I had a customer today at the self-checkout that REALLY got on my nerves. He rings himself up on the self-checkout. He pays. So far, so good, right? Okay. So after he finishes, he comes up to me, where I’m standing at the self-checkout podium, running the show. He has a question for me.
Now I consider myself to be very good with where things are in the store. I can point someone to just about any item in the place. I’m also very good with directions and know the area quite well, and can direct you on how to get just about anywhere. Seriously – other associates and also some of our managers have referred people to me for driving directions.
So the man hesitates for a moment. I’m waiting for the question. What does he want to know? He asks the question: “Do you accept Jesus as your lord and savior?” As someone who’s become strongly non-religious in the last couple of years, I take offense to complete strangers asking me about my religious beliefs (which I generally do not discuss because I don’t think most people want to hear what I have to say on the issue), and I especially find it offensive when people start forcing their religious beliefs on me in my place of business.
So what did I say to him? I basically told him that this was neither the time nor place to discuss such matters. He persisted. I quickly went to do my rounds around the four self-checkout registers, to make sure everyone was doing all right, in order to escape from that unpleasant situation. The man left.
Needless to say, I was annoyed. And this is the second time this month that someone’s tried to pull that on me. Someone did that not long after Christmas, asking about my usual cheerful demeanor at work as an “in” to ask the God question. Really, my religious beliefs are none of their business, and as I said earlier, I don’t think most people would really want to hear what I think about religion. Same with these people that hand me religious literature right at the checkout stand. I can’t stand it, and have often debated tearing up their literature right in front of them, though I’m not that tasteless. Plus I consider it inappropriate to discuss such things at work anyway. I have no problem with people who wear outwardly religious clothing, religious jewelry, and other religious paraphernalia. I also have no problem hearing about one’s religion in a non-judgmental way, for example, “I went to church this morning and the minister talked about (whatever the minister said).”
Of course, you’re also talking to the person who reads Billy Graham‘s advice column in the newspaper strictly for the entertainment value – I get more laughs out of his column than I do some of the comic strips. Though unlike the comic strips, where it’s good, wholesome fun, I get the laughs from Billy Graham’s column in kind of a mean sort of way. I have also on more than one occasion referred to Billy Graham as a “windbag”.
So there you go. When I’m at work, please respect me by keeping your religion to yourself. If you’ve found religion, great – I’m happy for you. Leave me out of it.