[TheBlueMarvel]

@Archangel

Same here. I worked retail in HS and on summers off from college. Worked as a sales associate, and later, as a "key." I learned first hand about overnights and store revamps. I've never had an issue with customers, even irate or discourteous ones; I'm fairly decent at diffusing tense situations and leaving angry people with the impression that they'd been 'heard'...that's 80% of cs - almost like a jedi mind trick, in some cases, because the customer leaves the store feeling content even though the problem/situation didn't really change at all. My biggest negative take away was the cutthroat nature of some retail management personality-types. It's a pretty stressful job in an industry that's cold and unfeeling. High expectations from 'corporate' that encourage store brass to use/abuse and eventually discard employees that work hard. Competent and capable workers usually move on because they're confronted with the reality that unless they replace their manager, the job is a dead end one. Even if one does replace one's manager (and the pay increase is marginal - unless you live in a very large tourist city like NYC or LA), you've now gained the privilege of being exploited by your regional manager. My experience has me cutting employees a lot of slack. It's hard not to be empathetic when you know what goes on behind the scenes.