I have a ton of weird hang-ups, and one of them involves shopping. The easiest way to lose me as a customer is to recognize me.
I am a creature of habit. I frequently patronize the same restaurants and stores. I go to my favorite places so much that employees often recognize me. The thing is that if an employee tries to build a rapport with me I shut down. If a barrista at Starbucks knows my drink, or mentions that I didn’t come in on Thursday to get my Venti Americano I will probably stop going to that Starbucks. If I stop at Michaels Craft Store to get something and the cashier asks me how my homemade scarf turned out, then I will drive 15 minutes out of my way to go to the other Michaels. It’s that bad. Once time a Chick Fila employee mentioned to me at the drive thru that I stop by there a lot. That’s when I started to panic and felt like a total loser. Maybe I’m the only one, but I would much prefer people to act live we’ve never met.
