The Customer Is Always Wrong: The Retail Chronicles

This book is a must have for anyone who has ever worked in retail. Every story with the exception of one had me rolling over in laughter. It's also a quick read and the stories are short and to the point. It also really leaves you questioning just basic human nature and knowing that whoever you are, you're o.k. Great book to give as a gift as well.

The Customer Is Always Wrong is a collection of essays on retail life. The book is edited by Jeff Martin, manager of a Tulsa Barnes and Noble, and features 21 anecdotes by writers you most likely will never have heard of about their own personal experiences working at a wide selection of retail jobs. For the most part, the essays range in quality from slightly boring to fairly amusing. A highlight is Victor Gischler's tale of his time spent selling hearing aids, which made me laugh for two solid minutes. Anybody who's worked in or shopped retail (that is, everybody) can relate to something in this book, and it's an entertaining enough read.

Often humorous, occasionally poignant and at all times all too real, this book is a collection of essays on life in the retail world. Many of us have been there, whether as full time employees out of college or as part time slaves during our high school and college years. Any of us who have performed the retail job duties will recognize many of these stories. I was laughing much of the time; almost cried a couple of times, but I enjoyed the book completely at all times. Don't let the fact that you have never worked in retail stop you from reading this book. You may learn a thing or two about life in the retail world and you may think twice before being snooty to those poor clerks behind the counters.