Working in a grocery store with autism sucks

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colliegrace
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28 May 2023, 12:21 pm

Just feeling it a little extra today cuz it's a holiday weekend and we are hella busy. I had to request to take my break earlier than I wanted cuz the sensory issues are acting up bad.

I hate it when I get customers who are all smiles and friendly during times like this, cuz my sensory issues leave me feeling either literally sick or very irritable and I can't match their energy.


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ASD, most likely have dyscalculia & BPD as well. Also dx'd ADHD-C, but don't think it's accurate.
RAADs: 104 | ASQ: 30 | Aspie Quiz: 116/200 (84% probability of being atypical)

Also diagnosed with: seasonal depression, anxiety, OCD


kitesandtrainsandcats
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28 May 2023, 12:34 pm

colliegrace wrote:
I hate it when I get customers who are all smiles and friendly during times like this, cuz my sensory issues leave me feeling either literally sick or very irritable and I can't match their energy.


Oh dear!

My working years were in and out of retail from 1980s to early 2000s, so I do get the concept.
Sorry that I don't have a solution to offer.

:arrow: :heart: By the way, your member name brings to mind a very much loved rescue collie, Brandy, our family had in the 1970s and 80s.

She had been a show dog then got enmeshed in a puppy mill.
For us, she was simply, Brandy.
And whatever my brother and I and our friends were doing, she wanted IN!, and the more rough and tumble the better!

We wondered if (3 years old when we got her) she had ever really had a chance to just be a puppy and play.
Soccer, US football, canoeing, hiking, playing army in the woods, Brandy was wholeheartedly in to it!
Could tell stories about her for an hour, :heart: :D :heart:

One funny thing, when it came time to go to the vet, she could magically turn her bones to liquid and all attempts to pick her up to get her in the car or dad's truck would result in her flowing through your arms and ending up in a puddle on the floor.

But, on the flip side ...

You even merely Look At the canoe and she was heading for Dad's truck!
:heart: :D :heart:


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Joe90
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28 May 2023, 12:41 pm

That's why I try to avoid retail work if I can - but I do understand that it isn't always a choice and that it isn't easy to just change your job.

But yeah, I know how you feel. The only thing that would cause me to feel overwhelmed in a grocery store is the sound of babies crying and toddlers screaming. It's a horrible noise that I don't have the filters in my brain to be able to ignore it like everyone else (being neurotypical is such a blessing). Having crèches at large grocery stores would be such a great thing for parents to leave their brats while shopping. I wouldn't even mind supervising them in a crèche because A, a crèche is an appropriate place for kids to be kids and can run around and jump about and shout as much as they like, and B, I feel less anxious if I feel more in control of them. When stacking shelves or interacting with customers with kids screaming around me in a supermarket, it suddenly becomes intolerable for me, and I get so distracted that it'd make me want to walk right out on the job.

I've worked in retail before. Friendly, smiley customers actually helped me "get a grip", but awkward or grumpy customers made me feel worse and if I was already overwhelmed I'd almost want to cry.


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colliegrace
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28 May 2023, 7:00 pm

Home now.

When I'm nearing my limit I tend to move around a lot. Either walking away from my register (and the areas with the most noise) whenever possible, or stimming the stress away. One of my biggest stress stims lately is stomping my feet or kicking my legs up backwards. It's almost like I have my own unique body language.


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ASD, most likely have dyscalculia & BPD as well. Also dx'd ADHD-C, but don't think it's accurate.
RAADs: 104 | ASQ: 30 | Aspie Quiz: 116/200 (84% probability of being atypical)

Also diagnosed with: seasonal depression, anxiety, OCD


colliegrace
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28 May 2023, 7:21 pm

I'm beginning to come to the conclusion that I probably couldn't handle working at a big grocery store with more space and a higher customer traffic. The one I work at is the smallest in the district.


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ASD, most likely have dyscalculia & BPD as well. Also dx'd ADHD-C, but don't think it's accurate.
RAADs: 104 | ASQ: 30 | Aspie Quiz: 116/200 (84% probability of being atypical)

Also diagnosed with: seasonal depression, anxiety, OCD


Elgee
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29 May 2023, 12:20 pm

When I was 19 and 21 I worked at two different Kmarts (these were like Walmart), and the customers were pretty steady at streaming in. I had to listen to the same piped in music every day, playing over and over in a loop, but at least it wasn't loud. I never felt a need for earplugs, though I always wore earplugs at gyms (mainly because I didn't want my hearing ruined by loud noise).

What stimuli becomes too much for you, is my question. Is it masking? Smells of people coming thorugh? Just the overall ambient sound?

Here's what will help: Ask yourself what the one thing is, that most customers want from a cashier, more than anything else.

I believe it's speed and accuracy. So when I was a cashier, my focus was on being speedy and efficient, rather than bubbly cheerful and all smiley.

The latter JUST WASN'T ME. It would've felt incredibly awkward to put on a cheerfuly bubbly smiley mask.

So instead, I just worked at being fast and efficient, reading off the price of each item as I typed it into the cash register (no bar code scanners back then).

I did the job like a Vulcan. Customers aren't going to complain to the manager, "Hey, that woman at register 5 didn't smile a lot or show much interest when I told her about my new baby."

What they'll complain about is if you're slow-moving, mess up the computation or mis-handle the merchandise.

So drop the mask, is my advice. Not too long ago a cashier proceeded to remove the cover of a plastic cup that I had hot food in. How dare he. I already told him it was from the hot bar (doesn't matter exactly what it is; "hot bar" items have the same price per container). I didn't want his nose and face over my food, so just as the lid was about to come off, I barked, "Don't open it!" And he put it aside.

Customers really don't care how good you are with small talk and smiling.



MatchboxVagabond
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29 May 2023, 2:28 pm

I got transferred to a department that was behind a large counter, it helped a lot.



colliegrace
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29 May 2023, 7:48 pm

Elgee wrote:
When I was 19 and 21 I worked at two different Kmarts (these were like Walmart), and the customers were pretty steady at streaming in. I had to listen to the same piped in music every day, playing over and over in a loop, but at least it wasn't loud. I never felt a need for earplugs, though I always wore earplugs at gyms (mainly because I didn't want my hearing ruined by loud noise).

What stimuli becomes too much for you, is my question. Is it masking? Smells of people coming thorugh? Just the overall ambient sound?

Here's what will help: Ask yourself what the one thing is, that most customers want from a cashier, more than anything else.

I believe it's speed and accuracy. So when I was a cashier, my focus was on being speedy and efficient, rather than bubbly cheerful and all smiley.

The latter JUST WASN'T ME. It would've felt incredibly awkward to put on a cheerfuly bubbly smiley mask.

So instead, I just worked at being fast and efficient, reading off the price of each item as I typed it into the cash register (no bar code scanners back then).

I think the one that sticks out the most to me is all the noise and activity, but I think having to mask WHILE also not filtering out all the sensory input is what causes overload. I'm actually more or less fine, usually, if I walk into a crowded store as a customer rather than an employee.
So I think I will try to drop my mask more often and see if that helps.


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ASD, most likely have dyscalculia & BPD as well. Also dx'd ADHD-C, but don't think it's accurate.
RAADs: 104 | ASQ: 30 | Aspie Quiz: 116/200 (84% probability of being atypical)

Also diagnosed with: seasonal depression, anxiety, OCD


Elgee
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29 May 2023, 8:37 pm

Yes Collie, drop the mask, because the reality is that many NT cashiers come across as aloof anyways, yet they don't get fired. They'll be there next time you come into the store as a customer. Now I'm not saying go stim-crazy while you're checking merchandise, either. But all the sweetie cheery stuff -- no need to just because you're a woman. All a customer wants is efficiency, speediness and good handling of their merchandise.