An Open Letter to Sumya

Dear Sumya,

I would be willing to cut you some slack if you were a new employee, yet my sister tells me she sees you working at the grocery store every time you go in. That, combined with the fact that people who are new don’t usually get thrown on the Express Lane, add up to me not being very sympathetic.

When I had to go find the code for those chestnuts (for a customer in line ahead of me), it wasn’t such a huge deal, and truth be told, I’d been standing in the Express Lane for 10 minutes and really just wanted to speed things up for my own personal gain. That you didn’t seem to have the word “thank you” in your vocabulary didn’t grate on me at first.

But when you didn’t know and subsequently could not find the code for my own purchase, well, I started to recognize a pattern. That you looked up at me  and in an exasperated tone said, “Don’t you remember the code?”, well, I got down right ticked off.

Perhaps it was inappropriate of me to insinuate you did not know how to do your job as I passed the half a million other people now waiting in the express line, saying, “Easy… I’ll go get the code for you”. If I did not mention to the other customers that they might as well check themselves out, I certainly should have.

When I returned with the code, you were down right angry and I knew this because of they manner in which you tossed me my change and slammed my purchases towards the conveyor belt.

I am sorry if you do not receive the  kind of employee support that you should (computer code look-up). Maybe you had a long day. Maybe you hate your job and are just trying to pay tuition. I guess I just believe that if you sign up to give customers some kind of service, you try your best, even under less-than-ideal condition, to provide it.

Kim

Author’s note: A version of this letter was submitted  to Sobey’s through their customer service survey website.