Archived Things That Made You Look Twice?

[coolsureyeahok]

I have come across some pretty odd guests and situations, some endearing, some not so much. This is pretty much my list of little things I’ve seen on the clock that made me go “... huh.” I’ll probably continue to add this seeing as the list is still growing, lol. Free free to share any oddities you’ve seen while working at your favorite big red store.
-edit- I wasn't expecting any replies, hi! Love your stories. Came back to add some more of my own.

Dodger Man - This was actually on my first week as a cashier. A man walked into my lane dressed nearly head to toe in LA Dodgers attire, hat and shirt and lanyard which were all covered in a ton of Dodgers pins. Unsurprisingly was only here to buy a couple trading cards for his team, what did I expect?

Soda Load - Not as odd as it was tiring, but once again within my first week or two of working so it kind of threw me. A couple came in with about 30 boxes of canned soda and laid them all on the belt one by one (Me, freezing up in fear by seeing all of it, did not think to ask them even how many boxes for each kind and just scan one of each and press K2 so this is mainly a me problem I know). Explained to me they were having a grad party for their son and didn’t really know what teenagers wanted at a party. “We don’t even like soda!”
TLDR: The K2 button will be your best friend at the front lanes.

Part Two But Not Really - Had a lady come up and ask if she could sort out her items on the register belt behind mine, I said alright, told her I could help her checkout when she was all done. Little did I know she was doing charity work for a school (bless her heart) and found myself hurriedly totalling/K2ing 100+ notebooks, at least 60 folders, 20-40 of every basic school supply and getting it back into the cart using tetris level packing. The ridiculous part? Got in trouble for having my lane light switched off as we were finishing up.

Trump Impersonator - Well, that was what he was aiming for, at least. Slow day, no one in my lane and this man who was looking at glasses in Optometry comes up to me and styles up his surprisingly feather light hair- like troll doll pliable I’m talking- and says something about “not wanting to look fat for the photo.” I force a laugh and he goes into a sort of brief rant about Trump, I just nod or laugh when I think it’s been long enough. Then just like that he left.

8th Grade Science Teacher - One of the better moments. Told him I had started college, and he looked really happy, said I was one of his best students. Also, it’s pretty cool watching your old teacher buy alcohol. The morning classes I had with him where he would come in with sunglasses, grumbling incoherently and flipping on Mythbusters for us (He didn’t like Bill Nye idk). Me and my friends would joke that it was a hangover back then. Probably was.

11th Grade Math Teacher - Not as cool. On top of it I was working self checkout on a slow day so I actually had to talk to this guy. 2/10.

Half-Assed Crime - Guy came into my lane trying to buy alcohol, obviously already under the influence of something. I asked for his ID and he looks confused and tells me he can pay with a check. I tell him that’s not the issue and he asks if we have an ATM. He walks off to where I pointed it out while I’m still holding the bottle of alcohol. Then a moment later I see him trying to walk out when the alarms go off. Walked out by security. If you were going to try and steal why would you try and buy alcohol without an ID as well, let’s be real.
+ Had a guest the other week who tried sitting on unpaid merch on the electric cart and got it out to the parking lot, but got caught when they decided to come back.
(... this could be it's own thread, honestly.)

Singing Mom - I was on my break when I went into the bathroom, and when I was washing my hands there was a mom who is changing her baby and singing pretty loudly. I told her she had a beautiful voice and she said I was beautiful. It felt like we were two drunk girls in a bar bathroom for a quick moment.

Little things (sort of):

• Above all, there's seldom a shift when I don't see someone I knew from high school or elementary. Sometimes it's cool, sometimes it makes me wanna puke. But living in a small town I got used to the fact pretty quick.

• Guests with English accents that come in every once in awhile: You guys are great keep doing you

• I see dogs every week but I’ve also seen a guest bring in their pet parakeet (multiple times now), and a baby bunny. I also saw a couple bring in two baby carriers filled with puppies and that pretty much made my day.
-edit- So this is odd. Out of all the unique requirements that makes the Target I work at so different from the other stores in town (mandatory IDing/scanning for every age for alcohol/cold meds, price honoring with little to no proof, etc) it seems to be the only one that's really lax towards pets. I could go on about this, but really I know this comes back to doing whatever it takes to make the guest happy. Not saying I support it, but seeing them on my shift is amusing. If a guest gets bit or gets an allergic reaction from another guest's pet, YIKES that is not on me, thankfully

• A old woman with one shoe. I mean no judgment here, she was legit shopping and just walking around with one shoe and she was very sweet but I did notice. She had a sock on the other foot so I mean hey

• A woman with her brand-stinking new baby. I could barely see him but I saw he was pretty red and was making those really early cries that sound like a cat almost. I asked how old he was and she turns to me and goes “Oh, just had him on Sunday.” Three days earlier! Even the lady behind her was looking at me like “???” For sure wasn’t her first kid.
-edit- I learned I'd much rather the 3 day old in line than one that's old enough to talk back and throw temper tantrums and come behind the register don't even get me started..

• Poor woman with white pants, not sure if she was aware that the entire backside was practically transparent. The noise I had to supress was painful.

When it’s just the right amount of weird, working at Target can be pretty entertaining.

 

[GoodyNN]

A woman with her brand-stinking new baby. I could barely see him but I saw he was pretty red and was making those really early cries that sound like a cat almost. I asked how old he was and she turns to me and goes “Oh, just had him on Sunday.” Three days earlier! Even the lady behind her was looking at me like “???” For sure wasn’t her first kid.

This is a momma who really desperately needed adult contact but had nobody to watch the little. I've been there so I can't pass judgment.

 

[Times Up]

Soda Load wouldn't happen at my store, limit is 12

 

[IWishIKnew]

Soda Load wouldn't happen at my store, limit is 12

Even when they're not on sale? Our limits during sales, but I don't think they do otherwise.

 

[Times Up]

Even when they're not on sale? Our limits during sales, but I don't think they do otherwise.

All of the time. We have permanent signs up in our store. Leadership is afraid of running out of a flavor before Coke/Pepsi makes a return visit.

 

[soyaxo]

Kinda gonna go off on the "People I Know" vein!

My Mom: I was rounding the corner to go into receiving to grab merchandise for the RTW truck push. I saw someone wearing the same shoes, shirt, hair.... Yup, it was my mom. She had texted me and was coming to buy a pool. I didn't know because I didn't check my phone. It was so odd to see her in the store without knowing she would be coming in. I was excited though. She has the pool set up now. I'm actually using my parents' computer to visit TBR right now because I stopped by for dinner with everyone and needed to check emails really quick.

AP from previous job: I saw the head of AP from my previous retail job walking along the RTW racetrack. He greeted me the same way he used to when I worked with him, and as soon as I spoke he could tell who I was. I look a lot different working at Target because we don't dress up so much, and he slowly started to realise it was me.

Old ASM from previous job: My old job was right across the street from my Target. I didn't tell them I would be returning to Target when I quit, because I didn't have any plans to. She likes to use her hour-long lunch to pop over to Target to buy Target-brand bakery stuff usually that she'll keep in her office. I miss working for her.

An old coworker and her husband: I was leaving clerical from my break when a hand GRABBED me and flung me back into the aisle. It was an old SLTM. I was so excited. She still works at the same job that she left Target for, and was shocked to see I had returned. But, lots has changed, and I'm back! And then of course I congratulated her on her marriage because I hadn't seen them in ages and they had gotten married in that time.

My best friend: My best friend usually tells me when she's coming to stop by, but she was sick and needed some cold medicine. I was walking near the front lanes and saw her. We talked for a bit, but eventually she wanted to go home and rest.

HRBP: Not really a surprise, but she came for a visit and wanted to see TMs separately around Halloween. She gave me a little chocolate candy that I saved for my lunchtime. She's still with us. I've seen two DTLs in my time with Spot, though.

The one thing I absolutely love about working at Target is seeing people I know. I have yet to see people from my main job, but that's a good thing. I also haven't seen anyone from school. I see people from high school and my old college all the time, though. Weird. Anyway, yeah! I work at a destination/university store, so I see people I know all the time! Sometimes it catches me off guard.

 

[can't touch this]

Most of the guests at my store seem to be fairly ordinary folks but the one memorable WTF moment was this...thing...that I almost bumped into last year. It was wearing ridiculously ugly heel boots, striped stockings, a frilly hoop skirt and bodice that appeared to have something stuffed under it to look like tits. It was of average height but had a head about the size of a grapefruit. I said "excuse me" and it let out a guttural bellow that didn't sound like anything in the normal range of human vocalization. Wew. I'm guessing Uber has expanded its service to other planets since I didn't see a flying saucer in the parking lot.

 

[SFSFun]

That time I was packing an SFS order and noticed it was a ship to store order...for my store. I was confused for a good 30 seconds or so, then laughed for several minutes after. I couldn’t do anything with it until UPS picked it up and then brought it back the next day.

 

[REDcardJJ]

I honestly don’t mind when guests bring their pets in the store, as long as they are trained/well behaved. I’ve gotten to pet some pretty cute dogs at my store, but I’ve also had to clean up dog poop before... ugh.

 

[Leo47]

Even if the dog is well behaved and/or cute I feel like it’s incredibly rude to bring your dog places such as target. It literally says on the door “no animals except for service animals allowed” so these people read that and think that they are above the rules. It’s not a service animal it has no place in here.

Like today I was at Sephora and some lady was holding her fat ass chihuahua while she was in there. Like seriously? You and your dog are not that special.

 

[IWishIKnew]

I'm not at all sure how to handle dogs in the store. I've only seen them a few times, and only because I happened to walk past the aisle or something--all of the dogs that have been in the store have either been actual service dogs or were trained enough to be just as unnoticeable.

I'm really not sure how I would act if they weren't. Technically we're not supposed to allow non-service dogs in the store. Technically we're supposed to tell people this. Technically we're allowed to ask if its a service dog and what services it provides (if not what conditions the guest has, which seems a pretty damn fine distinction).

But. How do this in practice without inviting the guests bringing in non-service dogs from flipping their shit? Yeah.....

 

[Kartman]

I like dogs - bring them on. Cool thing about PetSmart.

Just don't shit on the floor!

 

[LearningTree]

I'm not at all sure how to handle dogs in the store. I've only seen them a few times, and only because I happened to walk past the aisle or something--all of the dogs that have been in the store have either been actual service dogs or were trained enough to be just as unnoticeable.

I'm really not sure how I would act if they weren't. Technically we're not supposed to allow non-service dogs in the store. Technically we're supposed to tell people this. Technically we're allowed to ask if its a service dog and what services it provides (if not what conditions the guest has, which seems a pretty damn fine distinction).

But. How do this in practice without inviting the guests bringing in non-service dogs from flipping their shit? Yeah.....

Asked my STL this same question after a guest complained. He wouldn't give me a solid answer and basically left it as "that's something we should discuss as a team and left it at that". Since I knew he wouldn't have my back if this caused a massive shit storm, I've decided not to address the problem. If any guests complain, I give them his name and tell them to call the store later to talk to him.

 

[REDcardJJ]

Even if the dog is well behaved and/or cute I feel like it’s incredibly rude to bring your dog places such as target.

idrc, it's not like i, as a team member, can ask them if their dog is a service animal anyway so as long as it isn't causing problems I don't care

 

[Amanda Cantwell]

I believe official best practice is do not question the dogs service status and allow it so long as it doesn’t cause any trouble

 

[Ringwraith917]

I was buying some clearance socks the other day. They rang up as apples when scanned. But the typed DPCI worked fine.

I hate seeing people I know in the store. I'm really bad at small talk and somewhat disappointed in myself for still working here. But it pays the bills and all. The worst is seeing my high school English teacher, or other good friends from that time and it makes me feel like I've wasted my potential in life.

A regular older guest a while back told me he had stage 4 cancer. He probably died since then. Haven't seen him in a while. He seemed really sad about it too.

Work here long enough and it starts to be a real bummer.

 

[IWishIKnew]

I hate seeing day job coworkers in store. I feel like I shouldn't have to have a second job to help pay the bills, since I make good money, but trying to support a 2-income household on 1 income doesn't work super well, with 2 kids and all.

 

[Fluttervale]

I'm not at all sure how to handle dogs in the store. I've only seen them a few times, and only because I happened to walk past the aisle or something--all of the dogs that have been in the store have either been actual service dogs or were trained enough to be just as unnoticeable.

I'm really not sure how I would act if they weren't. Technically we're not supposed to allow non-service dogs in the store. Technically we're supposed to tell people this. Technically we're allowed to ask if its a service dog and what services it provides (if not what conditions the guest has, which seems a pretty damn fine distinction).

But. How do this in practice without inviting the guests bringing in non-service dogs from flipping their shit? Yeah.....

Basically, you are not paid enough to care. Not trying to be flippant, but you cannot imagine the level of publicity your store could get if you discriminated against a service animal.

 

[IWishIKnew]

Yeah, I don't have any plans to say anything to people with well-behaved animals, and haven't come across any issues, I'm just not sure what we're really supposed to do if the dog isn't behaving. Legit service dogs aren't likely to be an issue, and anyone who would flip out if we told them to get rid of a misbehaving dog or one who is shitting on the floor or something is...well, just the type to try to maximize that publicity as a "discrimination" issue when there was nothing of the kind. Obviously I'd call an LOD in pretty much any case, but I feel like a "hey, you know, dogs aren't allowed, except for service animals, so we'll need to ask you to keep your dog outside" shouldn't be a big deal, but people suck, so.

I just hope it doesn't become an issue!

 

[Tessa120]

Dogs.....blech. I don't like dogs. I used to have a mild phobia of dogs, but have managed to wrestle that down to "Get the hell away from me." I have managed a couple of times to send a dog out of Target and I feel all giddy when I do. I don't give a shit how well behaved Puddles is, there's human beings with good reason to fear dogs, there's human beings who are allergic to dogs, and humans have a wallet and dogs don't. I do not want to have to administer someone's epi pen because dog fur is making their throat swell. I do not want to call a code green because a terrified child ran and that kicked in prey drive and the dog chased - with the kid either getting bit or the kid slamming into something full speed and getting hurt because the dog was chasing.

I have no problem with service dogs. They are doing a job, they are going to behave, and they are fairly rare so the chances of a severe allergic reaction or a chase is very, very tiny as the chances of a service dog and a fearful or allergic person being in the same place at the same time is small. For my own part, I can find something that needs doing at the opposite end of softlines when I see a service dog. But pet dogs seem to be everywhere and their owners call them "fur babies" and insist that they are exactly like a human child and should be treated in the same manner as a human child by society. Fuck off and die owner, and before you do get that damned animal out of the building that says "no pets" on the doors.

A business can ask two questions - "Is that a service animal?" and "What has it been trained to do?" Can't ask for papers, can't insist on a demonstration of trained skills, just those two questions. In all honesty though, all you need is the first one. They answer no, you can tell them to leave.

But what is Target's policy on emotional support animals? There's different legalities on emotional support animals.

 

[Amanda Cantwell]

Dogs.....blech. I don't like dogs. I used to have a mild phobia of dogs, but have managed to wrestle that down to "Get the hell away from me." I have managed a couple of times to send a dog out of Target and I feel all giddy when I do. I don't give a shit how well behaved Puddles is, there's human beings with good reason to fear dogs, there's human beings who are allergic to dogs, and humans have a wallet and dogs don't. I do not want to have to administer someone's epi pen because dog fur is making their throat swell. I do not want to call a code green because a terrified child ran and that kicked in prey drive and the dog chased - with the kid either getting bit or the kid slamming into something full speed and getting hurt because the dog was chasing.

I have no problem with service dogs. They are doing a job, they are going to behave, and they are fairly rare so the chances of a severe allergic reaction or a chase is very, very tiny as the chances of a service dog and a fearful or allergic person being in the same place at the same time is small. For my own part, I can find something that needs doing at the opposite end of softlines when I see a service dog. But pet dogs seem to be everywhere and their owners call them "fur babies" and insist that they are exactly like a human child and should be treated in the same manner as a human child by society. Fuck off and die owner, and before you do get that damned animal out of the building that says "no pets" on the doors.

A business can ask two questions - "Is that a service animal?" and "What has it been trained to do?" Can't ask for papers, can't insist on a demonstration of trained skills, just those two questions. In all honesty though, all you need is the first one. They answer no, you can tell them to leave.

But what is Target's policy on emotional support animals? There's different legalities on emotional support animals.

Targets official best practice I believe is do not in any way question an animals status unless the animal enters Food ave, Starbucks, or Pfresh, or in any way causes a disturbance, in which case an LOD should be called to handle it

 

[Tessa120]

Targets official best practice I believe is do not in any way question an animals status unless the animal enters Food ave, Starbucks, or Pfresh, or in any way causes a disturbance, in which case an LOD should be called to handle it

We were told in a huddle that we could ask if it's a service dog. We can so I do. Unless it's a vet or PetSmart I do not want to share the same building as a dog. And everyone makes such a big deal about cat allergies, dogs have dander too and those allergies can be every bit as life threatening as a whiff of peanuts. Dogs are not hypoallergenic. People do fear dogs and should not be forced to come face to face with a dog, especially since dogs have strong prey drives. People shouldn't have to worry about a spoiled "fur baby" helping itself to the raw meat in Market or taking a kid's toy out of the kid's hands to make it a chew toy.

 

[OneArmedJesus]

Dude wearing a tail and "ears"

 

[commiecorvus]

Dude wearing a tail and "ears"

Like these furry service animals and their trainers?

 

[can't touch this]

The service animal thing needs to be explicitly defined by law (if it isn't already, idk) because you know some ass clown is going to bring their service rhinoceros to a store and kill someone