Do you want to see more grocery stores allowing their employees to sit down while they scan items?

34 comments

1. It’s not something I have actively ever thought about in my life tbh

2. I literally could not care less as long as they’re doing their job.

3. I don’t care.

4. I think insisting managers are imposing their authority on employees by having those employees stand is the kind of thing that passes for insightful on Reddit but sounds idiotic everywhere else.

   I’ve worked retail jobs where I had to stand and gave it no thought at all. I certainly didn’t think I was being oppressed.

   Either way, I couldn’t care less if cashiers sit or not.

5. The cashier could be sitting in a hammock for all I care. It’s ridiculous that anyone demand that they be standing at attention. I tend to prefer self checkout anyway, it’s easier to shoplift that way.

   Fair warning, this thread will likely attract boomers who insist that “ITS ‘BOUT RESPECT”, and then maybe share an anecdote about how their boss at piggly wiggly back in 1981 used to make them stand all the time under pain of flogging and they turned out fine.

6. At the very least, they shouldn’t be actively prohibited from doing so. Give the choice. I have no respect for management/policies that micromanage how jobs are to be done even if the work is already being completed in a timely and safe manner. Sitting on a swivel chair seems way more efficient and ergonomic for scanning work anyway.

7. I want more self checkouts.

8. I haven’t gone through a cashier for groceries in years, but if I did I wouldn’t care if they were sitting.

9. I have worked as a cashier and standing sucks, however I can also say from experience, as much as it sucks to stand for a full shift, when it comes specifically to grocery stores where you have to bend and reach out to grab items from the belt, doing so while sitting would be significantly slower and grocery lines get pretty long in some places to begin with. I have also cashiered in food service where all I had to do is key in the order and hand the customer a drink glass, and that can honestly be done just as fast sitting.

10. I want to see less cashiers and more self service terminals.

11. Sure. But in my experience working retail/cashiering, if you’re not actively ringing up a customer, you’re doing something else away from the register that’s on your feet. If someone’s got a disability or injury they of course should be accommodated but I don’t see this as even a minor problem in most cases. This seems like a reddit thing, not a real life thing.

12. sure. I don’t really care one way or the other, so whatever is most comfortable for them I guess

13. I never thought about it until I noticed the cashiers were sitting in Belgium. Then, I never thought about it again until just now.

14. Nver really cared one way or the other.

15. Yes. It’s some weird, toxic “work ethic” idea that you need to be on your feet at all times. If you can perform a task sitting, sit. Helps with mental and physical fatigue.

16. I don’t care even a tiny bit, but as someone who cashiered at a grocery store (and other retail) it was never the manager’s call, it was just corporate guidelines. We occasionally sat during the rare downtime, but more often than not it wouldn’t have made our job easier because we were moving around too much for it to be convenient, as well as taking care of other tasks if it wasn’t busy.

17. Yes it’s dumb

18. I used to have a job where I could be fired for sitting. It is ridiculous what employers can get away with. I would be happy to see checkout people on a stool.

19. Seems like it’s a harder job to do sitting unless the store is specifically set up for that type of operation.

    Like the store I go to cashiers always moving around helping people with credit cards not being scanned correctly, bagging, cleaning the conveyor belt, moving items up from the conveyor belt that got stuck, etc in other words lots of bending and reaching.

20. It’s not something I’ve ever thought about. I’d be fine with cashiers sitting.

21. I doesn’t bother me if they sit while they work.

22. Letting cashiers sit is humane. We weren’t designed to stand pretty much in one place for hours and hours.

23. The USA has an issue with sedentary jobs and health issues. For that reason alone I would like to see more people standing

24. Yes, absolutely. It’s really dumb that you’re told not to sit while working in the same 2 square foot space for hours

25. Unless there’s a health reason to be sitting, I think that it’s perfectly reasonable to expect them to stand. Lots of people stand as they work.

26. As a grocery store cashier, I was always doing something else if we were that slow. Like I’d go bag at another register if they were ringing someone up and didn’t have a bagger available. Sometimes was asked to go get the carts out of the parking lot. Or returning shit to the shelves that people ended up not wanting. But I wouldn’t care if I went to a cash register and they were sitting.

    In retail. I mean that would be kind of weird. Like am I just sitting in the aisle of sporting goods section lol? Would be a little weird turning down an aisle and seeing en employee just sitting there. I worked retail, in a sporting goods store, and was always just walking around seeing if anyone needed help. If closing, then straightening up my area so I could get out faster after close. Or just walking around pretending I’m busy lol.

27. If anything, I’d be happier to shop at a store where the cashiers are sitting, or at least able to choose to do so, at their preference.

28. A director’s chair would do nicely. Perhaps a barstool or a rocking chair?

29. I never understood why they can’t have stools to sit on. To be absolutely fair, basically every retail and grocery store I’ve been to as of late has been taken over by self-service checkouts, so there’s only maybe 2-3 people max ringing people up, but I still feel bad for these people standing up for hours a day with short breaks. I wouldn’t feel bad at all if they could rest their feet on the job!

30. YES PLEASE JESUS.

    Alternatively, I’d be fine with making all of Congress stand the whole time they’re in session. That should fix the Feinstein situation real quick…

31. Doesn’t really bother me if I see them sitting. Standing in the same spot for long periods is really bad for your legs anyway. Ever stood in a long line for hours and it barely moves and your legs get tired and sore? Been there at Disneyland and for when I was trying to audition to be an extra for a few films in my area.

32. Yes, please.
    Aldi cashiers are notoriously fast scanners and they get to sit. Making people stand seems like a micromanaging power trip thing

33. It seems silly that they can’t

34. I’ve never once gone into a store, seen an employee siting down and thought “wow, the staff here must be lazy. I’m going somewhere else”