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It's not fair at all. The responsibilities of retail employees have grown vastly in the last 50 years. There's more product, with a greater diversity of handlin

by bsanr2 6y ago

It's not fair at all. The responsibilities of retail employees have grown vastly in the last 50 years. There's more product, with a greater diversity of handling requirements, which need to be stocked across larger stores later in the day (as closing times slowly approach midnight or later). That's for supermarkets (which are increasingly part of larger big box stores). If you work checkout at a place that sells anything with a microprocessor, be prepared for weeks of onboarding as you learn enough about your products to actually sell to and support customers, across a stupidly wide assortment that used to be spread across several departments. Let's not get started on discussing the interpersonal communication skills needed to survive Thanksgiving/Black Friday. And for all this, you're getting paid less than Joe W. Cash Register got way back when.

smaryjerry 6y ago
Your are comparing one industry and one job in that industry and it is still a bad comparison. The idea that working a cash register now takes more skill than before is false. The idea that you have to now have more knowledge is false. People were not stupid back then and supermarkets still existed, and neither then nor now does a minimum wage employee need vast amounts of knowledge. The best retail employee has a positive attitude, not knowledge of how to get to the bread aisle. It is outrageous to make such a comparison and assume current jobs are more difficult or harder when advances in nearly all technology has only improved. Remember when cashiers had to do math?
- bsanr2 6y ago
  Every sentence you've written is the opposite of true. And cashiers still have to do math. Most places don't have automatic change dispensers, nor can a machinr account for a customer suddenly switching which bills they're going to give you. I understand that never having had to work one of those jobs is a source of pride in a lot of places, but in this thread, it just outs you as ignorant.

by bsanr2 6y ago

smaryjerry 6y ago

Your are comparing one industry and one job in that industry and it is still a bad comparison. The idea that working a cash register now takes more skill than before is false. The idea that you have to now have more knowledge is false. People were not stupid back then and supermarkets still existed, and neither then nor now does a minimum wage employee need vast amounts of knowledge. The best retail employee has a positive attitude, not knowledge of how to get to the bread aisle. It is outrageous to make such a comparison and assume current jobs are more difficult or harder when advances in nearly all technology has only improved. Remember when cashiers had to do math?

bsanr2 6y ago
Every sentence you've written is the opposite of true. And cashiers still have to do math. Most places don't have automatic change dispensers, nor can a machinr account for a customer suddenly switching which bills they're going to give you. I understand that never having had to work one of those jobs is a source of pride in a lot of places, but in this thread, it just outs you as ignorant.