Bad Experience With Cashier

[lil1inlongbeach]

If I go into a store to purchase my Depends pull ups I wanted to be treated with respect. When I have a cold I have to wear the pull ups as sometimes I cough so hard that I wet my pants due to stress incontinence. I don't want to be walking around in wet underwear or in wet pants either. I never know when I'll wet my pants and when I won't therefore I wear them as a precaution but they still allow me to be a big girl too. I would not want someone making a snarky comment like this kid did. You wouldn't say to someone buying Goodnites oh, I see your child hasn't outgrown wetting the bed yet type of thing. What this young man said was rude. I worked retail for almost a year and worked the register the good portion of the time I was there. I never commented when someone bought incontinence products. Customer service sucks these days as the kids behind the cash register don't give a crap about the customer. All they care about are their breaks, when they get to go home and being paid for the job. Orange Clock did the right thing. This kid learned his lesson and will hopefully treat people with respect in the future with keeping his snarky comments to himself. What I'm purchasing at the store is none of their business and I don't want to hear any comments over my purchases either.

[Guest Baby Tiana]

While reading this i was absolutely shocked that someone working at such a place would consider such a comment a joke. They really should have been taught during training that you just smile and don't offend others. Incontinence is all around us, and he should know that even though you went in there with your head up high, that he has no right to ever make such comments to people. One because like what happened to you, your feelings could be hurt. Two, it's like when you honk at a car or something...how does this person know you aren't going to pull out a knife or gun?!

I am however very proud of you and I must agree with some people that you did make a great impact on diaper wearing! I mean I don't think I would have stood up to him...I couldn't when I went to starbucks and the lady made me the wrong drink, but denied I said what I had. I wanted to tell her that as a worker, she is supposed to smile and say she is sincerely sorry and make a new drink. But I don't really like confrontation, and I speak really softly to those i don't know or am not comfortable around.

Thanks for sharing your story, and I hope things will go better the next time you go! (otherwise you maybe getting more gift cards!) Although I was sort of wondering why the manager didn't offer to pay for your purchase...

[babykeiff]

The situation -

• A clerk makes a derogatory comment to a customer relating to their purchase.

In my opinion, there are only two ways to handle this -

1. Do nothing, ignore the comments, and this behaviour WILL be repeated.
2. Inform management, eductate the shop / manager, and this behaviour might be stopped.

This this type of behaviour is a form of bullying, manipulation, assault and discrimination. The only way to stop discrimination is not to ignore it, but to enforce rules to control it. How 'Orange Clock' handled this is, in my humble opinion, maturely and correctly.

The shop clerk is one member in a team of staff designed to serve the needs of its customers. The better a customer is served, the more likely of repeat business. Consider the people you prefer to do business with, and the ones that you try to avoid. Are the reasons that you avoid those relating to customer service, or lack there off?

[curiositykilledthecat]

I'm incontinent. I would be pissed if some brat cashier said shit to me. My bladder might not work right, but my feelings sure do!

I work in the public eye... If I chuckled at somebody else's issue, I'd be applying for my unemployment in the public eye.

Things I've seen on the job some people might be apt to make comments about - a few clients in diapers (likely incontinent, and I'm sure most people wouldn't notice), PLENTY in wheelchairs and all sorts of medical contraptions, gay couples - some kissing (hey, I am in THEIR home!), a few clearly non-passing transgenders (it was actually quite cool seeing one of my regulars make her way through this process! She looks great now, and I'd never know if I didn't recognize her), every fathomable level of mental disability, one woman who spent the whole time talking to voices I couldn't hear, one who insisted the computer was actually "sad and depressed", hoarders, wannabe gang-bangers, every minority under the sun, every plausible stereotype (Even I had trouble not chuckling at the african american family whom had a huge stock of grape soda, 5 watermelons, and was frying up chicken for the guests they were having. C'mon!! I don't have a racist cell in my body, but C'MON!!).........

and I don't say a single word about any of it to any of them.

The only things I've said to any of the above...

There was a gay guy who's partner was trying to kiss him, and he said "Stop! You'll make her uncomfortable." to which I spoke up stating they have no reason to think I would feel uncomfortable with it.

If I can treat allll those different clients with kindness, respect, and professionalism, I don't see why some brat at CVS can't do the same. The OP certainly did not over react.

Do I think the kid should be fired? Not if this was a first offense. If this is a normal occurrence, then yes, terminate the brat.

-Mia

...did you just describe our apartment complex?

[Guest little_jonny]

i hate people like that. i went to a goodwill and saw they had diapers for sale, not much in a pack but a few. i went to check out and the price tag was right on the front where she could see it. she was looking all around on the package just looking, looking and looking. im thinking, the price tag is right in front of you! buying adult diapers is no one else's busniess but ours. i think what you did was great.

[Honu]

At the risk of getting flamed, I don't think the cashier was "just making a joke". It was a short story, but I read the cashier as being a mean spirited bully who happened to work as a cashier at CVS. This is because he repeated the taunt and got more specific the second time. Further, his anxiety at having his actions reviewed by the store manager indicate that he knew he was bullying orange clock.

Congratulations for staring down a bully and besting him. It took a lot of courage on your part and it was a personal victory over a bully as well as a community victory for respectful service at CVS. Well done!

[Leilin]

The situation -

• A clerk makes a derogatory comment to a customer relating to their purchase.

In my opinion, there are only two ways to handle this -

1. Do nothing, ignore the comments, and this behaviour WILL be repeated.
2. Inform management, eductate the shop / manager, and this behaviour might be stopped.

This this type of behaviour is a form of bullying, manipulation, assault and discrimination. The only way to stop discrimination is not to ignore it, but to enforce rules to control it. How 'Orange Clock' handled this is, in my humble opinion, maturely and correctly.

The shop clerk is one member in a team of staff designed to serve the needs of its customers. The better a customer is served, the more likely of repeat business. Consider the people you prefer to do business with, and the ones that you try to avoid. Are the reasons that you avoid those relating to customer service, or lack there off?

I'm glad to say that I agree with you 100 percent here, Keiff!

I have two backgrounds here, so I'll narrate both:

First of all, as the profile says, bedwetter. My parents made the decision that I was to go buy my own diapers from the nearby Safeway when I was around 11 years old. It would be an understatement to say that I was emotionally fragile at the time that I was going to the store, even when it was initially with my parents, for those first few trips. If a comment had been made to me at that time, I would probably have been devastated.

As I got older, I finally got large enough to wear the small size of store diapers, and that made it even harder because I was nearing the age of the people working in the store. THEN it would have pissed me off and I would most definitely have called management. Having to wear the damn things was humiliation enough without some clerk choosing to have some humor at my expense.

Now, I don't bother going into stores. Purchasing online gives me better products at a lower price. However, I still buy lotion and powder in stores. I also purchase feminine products for my mate. Thankfully, not once in any of these three situations have I ever had such a comment, and while I would not react in the same way as the original poster did, I would most definitely support his reaction.

Now, my profession is designing training for a very large company.

We say two very important things on day 1:

1: NEVER make a joke at the customer's expense or use risky humor at a customer.

2: NEVER make a joke at your fellow employees' expense.

If new-hires fail to fully grasp these concepts, which is usually easy to define with the 120 hours of training that we put all new hires through before we even begin the actual process training within the company, then they are given one warning and then fired.

I would, personally not make any purchase that ended in money going to a company that I felt did not observe these practices.

Again, this is simply my POV from my experiences.

[curiositykilledthecat]

Having managed cashiers previously in my life, I would have appreciated you bringing this to ym attention, however making the spectacle out of it that you did was a bit too far. The gift ccard should have been sufficient or you could have acted like an aduylt and just not shopped there anymore. The cashier would have gotten written up and either suspended or fired by the h.r. department within the company. Not every store manager can fire or hire a person, depending on the companiy's infrastructure.

[justagirl4fun]

Now, my profession is designing training for a very large company.

We say two very important things on day 1:

1: NEVER make a joke at the customer's expense or use risky humor at a customer.

2: NEVER make a joke at your fellow employees' expense.

This.

I've worked in a grocery store for over a decade and I have seen fellow co-workers get fired for offending customers with failed attempts at humor, and also for making rude comments about customers within earshot of the customers. Stores depend of customers to stay open. Offending customers is a great way to ensure that the customers take their business elsewhere. While I would not make as big a deal out of the situation as the OP, I would definitely say something to the manager or owner as I know my boss would want to know immediately about such an incident.

[babykeiff]

The main reason any company stays in business is that it keeps its customers content. To do this needs a few things to work together

1 - the customer feels respected.

2 - and despite the price the customer feels like he/she is getting their moneys worth.

Item #1, the most important to customers, is paramount. It is always the one that most people forget when they treat 'dealing with a customer/potential customer as an interruption'.

Item #2 might shock some people, as the cheapest doesn't always mean repeat business. Evey customer, no matter what their budget and finance, wants to get the best value for their money, and will pay the little extra if they believe that they are getting value.

Personally, as a consultant, and within my own company, I have dismissed more people for failing to respect a customer / customer complaints than for anything else. An event comes to mind -

As a business consultant, I entered a retail organisation with a floor staff of 25. A customer (me) enters the shop (10am) looking for assistance. I am the only customer, but nobody is available to give assistance, they are all too busy cleaning / stocking shelves etc. By 11am that same day, all 25, including the floor manager were looking for new jobs. None of them could realize that it didn't matter how clean and perfect the store was, if customers couldn't get served / helped, they would go elsewhere.

The customer is the source of income to a business. No customers = no business.

[sarah_ab]

while i agree that the customer feels respected is very important for a small business..

walmart, target, home depot, lowes, shopko, fred meyer, kroger, safeway etc... really many of these chains are so large, they 'preach' their 'wheel of values' to all store associates, but at the end of the day corporate really could care less..... and unless a customer actually makes a big enough stink with an issue that the company is afraid could go public and cause them bad publicity and/or a lawsuit, they just don't care....

really if you had gone to walmart and called corporate and told them a cashier had made a comment about you bedwetting, of course they will act concerned with you on the phone, and there will probably be a call made to the indiv. store, but do you REALLY think that corporate - not the customer service line - i'm talking the vp's and presidents of departments actually CARE that a customer had a bad experience? No, the don't, unless that customer is going to bring a HUGE lawsuit they just don't care....

so while customer respect is always 'there' and always 'talked' about.... its not REALLY a concern, they jsut say it to make the customer feel better

[Leilin]

while i agree that the customer feels respected is very important for a small business..

walmart, target, home depot, lowes, shopko, fred meyer, kroger, safeway etc... really many of these chains are so large, they 'preach' their 'wheel of values' to all store associates, but at the end of the day corporate really could care less..... and unless a customer actually makes a big enough stink with an issue that the company is afraid could go public and cause them bad publicity and/or a lawsuit, they just don't care....

really if you had gone to walmart and called corporate and told them a cashier had made a comment about you bedwetting, of course they will act concerned with you on the phone, and there will probably be a call made to the indiv. store, but do you REALLY think that corporate - not the customer service line - i'm talking the vp's and presidents of departments actually CARE that a customer had a bad experience? No, the don't, unless that customer is going to bring a HUGE lawsuit they just don't care....

so while customer respect is always 'there' and always 'talked' about.... its not REALLY a concern, they jsut say it to make the customer feel better

While that is your opinion, at many large businesses, it is not the case.

The issue is one of clear numbers.

The cost of training a new employee vs. the cost of losing the customer.

The odds are that customers at any place are repeat customers. If an employee costs you a customer, that employee becomes much more expendable to the tune of all future business that could be had by that customer. If the way in which the customer was lost was particularly egregious, ie: making fun of a customer's disability, then the risk of keeping that employee begins to outweigh any benefits to keeping them on staff.

As I've said, in the case of the company that I work for, you get precisely one warning. It costs approximately 5,000 per employee to train them.

So no, it's not just something companies say. It is pure math and the fact is that one customer is usually worth more to the company than one employee, especially during an economic downturn.

[sarah_ab]

no i agree they may decide the risks of keeping that employee mean the employee may get fired, but its still about money, its not about respecting the customer.... sorry tahts what i meant...

the employee may get fired, the customer will get a gift card, giving the company a good chance the customer will come back... meaning the company will continue to make money and avoid a lawsuit...

i'm not saying the company doesn't care in the sense that they want to save themselves money. but they don't CARE about each individual customer.. they don't care if they walk out of the store with a smile on their face, and many of these chains stores know the customer doesn't always, but they are the only place for hte customer to shop.. especially stores like walmart, which come in and kill all the local comeptition so they really are the only place left

cvs does have competition - rite aide, walgreens, walmart, the local supermarket, so they may care a bit more.....but to the large corporation a customer is just a dollar sign, its not an actual person, they are just a statistic on a screen

[froggy]

Value for your money is a funny thing. Many times it is a best price when the lifespan is short or the item is not one that needs repairs. Durable goods are examples where service after the fact and reliability make us willing to pay more. Plastic pants at 3 for $10 are not a bargain for us cloth diaper wearers. They have to be replaced too frequently and are just impractical.

I purchased my computer at a chain store because of the techs in most communities I might live. I found the service to be expensive and unreliable. They just did not fix the problem. I found a non-chain tech that I now use when needed. The customer quality calls kept coming and finally quit when I said that chain was the last place I would shop now. I was never offered any gift card. Companies work hard to retain repeat customers.

froggy

[Leilin]

no i agree they may decide the risks of keeping that employee mean the employee may get fired, but its still about money, its not about respecting the customer.... sorry tahts what i meant...

the employee may get fired, the customer will get a gift card, giving the company a good chance the customer will come back... meaning the company will continue to make money and avoid a lawsuit...

i'm not saying the company doesn't care in the sense that they want to save themselves money. but they don't CARE about each individual customer.. they don't care if they walk out of the store with a smile on their face, and many of these chains stores know the customer doesn't always, but they are the only place for the customer to shop.. especially stores like walmart, which come in and kill all the local comeptition so they really are the only place left

cvs does have competition - rite aide, walgreens, walmart, the local supermarket, so they may care a bit more.....but to the large corporation a customer is just a dollar sign, its not an actual person, they are just a statistic on a screen

Does "the company" care about a person? Of course not. A company isn't a person. It is an emotionless abstract organization.

But you will find that, as you get closer and closer to the front line of a corporation, people care about the customer more and more. I can guarantee to you that the manager and likely the clerk who made the idiotic mistake, care a good deal more. Why? Because those people see the customer every day.

It's unreasonable to expect a supercorporation to be looking at each individual customer (not saying you're saying that). Accusing them of not caring is simply stating the obvious.

Of course, acting as if the "independent" grocers care any more is equally fallacious. The only difference in the majority of cases (except for the mom and pop places that were actually run by a mom and pop) is that your business has much more potential to do harm to them by its lack. The owners of those places are usually just as distant, emotionally, as the stockholders in the supercorporations. They truly could not care less unless you have some way to affect their bottom dollar, which, in the wide scope of things, you do not. If there were fifty of you, then you might. If there were a thousand of you, then you would.

This is why they have managers and district managers. If you're an irate customer, they are there to prevent you from being fifty of you, or a thousand of you both through methods of deescalation and through managing the training and upkeep of their employees.

[rusty pins]

Not all major store chains blow off or do not care about what goes on in their stores. Two examples come to my mind. In one case I stopped into store and had to special order what I needed for an event 3 weeks in the future. I even put down a deposit and was assured my product would be in within 2 weeks. The only store in my area that I could order this product from was out of town about 40 miles away. It was the store manager I was dealing with, the head manager. I called the store many times while waiting for my order and was told it was checked on and was on it's way. When it didn't come in, I called again and the assistant manager confided in me that the head guy never ordered it, he forgot then went on vacation for a week! The head manager had quickly tried to get a rush order when he found out I was calling and that he had neglected to order it in the first place. The evening before my event he finally called that he had my item in and I could come pick it up. I cancled my morning plans and drove up the next day (the day of my event) and guess what! It wasn't even close to the item I had ordered! Not even close and I drove 80 miles round trip to pick it up! No apology was givin except, "Sorry about that". I went on the company website when I got home, explained in detail my whole experience including the store number, dates, manager names, etc. and how I now didn't have what I needed for my event that evening! The district manager tried calling me 3 times before I finally decided to take his call. The bottom line was I was givin my item free ($200+ although I didn't get it in time for my need that night). The district manager told me after investigating my claims with the store personell that he had a very strong discussion with that manager and that manager was made to write me a letter of apology stating to me his faults in handeling my issue. I think the assistant manager of that store was promoted if you get my meaning! I did informed the district manager that I wasn't looking for my item free but when he insisted as a way of making things up to me, I told him I would take it and make a donation of that same amount to one of my charities.

The second event was when my family and I tried to use 2 coupons that gave $4 off the price of 2 dinners at Olive Garden. There were 4 of us so the 2 coupons should have been accepted. The waiter told me the policy was only one coupon per table, reguardless of how many people were at that table. The coupon said nothing about any such restrictions but I was unable to make any headway at the restaraunt. I went home, pulled up the website and submitted my information (manager, waiter's name and store number) along with my concerns that their coupon's do not list any such restrictions as I was given by the staff. Not only did I get a call 2 days later, I was told that the policy was to accept as many coupons per table as there were diners! The Customer Service rep apologized up and down and sent me coupons for $20 off my next meal. I was also told the district manager had gone to that particular store and had a meeting with not only the managers but also the wait staff about my issue so that "everyone will be on the same page and understand the coupon policy". I believe exactly what the rep told me. Sometimes big chains don't give a rat's a$$ but other times they do! Some of them do realize it's their customer's that pay their salaries!

[Still In Napies]

Employees should always be professional. No matter who they are or what they do; professionalism is key in any work environment.

[d_drew12]

The truth is, there's a million different scenarios people could argue back and forth for, for their side. Doesn't mean it's an ALWAYS or EVERYTIME statement though. It is what is is and that's that. Companies all have different policies, rules, and ideas and just because you had xyz experience at an Olive Garden(for example) and it's resolved in one such way, it doesn't mean your going to get that same result at another place. Heck, you could have different outcomes within the same company and with who answers the phone that time. I don't get all the discusion of "well in my situation, this happened so therefor, that's how it is". Doesn't matter. The OP could have had 10 different results with 10 different store managers or customer service people at headquarters.

[babykeiff]

The discussion seems to be going round in circles, with many agreeing in part to the same statement...

To any company despite how large/small it is, each customer equates to money / income AND each employee equates to an expenditure / cost. If the cost of an employee at any time equates to the loss of income (loss of a customer) then the employee WILL be replaced.

To generate custom (create/entice customers) consist of an expenditure to a company. Anything that negatively effects this return on investment is quickly eliminated. This, in business terms is called 'going concern' and is the innate value of a business, and it is the job of everybody that deals with customers to optimise this.

The financial loss from losing one customer is exaggerated cause this customer WILL tell others of his/her encounter. Unfortunately, in business, the reverse is not always true - i.e when a company does something at a financial loss to ensure the loyalty of a customer, the customer usually does not broadcast this to his/her friends and/or family.

The OP (orange clock) mentioned the name of the company he was dealing with, and the company did offer, as part of compensation, a $50 gift voucher. Does anybody remember, without going back to the first post, the name of the company involved? And if so, how do you personally feel about dealing with that company?

The company is C.V.S. Pharmacy, and I would guess that although the company paid the $50 to try and keep the specific customer content, how many through this site, have they lost? From a financial cost, and using the figures given by Leilin ($5000 per employee) and the average sale per customer of $50 and an average profit of 25%, = $12.50 per customer would work out as if they lost 404 customers, the cost of loss would equal $5,050 = $5000 to train a new member of staff PLUS the $50 to compensate the original complainant. With a cashier/till operator, the cost of training is more in the $200-$400 range rather than $5,000 as training period is normally on reduced salary. The policy of CVS does not take into account the possibility of its customer(s) being an internet user = can publizise the event to billions of people. This oversight is costing companies billions of dollars in lost revenue, as internet users (via Facebook or other similar sites - this included) can reach audiences greater than any other media including newspapers/tv/radio etc. par example, there are 20,000+ members worldwide with each having access to 100-200 people = 4,000,000 people have the possibility of being aware of comments made here. Facebook alone have 250+million users, (x200) = 50,000 million people.

As a result, a bad report about a company that is spread on the internet now has the possibility of, within 7-14 days, wiping out the company completely. Secondly, since a computer doesn't forget, a bad report stays on the net forever.

The average loss to a company by losing one customer is their freinds and family = approx 200 people. Multiply this out, the average loss at $12.50 profit per sale = $2,500.

As everyone has already stated, feelings and emotions have nothing to do with this. It is purely financial. Is it cheaper to apologize and move on, OR pay off the customer? Using this, it is easy to see why, with a non skilled / low trained workforce that there is high staff turnover and emphasis on customer service. It costs the company nothing / close to nothing to train a McDonalds/FedEx etc employee, and if they fail, they are easily replaced. However, with a high skilled or specialised workforce, the cost of training is high and/or is their replacement cost. Government employees also fall into this category. If one/many insult a customer/client, it is usually less expensive to pay off the customer/client than to replace / remove the employee.

[Leilin]

Bingo, Kieff.

Net promotion is NOT a force to be trifled with.

[sarah_ab]

I love CVS... but alas there are none out here.... I would still go to it..... it was our 'neighborhood' pharmacy growing up.

[WBDaddy]

I love CVS... but alas there are none out here.... I would still go to it..... it was our 'neighborhood' pharmacy growing up.

Same here. It's a much different beast now than it used to be, though. Selection is rank in the stores on all products, not just our collective purchase lists. Prices are ludicrous on items found in grocery stores next door for significantly less.

Primo example would be incontinence products - CVS sells the same bloody Depends Max for $12/bag that can be had in a Food Lion for around $10, or Wal-Mart for $9. If they sold something upscale like Tena or Molicare and it was pricier than the online outlets, even by a wide margin, I'd be okay with that.

Anyway, back on point:

OP may not be incon, but by doing what he did, he sent a big red flag to CVS corporate about emphasizing sensitivity training regarding incontinence to all its employees, to avoid a similar situation in the future.

I've only ever bought (diapers) at a CVS once - the cashier did exactly what I expected - rang them up, smiled, accepted my check, bagged my purchase, and wished me good evening.

Kinda the same as anywhere else I've bought such products. It's a reasonable expectation - I don't say anything about what I'm buying, they don't either, we're all good. Small talk unrelated to the purchase is okay. What this kid did was facepalm stupid, and he needed to have the fear of God put in him to ensure that he never repeated the error.

And yes, calling corporate was a reasonable thing to do, because that's exactly the reason companies have corporate feedback lines - as a venue for customers who feel wronged by the store to vent their frustration. Why they do this is not relevant. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using the tools provided by a company to voice your objections with how that company's employees treated you, for better or worse.

(As an aside, I have frequently called company hotlines to specifically praise people who I felt rose above my expectation of service - most commonly fast food employees who actually wear a smile and act like they give a fuck whether my food was right or served to me in a timely fashion)

(edit)

BTW - it would have been inappropriate if he had made a huge scene in the store, yelling and screaming like a maniac. It would have been inappropriate to get a lawyer and sue over it. There are plenty of ways the OP could have reacted inappropriately. I don't see any of them in the story.

Edited February 24, 2011 by WBDaddy

[timmyc]

I love CVS... but alas there are none out here.... I would still go to it..... it was our 'neighborhood' pharmacy growing up.

Don't know if it is everywhere, but in my area CVS is way more expensive than Walgreens, I hate CVS

[froggy]

I love being lost in a circular argument!

[Dirty Diaper/Maxipad Lover]

You know, I've disagreed with Orange Clock in the past, but this is one occasion where I have to 100% agree with him, and with what he did. It'd be one thing if the cashier made the comment once, and then dropped it or said "nevermind, bad attempt at a joke," or something similar, but that's not what happened. The cashier made the comment (and meant it in a serious manner from what I understand,) and then continued to push the question, which is where things get way out of line to me.

I now know two pharmacy cashiers, one of whom is my girlfriend. During training, cashiers are now told to say as little as possible to customers while ringing them up, especially with sensitive purchases, usually because the company fears a lawsuit. It's interesting to see how things have changed since Di was a cashier, but it also makes me wonder why more cashiers don't use common sense when ringing up customers.

If I was in Orange Clock's shoes, I'd have asked for the cashier's manager as well, I would have told the manager how unprofessional his or her cashier was, but I probably would've let things go after taking the cashier's apology, simply because I wouldn't want anyone calling my home about my diaper purchase. Besides, there's a good chance that the cashier would get chewed out in private anyway once the manager was notified of his behavior, and that would be punishment enough in my book. However, going to CVS Corporate is certainly within reason in this situation: What if Orange Clock really was incontinent? It doesn't matter that he isn't, it matters that he could have been, and this cashier could have made this comment to someone who would have sued CVS for mocking his or her medical condition. In an odd way, Orange Clock may have very well saved this guy's job (not to mention CVS a lawsuit) from an actual incontinent person who might have been even more offended by the demeaning comment.

I've never had a truly "negative" experience with a cashier myself, although I have had a couple of surprising ones in the past. There was one time when I was purchasing a bag of Huggies Pull-Ups, and the cashier asked me "how old's the baby?" I honestly didn't see that coming, but I quickly pulled a number out of my ass, and said that it was my sibling's kid and they were visiting. This is a perfectly normal comment, but imagine if you had a small five-year-old who wet the bed and the cashier asked "how old's the baby?" Then you might feel a bit embarrassed, even by such an innocent question, which is part of the reasons cashiers are now being trained to say as little as possible during checkout.

Another time I was purchasing diapers and maxipads, and I had the very type of bubble-headed teen girls Di was talking about ringing me up, and I gave their behavior a pass because 1) I wanted to get home and eat dinner, and 2) they were bubble-heads who weren't worth my time. I only saw them running the register once, and I'm sure that they pulled the same crap with a woman buying the same stuff, who actually needed it for herself and her kid, and who was annoyed enough to report them to management.

The $50 dollar CVS gift card seems like a suitable make good for what Orange Clock was subjected to. The cashier was likely chewed apart in private, and he got to keep his job, (for now, provided he doesn't repeat the same mistake twice) so I'd say things worked out relatively well in the end. Orange Clock had every right to do what he did, and the cashier's actions were simply inexcusable. I don't think Orange Clock overreacted, if that had been a parent buying their kid GoodNites or UnderJams, or someone who was incontinent buying those products for himself/herself, the cashier would have likely been met with the same reaction. Ditto for someone purchasing adult diapers for an elderly relative, or even for themselves because they actually are incontinent. What any of us are purchasing shouldn't matter, we all have a right to be treated with respect by the people ringing us up. If my shopping cart has a bag of GoodNites, a bag/box of Maxipads, some chips, a video game, a DVD, and a bottle of soda in it, I'm entitled to the same respect as the same person who doesn't have the more sensitive items in their shopping cart. For all the cashier knows, the GoodNites are for my kid, the pads are for my girlfriend (or as far as he or she knows, wife,) the soda and chips are for a party, and the game and DVD could be for anyone depending on what they are. The cashier's actions are simply indefensible, anyone who "presses" the way this guy did wasn't just making a joke that failed, they were being rude, plain and simple.

I have a movement disorder that also causes me to make sounds out loud...

Sarah, if you don't mind my asking, what is the movement disorder that you have? It's not Tourette Syndrome by any chance, is it? (I'm asking because I know that Tourette Syndrome can manifest itself as both involuntary physical and vocal actions, and it was the first thing I thought of when I read your post.) I mean you no offense, and I'll obviously understand if this question is too personal.