I think that any establishment that deals with the public in a retail type environment should be required to brush up on their "line management" skills.
When I was a kid, our family owned one of the most popular Baskin Robbins ice cream stores in our town. On any Friday or Saturday night, we could have up to fifty people waiting in line at any particular moment. And you know what? They didn't mind, because we greeted them, treated them kindly, let them understand the situation, and they knew they would be waited on when it was their turn. They understood quickly to pick a little paper number out of the machine and watch the countdown on the wall. As ice cream scoopers, we knew to keep glancing up at the crowd to make sure everyone was paying attention to the system. If someone seemed like they didn't understand the system, we would take a second to explain it. We would occasionally speak up and let everyone know that no matter how busy it was, we were working quickly and would wait on everyone, in order, as quickly as possible. The system kept the crowds orderly and happy!
So what has happened over the past 30 years or so? How could a bunch of teenagers in the 70s manage a retail waiting line better than the merchants of today? Has all civility and courtesy gone out the window?
I don't know who is more at fault. The merchants and retailers or the selfish customers. All I can say is that I have encountered this situation far too often.
As recently as yesterday, I was at a drug store that had two working sales counters. There was a sales person working each of the cash registers and each had a customer. When I was ready to make my purchase, I approached the the area but it was not clear whether each register had a separate line or whether there was supposed to be one line of customers. Several customers were ready to make our purchase at the same time, so we started a line in the middle of the area with the concept that a sales person would help the next customer in line. This worked for the 10 minutes I was waiting in line.
Then a third sales person showed up and opened a third register. There were eight people in line. However, as the sales person opened the new register, instead of asking who was next out of the already established line, a new customer that had just finished shopping whisked right up to the register ignoring everyone else around and the sales person waited on her.
Am I crazy or does this type of thing happen to others, and more importantly, what are we to do about it?
When I was a kid, our family owned one of the most popular Baskin Robbins ice cream stores in our town. On any Friday or Saturday night, we could have up to fifty people waiting in line at any particular moment. And you know what? They didn't mind, because we greeted them, treated them kindly, let them understand the situation, and they knew they would be waited on when it was their turn. They understood quickly to pick a little paper number out of the machine and watch the countdown on the wall. As ice cream scoopers, we knew to keep glancing up at the crowd to make sure everyone was paying attention to the system. If someone seemed like they didn't understand the system, we would take a second to explain it. We would occasionally speak up and let everyone know that no matter how busy it was, we were working quickly and would wait on everyone, in order, as quickly as possible. The system kept the crowds orderly and happy!
So what has happened over the past 30 years or so? How could a bunch of teenagers in the 70s manage a retail waiting line better than the merchants of today? Has all civility and courtesy gone out the window?
I don't know who is more at fault. The merchants and retailers or the selfish customers. All I can say is that I have encountered this situation far too often.
As recently as yesterday, I was at a drug store that had two working sales counters. There was a sales person working each of the cash registers and each had a customer. When I was ready to make my purchase, I approached the the area but it was not clear whether each register had a separate line or whether there was supposed to be one line of customers. Several customers were ready to make our purchase at the same time, so we started a line in the middle of the area with the concept that a sales person would help the next customer in line. This worked for the 10 minutes I was waiting in line.
Then a third sales person showed up and opened a third register. There were eight people in line. However, as the sales person opened the new register, instead of asking who was next out of the already established line, a new customer that had just finished shopping whisked right up to the register ignoring everyone else around and the sales person waited on her.
Am I crazy or does this type of thing happen to others, and more importantly, what are we to do about it?
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