Petty Peeve #1
7:16 AM
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On this blog, we often talk about how little things can shape your experience....and the truth is, there are some things that may annoy us that aren't going to change.This falls in to the category of "meaningless experience peeves," or "Leigh's silly rant because she's got no time to write something deep." Here's the scenario:
I'm in the store, in the checkout line. The checker finishes swiping my merchandise and I hand her cash to pay for the bill. I am getting something like $8.59 back -- four bills and a chunk of change.
The cashier extracts the bills and shuffles them to her left hand. She then pulls out the coins with her right hand. Turning to me, she then piles the coinage on top of the stack of bills and attempts to hand me this awkward pile of cash.
Man, I just I hate this! Now, maybe I'm just (a little, tiny bit) obsessive -- or maybeit's because I'm a girl. If I were a guy, I'd probably just take the wad of cash and shove it in my pocket. But, since I'm a girl - and like most girls - I'm usually standing there with one hand out, and my wallet open in the other, ready to put the bills in.
Eyeing the awkward pile-o-cash, I must juggle my wallet between my forearm and my body so I can reach out with both hands for the cash without upsetting the vicarious pile of coins. I then use both hands to sort off the change so I can get the bills and the change into their respective compartments in my wallet.
Add in the receipt and/or the six feet of coupons the checkers often hand back to me at the grocery store and this is a pain!
A momentary pain - and a small annoyance, no doubt. However, sometimes, as I roll out to my car I can't help but think: "It's really an extra step to pile up the cash in one hand like that! Why not just hand over the bills first, and then the coinage? Does someone at cashier school teach people to pile up the change like that?"
It's sick, I tell you, sick!!!
So, now that you're all convinced I'm a lunatic, I will stop ranting about something that is, in the end, not really "change worthy." Don't worry: I won't be starting a campaign to retrain all the checkers.
The fact is, we all have petty peves we may walk along unaware of until the moment they strike. My question is: What's yours?
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LEIGH DURST
I’m Leigh Durst, a 20 year veteran in business, operations, customer strategy, ecommerce, digital & social media and marketing. Simply put, I’m a strategist that helps companies (start-up to blue chip) achieve business shift, create more compelling online and offline experiences. I also write, speak and teach about experience design and next-generation business. I’m a futurist, visionary, strategist, doer and connector with a passion for people and helping others. When I’m not on the road, you’ll find me in the San Francisco bay area, working, beaching it and hanging out with my family and dog.
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4 comments:
This is the worst!!!!
Especially at drive-thrus. I cannot tell you how many times I've lost change outside my car or have been forced to fish it out from under my seat because it was awkwardly handed to me with a bunch of bills that was difficult to manage with one hand - the other hand being on the steering wheel, gear shift, (safe driving everyone!) holding my pocket book or trying to put the cup of soda that they handed me first in the cup holder. This sales territory road warrior has just learned to ask for the coins seperately and just ignore the annoyed looks of the cashiers. It's as if it ruins their day to hand the coins to us seperately from the bills and then wait a second as we put them in our coin purses/billfolds as they were meant to be. It might even leave me organized enough to give them exact change next time!
I can only imagine what all this would be like if I had a car full of kids!
Actually, when I was in
It's about service and a sad commentary about the educational system. I guarantee you that a lot of these folks don't know how to count the money back to you such the total plus your change adds up to what you handed to them. It's the action equivalent of saying...ok, we have your money...now leave. It annoys me too as it is a courtesy to count it back assuring the customer there is no error before they leave the counter. Or maybe it's just me [ former cashier and avid shopper].
My grandparents had a grocery store and I basically grew up in it. I started working as a cashier when I was 14. I was trained to make sure all my bills lined up the same way when I placed them back in the till, completely unfolded. I was also trained to count the change back to the customer, starting with their total bill, then adding the change showing it equals the amount they handed me as payment.
Imagine how sick this makes ME. I'm with you on this one.
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