A smash-and-grab or ram raid goes down nearby what do you do? Probably nothing.
A jewellery store got smashed up in my local mall recently. The footage made my blood boil. Those poor women behind the counter.
I pictured myself foot-tripping one of the dirty crims as they triedto run away, maybe pinning the bastard down till the cops turned up. I imagined grabbing a chair from the nearby muffin shop and hiffing it into the mix. I briefly envisioned myself as Keiran Read, knocking a thief on his arse like he was Aussie loose forward Rocky Elsom at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
My delusions of grandeur disappeared in a puff of cowardice during an incident at an inner-city Auckland bottle store last week.
I was perusing some reds in the $20 range when a large man stormed into the shop, grabbed a huge box of sugary bourbon-based RTDs, and tried to pay by swearing and throwing a single $2 coin at the guy behind the counter.
The brave owner politely pointed out that $2 thrown aggressively in his direction did not cover a 24-pack. A struggle ensued, and the big methy dude went crazy. He threw a punch and missed, then unleashed a string of terrifying threats. Another shop worker rushed to his mate's rescue and the two of them screamed back until the huge punisher was forced out of the store.
Through all this, I stood behind a shelf and did absolutely nothing to help. I realised at that moment - I am not a hero.
For retail workers in 2022, what I witnessed is a regular occurrence. They are experiencing increasing levels of abuse, aggression and violence from the New Zealand public. Stepping in physically when the s—t goes down is beyond most of us, but we can make things a little bit better day to day by being friendly to our buddies behind counters whenever we interact with them. We can aim to be a positive experience for a retail worker on an otherwise stressful day; with this in mind, I reached out to the Manager of Public Affairs at Retail NZ, Aimee Hines, for advice.
Smiling is important. Photo / 123RF
Aimee, how can everyday people help out our stressed retail workers?
I think people need to remember that their actions have a big impact. There is a lot going on for people in retail. You don't know what has recently happened. If you're a little bit jerky they might be thinking, 'oh no something else might be about to happen'.
On a really basic level, smiling is important. We haven't seen each other's faces for years. For retailers it's just nice to see a smile. It makes a big difference in people's lives. That's why we are advocating for people to shop nice. We want people to remember that retail workers are people too.
So we have five things we'd ask you to please do: 1. Treat retail workers with respect. 2. Use polite and non-threatening language at all times. 3. Say hello, kia ora, good morning. 4. Smile and follow shop rules. 5. Say thank you to your local retailer. With Shop Nice we are encouraging Kiwis to take a moment and breathe instead of involving retail workers in an undue aggressive or tense situation.
Is the customer always right?
Haha, that's a hard one for retailers to grapple with. They aim to please but I don't think the customer is right when they're rude or aggressive. I think we should have appropriate conversations with retailers just as we should with anyone in our life. Just because they're a retailer doesn't mean you can talk to them in a different tone or talk down to them. They're not below you in society.
Lockdowns, restrictions and masks have cut us off from each other for a long time. It would be a terrible waste if we choose to come back together in anger. Communities are formed when we get to know the people we do business with. Learning your dairy owner's name is a good start. We may not have the guts to fight giant psychos in defence of the person behind the counter, but we can create a better world if we do our best to make every retail interaction a positive one.
