It's Self-Service (Today's Customer)

I work in the home appliance section of a home improvement store, selling heaters.

A colleague was assisting a customer in the heater aisle.

They had placed a kerosene heater on a cart.

My colleague's shift ended, so they went home, leaving the kerosene heater customer to me.

I pushed the cart with the kerosene heater and followed the customer.

Whether the customer didn't notice me or just assumed it was natural for me to follow them, they continued moving to the next aisle as they pleased.

Thinking about it calmly, I am not the customer's servant.

It is true that the customer is carrying a bag from a famous foreign brand, but this is not a department store.

A home improvement store is a self-service shop.

Customers are expected to put the items they want into their carts themselves, go to the register, pay, and leave.

If store staff followed every single customer around, there is no telling how many employees we would need.

Seeing a good opportunity, I told the customer, "I will leave the kerosene heater at the register. Please let them know when you are ready to pay," and returned to my own section.

Without even looking at me, the customer continued to stare at the products they were interested in.