Have to say our local Tesco staff are a real cut above as well. Always smile, always ask after SWMBO if she is not there and the other way around. Always up for a giggle. Mind you, we've known them all for 9 years since opening.
All in the face of some members of Joe Public who often times treat them like utter shit...somehow they keep smiling.
Different country, different supermarket chains, but much the same here. We lived in a suburb of Atlanta for 10 years, and always shopped in the same supermarket. We knew all the people in there, and they knew us. The kiddos knew they could get a free cookie from the bakery, and more or less trained themselves to go and line up at the bakery counter when we went in there. They’re (nearly) 18, 22 and 24 now.
One guy in particular, Bob, seemed like he was born to be a grocer. He was always cheery, did the cooking demos with a smile, would tell you if something was on special, made sure you got coupons that you might not have, that kind of thing. Running the checkout wasn’t his thing, but if it was busy and there was a closed checkout, he’d open it up and run it himself.
We moved away 3 or 4 years ago, and we have a similar relationship with the folks in our new supermarket, but nothing like Bob. There’s an English guy on the local radio station, and they keep asking me if it’s me. “No, but I know who you mean”. The pharmacist has become a personal friend, and professionally looks out for our family.
Now just recently, through social media, we became aware that Bob passed away. He’s the same age as me. It so happened that the same week, the same chain Bob was with (Publix) opened a new store in our town. Beautiful new store, just an updated version of our old store, but very familiar. We went in on opening day, and both of were just sad, and came out saying “all it needs is Bob”.
RIP Bob Cordrey, 1968-2020.