Take a breath and remember it is just a job

If you ever worked in or owned a retail store, you probably met your fair share of unruly customers in the line of duty. No matter which section of the store you called home, those wonderful customers still managed to find you and make your job just a tad more difficult. On top of this lovely distraction, there are more than a few frustrations to be found throughout your day on the clock.

As you move through your shift, there are many ways in which you can ease your troubles and maybe even bring a bit of fun into the mix. Rather than keep your head down, try instead to turn the experience into a game of grocery store bingo. Take note of the things that happen the most often and start checking off the list. Bring your co-workers into the mix and get your entire team playing. Before too long, you will find more than a little fun in each shift.

The joy of misplaced goods

No one loves finding frozen foods outside of their home in the freezers. Think back to just last week when you found a delicious ice cream bar melted into a pool of milky soup behind a box of pasta. There is one item checked off the bingo card, and now that frustrating experience is something to laugh at.

As you work through retail, there are bound to be many stories like this, such as that time you spent an hour folding clothes perfectly only for one customer to ruin your work in three minutes. As if to add insult to injury, he or she likely decided the shirt or trousers he or she wanted doing not suit him or her after all and walked away empty-handed.

You are an unsung hero of daily life. It is through your efforts that many can keep their families clothed and have good food in the fridge. With your unfailing knowledge of the store, no customer misses out on that one item that he or she simply must have at that moment.

It follows you home

You likely found yourself rearranging your shelves to store standards as you unloaded your groceries last week. More than once, you spent the entire night dreaming of red scanning lasers and disgruntled shoppers demanding a price check. As you go through your day on and off the clock, add to your bingo cards and let the game grow. It might be a bit silly to some, but it is the little things that keep such a demanding job worth working.

It is not all bad

There are always those amazing customers that make your entire day better. Be they the funny, chatty regulars who always come in with a new story to tell or gossip to share or just a rare moment of politeness, you love your job just for those moments. No positive experience of any size will fail to make you smile after a while, and you deserve that moment. Without your steady hand and patient smile, many would be hard-pressed to find the items they need to get through daily life. Remember that retail is often just a stepping stone toward a better, less stressful, job and you can always find joy in it if you only look for it.