I'm really starting to wonder about my job. I think it's out to get me. In fact, I'm seriously thinking about picking up the hefty ol' newsprint and scanning the job listings for a brand spanking new job that I can will my life away to. Not that we have a choice, right? In order to survive these turbulent times we need to work constantly. Working, day in and day out, just to survive and, all the while, being unhappy at it. Something doesn't seem right here...
So for the last few days (really, it's started after the whole body injuring day with random heavy objects beaning me on the head, falling on my various body limbs, etc), I've had a heck of a time dealing with rude customers, horrible crashing of the cash registers, and the like. Things can't get any worse-- at least, this I'm hoping (no, PRAYING) for.
So a few things happened. First of all, I can't decide what it is (either the sudden snap of the weather or the ungodly lead levels in the water supply), but we have had the rudest and most crass people to ever enter the store. Normal people, regulars who I often seen getting their normal jugs of milk or a loaf of bread, along with their other average sized purchases for their family/jobs/whatever, have become monsters stepping out and finding every way to tear my head off and demean me in every way possible. Yeah. I blame the water supply. It's poisoning their minds or...something.
We have this thing going on that, when we scan the first item (whatever on earth it may be at the time), the register's computer screen prompts for me to put in said customer's phone number. This is for a survey of sorts, so we can see on average how far people travel. I can't tell you how many people actually have said to me, "What the hell do you need my number for? Put your own damn number in it if it wants one! I ain't giving mine out"!
I didn't even spare the language in that one, so sorry anyone who hates cursing. Guess I have to drop a few quarters in the Swear Jar, now, don't I? Anyway, so I've been near to tears because of this, because I'm trying to smile through this, letting it slide off me like water, but lo and behold, when a customer rants and yells at me for literally two minutes while others gawk on as they stand in line, my patience wears a twinge thin. Several times, I'm ashamed to admit, I've thrust the costumer's change, laying it on the counter, and watch them waltz out the door without a single peace making "Goodbye, have a nice day", on my part. Yeah. They're starting to see my sarcastic, sadistic, standoffish side; the peaceful hippy in me is dying, and I can feel myself loosing grip on my once cherished personality more and more each day I trudge to work. Then again, now that I think about it, these people are wholly deserving it! I've been through nearly a week with people standing there for no reason, screeching at me for problems that they've mostly caused, and I'm getting tired of it.
Yeah. Defiantly the water supply. Or the results of probing experiments by Aliens.
There was a man today that, well, he went up to me. Imagine this particular dramatic persona, will you not? Take an elderly man, picture him hard in your mind. He's about seventy, give or take. Really wrinkled, tan skin. Piercing eyes. Atop his scraggly white hair is a baseball cap with the Navy emblem on it. He swaggers into the store, comes right up to me, and says, "Where's your Nokia phones"?
First of all... his voice was hard to register. He slurred, and his words were rushed, mumbled. It's amazing I understood him at all! Still, I knew we didn't sell them. After explaining that, "No, Sir, I'm afraid we don't sell those kind," he simply glared at me. GLARED at me! Like I was some vagabond cheating him out of his precious cybernetic device that makes his wallet bleed out the cash!
"Yes you do," he growls at me.
I stare at him, remembering back to the old lady with the crack candy fix, and I had to shudder. It took me fifteen minutes of showing the man and explaining it to him, all the while he's yelling at me, convinced I was lying. Uh, sir? Have you ever thought that we MAY have once sold these, but because of supply and demand we sold out? Stores do that, right? I'm pretty sure they do in America!!
I ended up having to call up my second key manager and asking him. Sure enough, no phones. Like I thought we had any (thank god for sarcasm!). Anyway, after informing the man this, he growled something alone the lines of "lying" and "don't sell something in the first place if you can't have it in stock" (to that one, I wanted to say, "well, sir, we don't get truck in every single day; that would be quite a feat and a gas guzzler, don't you think?!" wink . I really hated him.
Last night came quite a curious thing. In fact, me working last night, I actually lost money rather than solely make and earn it. What happened is there were these two females (one Caucasian, one African American). I've seen them before, together. They're pretty good friends, I think they became friends in college (could be wrong). They're older now, enough to live on their own, find men to marry and have their own families if they so desire (if they haven't already done any of those already). They had a combined purchase and, for a dollar store, it was pretty much on a grand scale (around forty dollars in total worth of merchindise).
Now, since half of her things were food items, she paid first with an EBT card. This is basically money from the government, and anything not taxed (items of food) will be taken off without much charge or hassle. After doing that, then, she had around $36.63 left in total.
The lady with the cards, the Caucasian, she whipped out her Mastercard and tried to pay it off. Several times. Course it didn't take, right? Just as luck would have it, she only had $20 on her card. Now, flashback time! It was $36.63, right? Mmm... Somethings not right here! She didn't have enough! Ding ding, correct! That tells me I need to void off items and reduce the amount!
Fate hated me that night. I couldn't DO that; I couldn't void items. Why? Simple enough: it was locked in the transaction stage. It NEEDED to be paid off, or else.
I ended up paying, out of my own pocked, $6.63 that night. Oh, and the sick part of it is? This isn't the first time I've had to cover the rest of someone's tab. Let's just thank the heavens that it wasn't a fifty tab bill or something that needed to be picked up. If that would have been the case, I would have been lost.
Well... negatives aside... let's remember that tomorrow's my day off, and reflect with something happier! Or, at least, a little nice, cheery, upbeat note!
I've got a smile on my face, and I've got four walls around me
I've got the sun in the sky, ah, the water surrounds me, oh you know
Yeah, I'll win now but sometimes I'll lose
I've been battered, but I'll never bruise ... it's not so bad.
And I say way-hey-hey, it's just an ordinary day
And it's all your state of mind
At the end of the day,
You've just got to say ... it's all right.
-Great Big Sea, Ordinary Day
heart Peace out, ya'll! heart
Community Member
i'd say, to all those who can't pay for their items, tough shitskies! ESPECIALLY if this isn't the first time this happened. but don't worry mandydandykid, if it is the weather, it'll pass, thur is beautiful, and fri even more so. sat and sun great too! heart mrgreen biggrin xd 3nodding blaugh wink whee cool dramallama
happy happy joy joy!