Smell the Roses, Listen to your Cashier

Working retail, you stand by the doors all day behind your register greeting people as they walk through the door and wishing them a good day as they leave. Thrilling, I know. I've learned something ever since September, and that's that people forgot how to listen somewhere along the line. 


In high school, I used to get mocked for being so loud that people could hear me down the hallways...not just down the hallway, though. Upstairs and around the corner. I get shushed at restaurants and movie theaters. My laugh always draws in attention. "Oh, Shelby, your laugh is so infectious." Don't worry, people, I know that means annoying, but I can't help it. So, how is it then that my loud voice stops 3 feet short of me every time I work at my job? 


It feels like one in ever fifteen customers actually respond to me when I say, "Hi, how are you doing today?" I understand that in our culture, that phrase has been abused. It no longer means, "I am genuinely curious on how your day has gone thus far." Instead, it has been boiled down to an systematic, "Hey," in meaning. People walk around the mall, talking to their children with iPod earbuds in their ears. Excuse me? How is that setting a good example of someone who is attentive to what you're saying? How is that being responsive to your child's needs? How is that not rude?


It's not anyone's fault. It's just society and its changing priorities toward technology. Suddenly, answering a text is more important than decent conversation at a dining room table with family. Answering that one phone call is more important than driving. Playing Angry Birds is more important than playing the piano. I'm not saying that technology is evil. I'm saying it's providing a distraction. Our attention span is already, what? Fifteen minutes? Ten? No wonder someone can't even listen long enough to say hello back at a mall. They're too wrapped up in checking out their outfit, their phones, and their boyfriends, and not wrapped up enough in just simply checking out at my register. 


When I tell someone about the survey at the bottom of their receipt, one of the most common responses is: "Do I have to sign there?" No. I just explained what you have to do. If you don't get that 15% off coupon for not doing the survey, it is no longer my problem. Another thing: just read. If you can't listen to words coming out of my mouth then at least read the words I am pointing to. 


What I'm saying is this. Be aware of the present so that years later you don't look at your life and wonder what you were doing. You were on the phone. Think you met that person before? You didn't, you just simply walked on by, your face glued to technology. Just start listening. Eye contact is the most important thing. Oh, and one more thing: Please respond to your cashier when she wishes a good day because maybe then she'll actually mean it.