Enforced cheerfulness $FAIL

[firecat]

I was in Walgreen's just now, and the cashier was wearing a button front and center on her uniform that said "Is my smile a 9?"

I assume that she had to wear it. I was tempted to ask, but I didn't want to waste her time because there was a long line. It made me furious on her behalf. If your policy is that employees should act friendly, I suppose there's nothing I can do about that, but I really don't like requiring employees to wear buttons that invite the customer to police their behavior (behavior that has nothing to do with whether they're doing the work of cashiering correctly).

Comments

[pyrzqxgl.livejournal.com]

Yuck. In addition to the general phenomenon of strangers commanding random women on the street to smile, this makes me picture rating people's dental work, which I imagine you would not get a whole lot of on Walgreen's-cashier wages (not that I know what kind of dental plan they do or don't have and how many employees are eligible).

[mama-hogswatch.livejournal.com]

Okay, when I'm not being PAID TO DO SO, if I'm being commanded to smile and be friendly, I probably won't.

I'm also self-employed and a popular instructor in a small town, so unfortunately, when I walk out my front door, I'm sort of on stage. I dislike that I can't go to the damn grocery store without feeling like I have to be "on", but I haven't found a solution that doesn't interfere with the bottom line on that one.