I’m thinking about trying to befriend people who are in retail shops.
My idea is to go in in quiet times, but something, make chit chat and build up a relationship for a few weeks before I invite them to hang out.
My reasoning for wanting to do this is I work weird hours and can’t go to clubs or social events. Also it’d be nice to be able to pop in and have a quick chat with a friend and you know they’ll always be there ( unless they call in sick)
I believe I’ll know when people are just being friendly because it’s part of their job or if they’re genuinely curious about me.
At my own work I have regular customers who I know by name and we chat every time they come in but I feel weird asking them if they want to hang in case they say no. But if I’m the customer and they decline, I can just stop frequenting the shop and focus my efforts elsewhere.
Basically I’m asking if you guys have experience doing this or if you work in retail if you’d be open to making friends with a customer