Abuse me, please

Seriously, do I have a sign on me somewhere that says 'Abuse me'?

Working retail is not my dream job - never has been and it never will be. It takes a special person to work in retail as a career. I am not that special person.

God has provided me with a decent paying job that just so happens to be retail. We're living with it. There's a lesson in here somewhere, I'm sure of it.

What I cannot understand, for the life of me, is society's need to abuse one another. Customers have gotten worse since I last worked retail (back in 1999). The sense of entitlement is outrageous - now I know where America's children are getting it from - THEIR PARENTS!!!!

Today I experienced one of the most outrageous customers I have ever had the misfortune of encountering (that's putting it mildly). I had a 'run in' with him back on December 26th (picture lots of yelling, cursing, threats & bullying - oh did mention that he also like to SCREAM how much I liked screwing him?). I caved in on his request - because I was tired of being humiliated & abused and was fearful of my safety. You would have thought the guy would have vowed to never come back to the store, right? I know I do that.

Nope - today he came in with a chip on his shoulder. You could tell it wasn't going to be pretty. The first words out of his mouth were "Hey honey. Remember me from last time?" Here's the rest of the conversation:

Me: "Yes, I remember you."
Customer: "Uh oh, that can't be good."
Me: "You made that a rather memorable event."

First off, I'd like to say that for the first encounter back in December, I was alone in the store (only employee) however there were several customers who witnessed his tyraid. Back to today. Chris, my assistant manager (by title only) was with me today so thankfully he handled the customer. Again, more screaming, cursing, threats of violence & this time security was called.

I'll be honest - I was (and still am) afraid for my life (and Chris' life). This man was LOOKING for a fight. He even said "If she wasn't here I'd punch you right now". Cute, huh? Don't you wish he was your husband/father/son?

What gives people the right to act like this? What makes people think that this is the best way to handle a situation? Haven't they heard of the phrase 'You catch more flies with honey'?

I'm off tomorrow, but I am NOT looking forward to going back to work. He is a very angry man who certainly can be violent. I don't want to be in the cross-fire.

God has a plan.

Many blessings,
Allison