Happy Black Friday

Yesterday (Black Friday) I was sick, we were short, and I dropped a gallon of Arizona Tea off the counter, which then exploded. Not such a great day.

Jack Sprat and his fat wife came to the counter while my co-worker was leaving and I was coming in. She (the woman) had something hidden under her arm, and she waited til my co-worker left. For a second I thought it was a gun. Turned out to be a vibrator (disguised as a 'personal massager').

Pretty sure I'm going to call in sick today because I feel icky, and I have sick days, and my workplace is germy.

Happy Thanksgiving

I saved 84%, so it is a good Thanksgiving.

But after midnight, our soundtrack started playing Christmas songs, which seemed a little forward.

There is a women with a mental disorder who comes around. She calls periodically, and when she does, she directs one question towards me. Then she starts on an ongoing conversation with the folks that only she can see. And hear.

I was walking around the aisles, putting up our tags for our 4-day sale and as I was walking down aisle 7, I started blinking a lot, to clear my contact. And I collided with a guy who grabbed my shoulders, instead of letting us chest-bump. It totally scared the hell out of both of us.

I have to clean the bathrooms in the evening, but when I walked into the men's room tonight, I smelled pot! Two guys had just left, and there was weed in the toilet. Apparently, they had just shared a blunt. Seems a little ridiculous that they have no where else to go but the bathroom. Or maybe they were fiending so bad they couldn't wait.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Leggings Are Not Pants

I will say it again...leggings are not pants. I don't care how great your ass looks, I need for you to wear real pants. Or wear leggings appropriately.

My co-worker makes me mad. I feel like if you work, then work. Don't half-ass it and leave a bunch of shit for everyone else to clean up. If you are too tired, then don't work two jobs. Don't leave stuff around the floor. Answer the pages. Why bother even coming in if you're going to be an hour late and leave a half hour early? And what is up with not helping any of your co-workers? Goddamn, she makes me mad.

The door won't lock. It fell off the track and we couldn't get it back on, or lock efficiently. I left ten minutes late, but I refused to wait around to figure that out. Especially since my manager didn't want to call anyone from the rotary (is that the right word?)

That's A Lot Of Money

People spend a lot of money at my store!

A women in a local pizza place uniform came in late at night, and spent almost $80. She was alarmed about the amount. But she bought a bunch of single-serve bags of chips, a bunch of stuff not sale...it seemed like she got a big tip at work and then went crazy at my store.

I wouldn't have been at the register if the other girl hadn't gotten sick. So we were short tonight.

Some folks who looked like they might still be in high school spent $50 on candy, pop, and Arizona tea. They looked like hot messes, and they were alarmed at the amount.

Our store has a card, and having that card is the only way to get the sale price. And yet some people still don't want the card. I just do not understand how people can spend so much, and buy stuff not on sale...

Meanwhile, I saved 68% on my transaction.

A Lengthy Transaction

I was rung up and voided three times. The first time, my Similac check didn't go through, because my coworker couldn't figure out which numbers to punch it in. Then my manager came over, and said that the check has to be entered in before the coupons. Which isn't true. So when he voided out my transaction, rung me up again, and tried to enter the check in first, he realized, as I stated, he was wrong. Then he rung me up again. And he misheard me when I said how many Hershey Kisses I had, so my coupon didn't go through. I made him put it through, because I knew it was valid. When I looked at my receipt, I realized he didn't charge me for one of my Kisses and he put through a coupon that wasn't actually valid. So we had to post-void it, and then re-ring it. Finally. I saved 38%

While in the aisles unloading totes, my manager came up to me and told me to switch with the guy at One because he is better at unloading totes. Which is true. But as I was about to agree, my manager also said he wanted me to switch because men are better at unloading that women. I found it odd and offensive that he would even bring up gender. I told him I thought he might be going to Hell.

While at the Register, I got a few questions and comments about my lip ring. One guy, with very obvious dentures, made a comment questioning how and why I would do that to my face, and I think I might have been so friendly, I threw him off. He seemed to regret his tone, and he tried to make nice. Then he told me he really liked my eyes, 'they are kinda scary!' and he seemed to regret that too. He let me know that he was really tired; he had just finished a 13 hour shift. He had to come back in because he forgot something.

We got out kind of late because my manager was dazed and confused. 

Bales of Cocaine

Twice today, a group of teenagers came in and left us with a cloud of weed smell. I think the pot that people smoke today is stronger than what I knew when I was a teen.

I rushed over to the Hallmark aisle to blow up the balloons. I was pleased I had the time to do that. But then I had too much time, because after the balloons, there wasn't another project for me. So I puttered around the photo department.

I need new pants for work. I can't go on like this.

There Is A Coupon In Your Shoe

Somehow, I got roped into taking a passport picture instead of doing my ad tags or puttering. I was dealing with a serious Type A lady. She was really nice, the nicest A-type I've ever encountered, but she was very exact and obviously needed perfection. I took her picture eight times. She had to look at each one, and analyze her hair, and make sure everything was right. She finally settled on one. She asked if we had special lighting or a different area to take the picture. We do not. I noticed that she was wearing a blue and white vertically-striped button-up, a pair of light jeans and loafers. While I was ringing her up, she showed me her driver's license to show me how good that photo was. It was quite good; she looked awesome.

When I got to work, it was noon. And it was about 60 degrees, even though it is November. The sky was cloudy, tumultuous; there were tornado watches and flood warnings. The rain came down hard, then lessened, then came down hard again. There was a brief moment of sun. And then, before I knew it, the sun had set, and the temperature had dropped.
I told my husband to call work if the tornado watch turned to a warning, because I wasn't going to die at work, or be without my family during a crisis such as that. I thought of the end of the world, but also of the movie The Mist. 

Candy

Currently I am snacking on the Jolly Rancher Sour Bites, given to me by the girl at One. I was trying to purchase them, but my coupon didn't go through, so I left them at the register. Apparently I triggered a craving in her, so she had to buy them. And as we were leaving, she asked if I wanted them. Of course I do.

I can't be sure, but I think the new girl called me 'gorgeous'. But then she left early without finishing her work. She told the girl at One that she would help with the overstock, but she left before she did. And she had told the manager she was done. I mentioned all this to the manager, and I tried not to be petty about it. I hope I succeeded.

The customers were outrageous today. Whats' the lunar cycle?

Mom and Son

Yesterday was a super-long day at work. It was terrible.

Today was better.

There was a mom and son who came to the register, while I was covering a break. The mom and son were kind of dressed up, and the mom kept asking her boy if he wanted anything else. He said no, and she said that it wouldn't be a problem if he did. He seemed reluctant to accept her gifts (they were buying toys) and she seemed to want to shell them out. She kept kissing the top of his head and whispering sweet nothings. It kind of freaked me out. I hope I'm not that weird with my son.

We got out early.

While on my lunch break I read an article in Tribune about a guy I used to know. He is looking at 10 years for hacking into websites and throwing out (on the Internet) personal information. But he also discovered some information about the U.S government, about them 'keeping track' of people who had participated in certain protests. He got caught because he was snitched out. It gave me something to think about while I finished closing. I hope he doesn't do 10 years.

Extreme Couponing

I saved 89% today.
And I rung up a couple of ladies who saved 90-something-percent. They were stacking coupons, and we had a few coupon-convos. They agreed I was the best cashier they have ever had, or at least in a long time. I did some finagling with the receipt and some forgotten coupons, and now I'm afraid I might have been to generous. But they had coupon binders, so I got distracted.

The pain in my feet was excruciating.

While I was on the register, I pretty much almost always said our branded lines.

The Terriable Smell

Pretty sure I got that title from a Seinfeld episode.

There were some awful smells at work today. And I can only hope that none of them came from me.
Someone keeps putting milk in the sink in the Photo Department. Either it's rotting in the carton, or no one washes it down the drain.
A lot of people came in smelling like cold sweat. Meaning, they rushed over to my store, sweated, and they smelled like the cold air outside. I know you know what I'm talking about.
I have to clean the bathrooms, so there is another set of smells.
 The store heats unevenly, so there are weird smells that drift in and out. Obviously, so does the heat. Which means my layering needs to get creative.

My Magical Coupons

I'm not sure how this happens, but this isn't the first time, and hopefully not the last time, it has happened. When I have coupons for a free item (buy this product, get that one free) the coupon will scan at the original retail price. Because I only purchase items on sale (and I get my employee discount), I get those items for free, and I get extra money off my other items. Sweet.
My purchase for today:
Gillette Mach 3 Sensitive Disposable Razors- $9.77
Gillette Venus Disposable Razors 3 pk- $4.88
(these were buy one get one 1/2 off)
Satin Olay Shave Gel- $3.82
Gillette Series Shave Gel -$1.40
(these were buy one get one 1/2 off too, unexpectedly)
Purell Hand Sanitizer -$2.54
Gilette Mach 3 Razor System- $6.79
Both my 'buy this razor, get this shave cream free' coupons scanned at $4.99. Which is awesome additional savings!
I had a $3-off coupon for the Razor System, and I had a $1-off coupon for the Purell.
My total: $17.85
My savings: $27.12
I saved 64%!
And I got a $2-off-my-next-purchase coupon.

Post-It

Yes, I was kind of dicking around. Which might be why I wasn't able to get done earlier. Luckily the guy at One got my back.

I rung up three carts of school/office supplies for three kids. There was almost nothing on sale, and they spent over $300. It was intense. I'm not sure why they would be shopping for supplies now...school started a few months ago. And it astounded me that they would spend that much.

I clocked in four minutes late, because while on my way out the door, my son splashed around in the cat's water bowl. And the punch-in clock wasn't working. But then we punched out seven minutes late. And by 'punch-out' I mean 'write our time on a Post-It for our manager to enter in manually.' Hopefully.

New Manager

I completed two canvas prints! All by myself! I set up my little 'craft corner' on the floor in the corner of the photo department. I followed all the directions on the template for the prints, and the only thing I needed help with was pushing the corner in. I was pretty psyched.

I printed out a 16x20 for a woman who came from the other store because she got the wrong size and they were having trouble giving her what she wanted. I was the only one who could change the paper and get the printer going. I was pretty psyched about that too.

My coworker gave me the drink and the candy bar from his Lunchable, which I thought was very sweet. And yummy.

When pictures print out, I like to look at them. Like a creep.

It's Monday

I grunted when my boss asked me to take the shift tonight and next thing I knew I was on the schedule.

Because I was in the Cosmetics department, I did some recon on the make-up. There was a CoverGirl display of their Hunger Games line. There were pictures of models with "The Coal-Mining Look- inspired by District 11" (I apologize if district 11 wouldn't inspire mining coal. I can't remember which district was which.) Other districts inspired other looks.
I also noticed that there was a lot of make-up on clearance.

I missed the Halloween clearance. I'm very annoyed.

I did not miss my manager's last day. Which I would have if I didn't go to work today.

I finally finished all my projects!