Store cashier had no manners

THE EDITOR, Sir:

On the morning of August 5, 2019, I went to My Jamaica store in Liguanea to shop for a few items in the midst of our Independence celebrations.

A very helpful attendant was able to provide me with several Jamaican souvenirs and clothing options, and I was pleased with the selection and I returned later that day with my six-year-old son with the intention of purchasing the items.

As I waited in line to pay for the items, I was startled when I heard the cashier shout in an angry voice, “PUT IT DOWN NOW!” To my dismay, I realised that she was shouting at my son who had picked up a Jamaican flag to ask me to buy it for him. He was frightened and is not accustomed to anyone speaking to him in that manner.

I asked the cashier why she shouted at him in that way, and she responded that she thought he was going to break something in the store, so she had to stop him. I stated that there was no need to shout at him and told her not to speak to him in that manner.

To my astonishment, she then looked me dead in the eye and said, “Well, you need to have a better handle on your child.” I told her that she was very rude and had no manners. The cashier just stared at me without any sense of remorse and not a care in the world that she was offending a paying customer.

I did my best to contain myself, put the items I had planned to purchase on the counter, and left the store.

If a store employee is concerned that a wayward child is likely to cause damage, the proper course of action is to alert the adult responsible for the child and engage with the adult, not the child. It is not the place of the clerk to reprimand my child, especially in a scenario where the child was taking up an item to give me to buy.

I hope that my report of this unpleasant experience does not go unanswered and I also hope that no other customer at Sun Island has to undergo this treatment.

S. HAROLD

Disappointed Customer