Senior "Greeter" At Wal Mart Told "You Can't Say That Anymore"

ClassicRockr

ClassicRockr

Well-known Member
Due to a customer complaint, a Senior "Greeter" at Wal Mart in GA, was told by Management that he could no longer say, "Have a blessed day." after saying the typical "Thank you for shopping at Wal Mart". He was saying this to customers because that's how he felt and was very glad he had a job. The Greeter said that many customer's thanked him for saying it to them. When family, friends and some customers found out that Management told him he couldn't say that portion of the greeting, they contacted Wal Mart's Corporate Office and also showed him support outside the store. Corporate told the store Manager that the Senior could continue to say "Have a blessed day" after his "Thank you for shopping at Wal Mart" statement.

Actually, the Senior told news media that he was quite surprised that someone wouldn't like his added-on greeting.

As for me, wife and I are totally glad that this dude is saying this. But, then again, we are Christians and like the saying.

I know that some of you will disagree with wife and I, and that's fine. You have your feelings, we have ours. There will always be controversy about the separation of Church and State, or in this case, a business.
 

I think he had the right to say it, even though I don't share his religious beliefs. "Church and state separation" does not apply here, as Wal Mart is not a government entity (at least, not yet!) It's a private business, and therefore there is no violation.

Where it does get sticky, though is drawing the line at where the government is allowed to intrude in business practices. What about a business that refuses to serve those of a particular race, religion, or sexual orientation? That would not be allowed. But we still do have free speech, and I think the greeter has a right to exercise that right. If people are offended by this kind statement, they have the right to shop elsewhere.
 
I don't see it as a separation of powers. Sounds more like a store decision. I see no reason to inhibit the man from wishing folks a blessed day. It wouldn't upset me or most people i would guess.
 

Yeah... I don't see what the problem was with what he said either.. Walmart is not the government even if they are bigger than many in the world.
 
I'm an atheist and I don't have a problem with it. I say bless you to people now and then. There is no religious connection I can see. When I say bless you to someone I am giving them my blessing. I don't say " god bless you."
 
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I wouldn't have a problem with him saying have a blessed day, I hear stuff like that often. Although I'm not religious, it certainly doesn't bother me at all. I guess any company can have some say in what their employees say to their customers? Aren't they often thought of as 'representatives'? Even though a greeter is likely a volunteer.
 
SeaBreeze said:
I wouldn't have a problem with him saying have a blessed day, I hear stuff like that often. Although I'm not religious, it certainly doesn't bother me at all. I guess any company can have some say in what their employees say to their customers? Aren't they often thought of as 'representatives'? Even though a greeter is likely a volunteer.
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This is my thinking on the matter as well. I've worked retail management and part of the training was telling staff what they were allowed to not allowed to say to customers. Just part of the program inspite of our own personal sentimental feelings on the matter.
 
SeaBreeze said:
I wouldn't have a problem with him saying have a blessed day, I hear stuff like that often. Although I'm not religious, it certainly doesn't bother me at all. I guess any company can have some say in what their employees say to their customers? Aren't they often thought of as 'representatives'? Even though a greeter is likely a volunteer.
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WalMart greeters are not volunteers. One of the first jobs I went to after retiring was to WalMart as they would allow part time schedules. Being a new employee I was hired at minimum wages and started working my way up the pay scale. I started in electronics, later moved to a greeter position. To me it seemed less intense and you do get to meet lots of folks. One of our jobs was to observe and if we saw any problems we were to notify management. That was at least 10 years ago. Now I understand that greeters are not all day like they once were and really about all they do is greet people in, help with carts, no more interfering with apparent thefts. Do at times help return returned items to the shelves and also help pick up within the store and put items back on the proper shelves. Anyway, it is a job for wages. Sometimes WalMart will hire a handicapped and put them to work as greeters. I met one in a wheel chair doing a greeters job near the exit doors.
 
SeaBreeze said:
I don't see them in my area anymore, they used to also have Target greeters.
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Probably right these days. I know the WalMart where I am living now has let most of theirs do other things but still on occasion see greeters in the store. Sometimes they are sick or injured and being protected from the doctors concerns for a few days.
 
Like the other atheists/agnostics/non-religious folk here I wouldn't have a problem with it.

Taking a larger view, you have people starving and dying around the world, you have riots, crimes, wars ... and I should be concerned and get my nose all bent out of shape if someone offers me a "blessed day"? :rolleyes:

Some folks just have too much time on their hands.
 
I'm not sure that employing retired people as greeters with security responsibilities is the smartest corporate move.

I seem to recall a few incidents where the greeters were injured trying to stop shoplifters ...

They'd do much better to give the position to some Hell's Angels.
 
Well, I saw no problem as when I was greeter at WalMart we were not supposed to go after the suspects at all. We were to call a manager about the problem and let them handle the situation their way. At times we had no phones but recently many had phones. It was no big problems for my personal safety. I wonder how the theft losses are now at WalMart since their efforts have been cut so badly.
 
The Greeter is the face of the Company, the only one
not on a till that the public see and speak to.

I think that the complainant had a beef with Walmart
and the only thing that he/she could pick to complain
about was "Have a Blessed Day", so the issue would be
against Walmart the Company and not the Greeter.

This is how I see it.

Mike.
 
The only store here in our area that has a Greeter is Wal Mart and that person must be a part-time one. We don't see a Greeter every time we go in the store. There are stores that don't have an actual "Greeter". One of the store's cashiers will say "Welcome to ......". We've seen that happen.

As far as Wal Mart Security goes, I was told by one employee/cashier that, if the Security Alarm goes off when a person goes thru the door, they are not necessarily suppose to approach the person bc of what the person could be carrying (gun/knife). Now, the looks/actions of the person leaving the store, and the alarm goes off, will indicate whether an employee will approach the person or not. Yes, "looks/actions", in other words "suspicious" looking, does play a part in an employee stopping a person or not.

I remember, this last Christmas, we bought a movie DVD at Target. What we didn't realize, until we got home, was the Security Case was still around the DVD! The cashier did scan the DVD and we did pay for it, but she forgot to take the Security Case off. I guess, bc the dvd was scanned/paid for, the Security Alarm didn't go off when we left the store. Anyway, we had to take the dvd back to the store so a cashier could take off the Security Case. The have a special tool for that. Actually, the cashier was quite surprised the case was still on the dvd.
 
Now, as for the word "blessed" goes, some here that don't think it's religious had better look up the definition! Here are some:

bless·ed adjective \ˈble-səd\ : having a sacred nature : connected with God

Actually, from the Bible:
BLESSED is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. ( Psalm 1:1-2 )

There we go!
 
Nearly everyone says "Bless you!" when someone sneezes... I think these saying have become secular and lost most if not all of their religious context.. It's no big deal... Same with "have a blessed day" It's almost like saying "have a good one".... again.. most folks don't even think about it.
 
Well, Catholic Priests say "Bless you my child" and that is definitely religious and the word "bless" is there. IMO, in what ever manner the word "bless" is used, I think it is totally religious and that's why that one customer at that Wal Mart complained to management.
 
I must admit that I would be startled if somebody said 'have a blessed day!' That's because here in England shop workers don't go in for wishing people a nice day or any of that stuff.Some stores here do have greeters, and they say Good Morning, or Hello, welcome to ... etc. I would assume that a person was a bit eccentric to say 'have a blessed day' but it wouldn't bother me at all, as SifuPhil says with awful things going on in the world you can hardly complain when somebody blesses you [even if it is the sort of thing that normally only the Pope says.];)
 
On the other hand there is the matter for some us (including me) having been on the receiving end of countless proselytizing messages all our lives we've become acutely aware of the vocabulary of proselytizing. And right now in the US there is something of a movement among secularists to come out of the closet so to speak and make our position more public that we don't appreciate being proselytized. I imagine this is the back story of this Walmart affair. And with all social movements certain reactions are a little over the top, just view this episode as our version of bra burning.
 

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