. You dont have to be the best, most talkative, nice customer ever, just treat the retail workers as though they are actual people. Look at them. Smile. Say thanks. Dont be a prick. That is it.
    — strawberry-devil