But guess what? Retail can be painful in many other ways, as explained here by the shoppers of Reddit. RelapsedCatoonist asked:
Which store is the most painful to shop at?
Speaking of painful, let’s talk about the stores that are hella confusing to navigate.
Sears was a beast.
“It used to be Sears when they were still around.
It was impossible to find anyone, they never had what I wanted, and I went to the same Sears for most of my life. When I was younger, it was a beast, but near the end, you can tell it was dying.”
“Sears has become a case study of poor management. With their early history as a catalog store they could have repurposed themselves using that image arcing to the internet age and competed with Amazon. Instead the CEO pitted different parts of the organization against each other in the belief that the competition would make the company stronger but all they did was eat each other and aid in its destruction.”
Why are Hot Topic stores so small, anyway?
scared hot topic GIF by South Park Giphy“Hot Topic. I never understood how every Hot Topic store I've been to has the same squished layout. I still occasionally go because it's one of the few in person places I can shop for fandom merch (at least where I live). But c'mon, why it always gotta be so thin and narrow?"
The smell in these shops are unbearable.
“Abercombie and Fitch and Hollister are not ideal places to shop when you have asthma.”
“Also, why do they advertise clothes by plastering the walls with photos of topless models being photographed from the chest up? The guy isn't even wearing anything that you're selling; why is he there?”
These guys are totally right about Hollister and Hot Topic. But what about the smaller stores?
People do this???
“Most of the convenience stores in my neighborhood. There's almost always a person buying lotto tickets. They can't buy them all at once though. First they need to get their previous tickets checked/cashed in. Then they need to buy their weekly tickets. Then they need to buy a couple scratch'n'win tickets, which they quickly scratch off just the verification area. Depending on those "winnings" they'll buy more. When that's done, they'll look at how much change they have left and buy a couple more tickets.
Meanwhile, there's a line of people forming behind the gambler as they treat the cashier like a slot machine.”
It’s a clothing store, not a club.
Animated GIFGiphy“Any store that I can hear before I see. Dark lights and thumping music is really not necessary in a clothing store and I'll walk straight past every time no matter how good the clothes are.”
This is so messed up.
“Any stores with their exit located behind the cash registers forcing you to cut through a line of people waiting to pay.
F*ck your tricks.”
“My local Walmart has blocked off every unused register so you have to go through a line to exit the store. And they want you to stand in line with nothing (or a bag of meds you picked up from pharmacy) wait your turn, and tell them you don't need to checkout before you can leave.
I refuse to do this and usually just squish past people if I have to go in.”
The most painful of all retailers.
“Cellphone carriers.
You can't get anything done at AT&T or similar without them trying to sell you 15 things and services that are totally irreverent to what you need.
That is why I switched to Boost because they will actually just sell you a phone without trying to sell you half the store.
What should be a 10 minute experience of buying and activation of a phone ends up being about half an hour.
On that note, rereading this, this is totally a first world problem.”
On second thought, maybe we should just shop online instead.
Looking at you, LUSH.
How Are You Help GIF by Your Happy WorkplaceGiphy“Any store where employees are constantly hounding you about helping find something. Please leave me alone to browse in peace, if I needed help I would come ask.”
“I used to work at a Target and were told we'd get yelled at if you didn't ask. It was also a theft deterrent. I go to Target all the time and no one asks me which I am okay with actually.
I really hate how the American meaning of good service is bugging your customer/patient/whatever constantly as opposed to just flagging someone down when you need something.”
Nothing wrong with boring underwear.
“Victoria’s Secret can suck it. Went there as a teenager with a group of friends to get "properly fitted" for bras. The sales lady was all positive and enthusiastic and assured us that they had the perfect bra for each of us. Get to me, and I measured at 34AA. She frowns and says, "oh we don't carry that small a size, you will have to special order it." So I had to sit there on a stupid pink velvet bench and watch my "normal" friends pick out frilly bras.
That experience ruined my self-esteem for years. Luckily, now I love my little t*tties and my boring underwear!!”
Nothing wrong with being barefaced, either.
“Holy sh*t, Sephora 100%. If you're not wearing at least 7 shades of eyeshadow they think you're either stealing or don't belong there.”
“Ulta is like that too though. They try to steer you towards the super expensive brands or they talk down to you. when joked I was just looking for a concealer in almost white because I'm pale to a girl there, she got snippy with me and was like ‘actually you mean fair skinned’ lmao.”
So to sum it up--turn down the music, stop cleaning your carpets with nasty perfume, and leave me the hell alone. Shopping would be a much better experience that way.
They gotta make money, sometimes they just go about it in an unethical way. Retailers--be the change!
But bad fashion trends aren't just in the past. Here are some of the most hated modern fashion trends, courtesy of Reddit. Q-tipper asked:
What is a fashion trend you hate?
You would think everyday fashion would be about convenience and comfort, but that just isn’t so.
Why are these so hard to find?
“2x or 3x that is only wide, not long.
Big and TALL f*ckers! You forget the tall part.”
“I f*cking swear, finding ANYTHING in 3XLT is impossible. I'm tall AND fat, godd*mnit.”
You’d think work clothes would be a bit more comfy.
Season 3 Store GIF by The SimpsonsGiphy“Making employees wear clothes that are easily stained."
'100% agree. I work at a truck dealership and they used to make us wear khakis. Even the warehouse and parts employees. It is impossible to get grease or coolant stains out of those. Before we just decided to ignore that rule everybody was walking around with all kinds of fun and dubious stains."
The worst part about women’s clothing.
“Fake f*cking pockets? To hell with them I say."
“The shorts I'm wearing right now have fake back pockets. I've tried putting my phone in my back pocket about 10 times today and am ready to just rip the shorts off my legs at this point."
On the topic of women’s clothing, here are a few examples of some truly weird trends.
We need longer sleeves!
“Long sleeves on women's clothing that are too short. Most long sleeves end well before my wrist and a few inches past my elbow. I'm not exactly Queen of the Long-Armed Amazons! I end up pushing the sleeves up on everything because I look like a kid after a growth spurt whose clothes no longer fit properly. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE WITH IMPOSSIBLY SHORT ARMS?”
It’s a scam!
sexy american apparel GIFGiphy“As a woman, sheer shirts and dresses. I don't want to have to wear a cami under every d*mn shirt!”
“I think it's a way to get you to spend more money.”
“Bow down and give your money to BIG LAYERING!
My wife refers to them as bobo's (buy one/buy one) because you can't pick up one without the other to match.”
Things That Are Normal Where You Live But Crazy Anywhere Else | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
This ruins the whole outfit.
“Clothes that are cute until you look up close and the back says something stupid like ‘but first, coffee’.”
“I always get those as gifts like, ‘I knew this was your sense of humor’. Why are we friends?”
To heck with cropped jackets.
“Women's jackets that stop just above the bottom rib. When I'm wearing a jacket, I'm wearing it because I'm COLD, not as a fashion statement!
The things people wear for the sake of brand names continue to make no sense to me (or these Redditors, apparently).
Definitely bad taste.
Ralph Lauren Elevator GIF by FriendsGiphy“Large logos. Ralph Lauren is the worst. I'll see a shirt I like with an oversized polo man. It ruins the shirt.”
“The back story behind large polo man is actually funny because it was entirely unintentional and just a business responding to customer demand.
Apparently Ralph Lauren was the apparel provider for one of the more prestigious tennis tournament (think US Open, Wimbledon, etc.) and they made one-offs for the ball boys to wear so that the logo would be visible on TV - there was apparently no initial intent to market them to the general public. People watching saw it and said I WANT THAT, and here we are with giant Polo logos now.
So yeah, oversized polo man is a result of consumers' bad taste.”
Why is this a thing?
“Stickers on hats.”
“When I was young, I bought a hat and left the sticker on, because it was the thing to do. A few years later I realized it was dumb, and also peeling so I tore it of. Turns out the hat was more faded than I thought. So I stuck my own sticker on to hide the shame.”
To be fair, these are comfy af.
“Those leggings from TikTok that have that scrunch in the a**hole, so they literally suck into your a** crack. I hate it.
“They're the freaking worst! I got a pair without looking at the back just thinking it was a cool texture. They're just sitting in my dresser looking all sad and stupid.”
As humanity continues to evolve, so does fashion. And soon enough, these weird fashion trends will die out, and make room for even more sh*tty trends.
Such is life. Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go put on my TikTok leggings. Sue me, they’re comfy.