Kat, 27, various retail roles, Southampton
“I used to work in a charity shop and didn’t have any issues but moving into mainstream retail three years ago was a revelation. I now work off the shop floor, with customers making big purchases, but you see things when you walk around store or if customers stop you. I have noticed a lot of frustration in older customers when you direct them online, and perhaps they don’t have the skillset, so they give you verbal abuse.
“From my experience in a hardware store, the comments you get from tradesmen are often sexual. I’m fairly capable of standing up for myself but sometimes the comments are so rude and inappropriate I’m left open-mouthed in shock. One male customer wanted to show me a product on his phone and kept scrolling through photos and going past explicit shots. He did it to three female members of staff and I had to ask a male colleague to help him in the end. I have even noticed that mail-order catalogues I subscribe to now arrive in a clear plastic envelope – I stopped ordering it when the postman started giving me lewd looks when he handed it over.
“Men don’t go into work expecting to be told ‘If you bend over like that I could make you pregnant,’ or ‘the way you scan that… I would’. My male colleagues are great and help in any situation but that can end up with physical altercation. Our rule is to deal with it as a team, offload with colleagues, have a cup of tea and if there’s something you can’t deal with, managers allow us to take ten minutes off the shop floor.
“Luckily, my husband also works in retail, so he understands. He’s dealt with all sorts of violent incidents, like somebody high on drugs who went for a member of staff with a needle and my husband had to rugby tackle him to the ground.
“I really enjoy my job, I like the people I work with and every day is different, but I have learnt that it’s not helpful to push through and deal with other customers when you’re upset. I called the Retail Trust about a personal matter because the waiting lists for counselling in my area were so long. I felt so much better even after just an hour of speaking to somebody on the phone.”
