Unfiltered Story #246443

I went into a chain jewellery store, looking for a present for a friend. The highest value single item in the place was probably about £30, so this wasn’t exactly heist central. I’m the only customer in the shop. There are three associates behind the counter, a fact which was immediately obvious, given how otherwise empty the shop was.

Almost as soon as I walked in, one of the associates approached me, and said: “Hi! Can I help you look for anything?”

“No thanks,” I replied, “I’m just browsing at the moment.”

“Okay!” she said, and returned to her spot behind the counter.

Which would be fine, except for the fact that for the next few minutes, every minute or so, all three associates take turns with coming out from behind the counter, walking up to me (uncomfortably close) and trilling “Can I help you with anything?”

Every time, I responded with variations on “No thank you, I’m quite happy browsing,” eventually escalating to the dreaded heights of “NO thanks, I’m just browsing at the moment. I ASSURE you that I will let you know if I need your assistance.”

If I were anyone other than a straight-looking white girl, I would probably have suspected bigotry at this point, because it was that ridiculous. It was like an enemy spawn glitch.

And this wasn’t “Oh, I see you’re looking at our dragonfly necklace. Did you know we also have a matching bracelet?” No, this was full on “Can I help you?” as if they were on a carousel.

I did actually end up buying something, because I liked it. It was probably the cheapest thing in the shop. When I got home, I sent an email to their HQ, telling them that encouraging their floor employees to be friendly is all well and good, but they needed to stop requiring people to constantly approach people, and that it was actually very offputting.