Mississippi Walmart Employees Wobble

How much fun is too much fun when you're at work?

I recently watched a video of Walmart employees in Oxford, Miss. dancing The Wobble as customers stood back and watched.  While I think it is important for employees to enjoy their jobs and to have times to refresh so they may better serve their customers, I also wonder how the customers felt while this was going on.

I've worked retail before. While I've always worked to be pleasant to customers, some of them made it hard. They CAME IN with attitudes about things that had nothing to do with their shopping experiences and were nasty to store associates for no other reason than to be nasty. Instead of taking their frustrations out on those who upset them, strangers caught the brunt.

The same thing happens at restaurants.... Especially fast food spots.  Have you ever been with a person and they pulled up to the drive-thru with an attitude, telling you before they ordered, "And they BETTER get my order right, too!"?

I mean, why? You receive what you project.  I've been a customer to a server who was having a hard time before.  Usually, I'll smile and say something like, "You guys are short-staffed tonight, aren't you?" or "Hey, take a deep breath. Everything is ok.  Even if you're having a hard time, it's not the end of the world."  Even when my order is wrong, I address it in a way similar to the way I'd want someone to address me if I was the server and made a mistake.

Like many people, I almost hate going to Walmart.  I don't hate it because of bad service, though.  I hate it because of other shoppers: those who act as if they own the aisle they're in, those who get into the 20 items or less line with at least 35 items, those who let their children run all over the store, those who act like they have to spend all $400 worth of groceries in one day but get to the front of the line and remember one item at the last minute and send somebody to get it while holding up the rest of the line.... Yeah, all of them MAKE ME SICK!

I shop a lot like a man.  I know exactly what I'm going to get and know where it's located.  So, I make straight lines to get what I need and get out.  Granted, I may pick up an additional item which happened to be along my route, but I RARELY go on an ambling spree to see what I MIGHT need.  To navigate through those who "own the aisle" and running children only to get to the front and stand behind a person with 35 items in a 20 items or less line is aggravating; but there's no sense in taking it out on the cashier. He/she is just as frustrated.

So, I commend this Walmart for giving its employees a dance break.  I'm sure they needed it.  Probably went back to work feeling refreshed.  It probably would have been better if customers had joined in, though.  I'm sure there are some customers who were upset with the dancing and saw it as a waste of time, and I'm almost certain there was at least one cashier who chose to work rather than dance to assist said customers.

How would you feel if something like this happened at your workplace? If your employer secretly planned a singing flash mob?  I think it would undoubtedly build morale at least for that day. What do you think?