Retail Woes

Standing on my feet

Hours at a time

Oh my aching back

_____

Enjoy stocking shelves

Working the floor

Stuck on the registers blows

_____

Get tired repeating

Same ole spiel

Often tongue-tired & dry-mouthed

_____

Customers come in

All walks of life

Some retired or poor

_____

Those that smell or rude

Wanting to rush

Them out the door

_____

Mothers & Fathers please

Shut that kid up

Can be heard

All over the store

_____

Hard to maintain a smile

When people are irrational

Can’t please everyone

_____

Some get annoyed

When asked for ID

On smokes & booze

_____

Those appear to be of age

Still look too young

Don’t wanna get fined or fired

_____

Thieves hit us hard

Stealing batteries to condoms

_____

Fear of getting robbed

But they prefer the pharmacy

_____

If I ever had a gun

To my face

Would I laugh or cry

_____

Few may treat me

With disrespect

Due to working this gig

_____

If they only knew

I’m over-qualified

For this crap

_____

They don’t notice I’ve sacrificed

 My once pretty tooties & gams

 For unsightly calluses & spider-veins

_____

Takes all restraint

Not to punch or tell off

Difficult coworkers

_____

Everyone should experience

The retail biz

To understand the hard-working people

Who takes care of their needs

_____

Never-ending holiday calendar

Keeps most stores afloat

Valentine’s Day to Christmas

Never-ending vicious cycle

_____

Get a workout

Without joining a gym

Very physically demanding

_____

See friends & neighbors

Or old acquaintances

Never know who is

Gonna walk through the door

_____

When customers are grateful

For my awesome service

Makes it worthwhile

_____

~ Laura Booker

Written in 2011 while working at a drug store that was my second job, with a long career at a bank. I now have a combined 15 years of retail experience at several different stores that I started as a teenager. Be patient with anyone wearing a name tag, working in any kind of retail or service industry can be very stressful.