Kids In A Cart

I look over and there are 3 kids, maybe six or seven years old, who are all in the same cart. Unattended. In the front of the store. Their mom is shopping while on the phone, while wearing a tight tee and short-shorts.

A young guy came to my register and he seemed mildly disoriented. I suggested it might be because he was wearing a sweatshirt and it is 80 degrees outside.

I try not to judge, but when someone buys Red Bull, condoms, and boil ointment all together, I do.

The Vault

I had a customer who was having a hard time functioning. She had me ring up and void several items. She is the reason why I had so much overstock .

I feel icky. If I feel this way before work tomorrow, I'm calling off.

Lay's has a few new flavors. Cappuccino is one of them. So is Mango Salda, Bacon Mac N Cheese, and Wasabi and Ginger .

Yellow Screens

My screen at the register turns yellow sometimes. It gets darker yellow, later. Sometimes it turns a greenish hue.

I forgot my work shirt! I could have sworn I put it in the car...but when I got to work I realized  forgot my shirt and my sweater. I had to wear a too-small pharmacy tech shirt. Ridiculous.

I was five minutes late. Which is totally annoying.

I'm on vaycay!

Male Extreme Couponers

Male Extreme Couponers are pretty rare. But tonight I rung up two sets of two of them. The first set were Indian guys buying Centrum. Their total was $224 and then I swiped the in-store coupon and brought it down to about $136. They had about 15 manufacturer coupons, which I took because they has an equal number of coupons and items. They paid with two store gift cards. Then one of the guys put $300 on a store gift card. It made me a little suspicious, but maybe that was part of his budget plan.

The second set of two were also Indian, and they got the Dasani water, which was on sale, baby wipes, toilet paper, and one jug of mouthwash. He kept talking about a total he wanted to hit. I swiped two Pampers coupons before I realized he wasn't actually purchasing that item . He wanted me to use a Cottenelle wipe dispenser coupon on toilet paper and I told him no. He also didn't realize that if one uses a coupon received from an item one is purchasing, that coupon will not print out again. This stressed him out a great deal. He redeemed 40,000 points, which got him $50 off. Also, he had a stand- up accordian binder which held his alphabetized coupons. I have a Trapper-Keeper.

Beauty

An older woman and younger woman came to my register. Possibly mother-daughter. They had a big order and while I was beeping away the older woman said to me,
"Wow. You are beautiful."
"Oh thank you. Right on."
"You should be on some kind of poster of beautiful pregnant women."
Looking back, that seems like kind of a weird thing to say, but I very much appreciated the sentiment so I said,
"Oh! That is so nice."

An older woman (70ish) wanted to buy some Bonine, and she needed to run to the car to get some more money. When she returned, she said she was buying it because she has been dizzy all day. I immediately sympathized with her. She asked if I have ever experienced that and I told her about the few times I have. And about my sister, who used to suffer a lot from dizziness. We talked briefly about how awful it is,  (she seemed glad to be talking to someone who understood) and then about her osteoporosis. She mentioned she was from Chicago but lives in Toronto, which is why she doesn't have a rewards card .

I noticed a few shifts I was trying to get rid of have been crossed out. And the new girl's name is written in. I am hopeful .

The Canadian

I rung up a guy who seemed like he had an English accent. He asked for cigarettes (Marlboro lights) and when I ID'd him I found out he is Canadian! He mentioned that he normally pays almost $20 for a pack. I reminded him that a $20 got him snacks and smokes. He asked his friend, who lives here, if I could accept tips. (I cannot). He left some of his change anyway, so I jokingly asked if thats how he tips. They came back a few minutes later, and I asked
"What happened?"
He asked if we had a grapefruit... And he held his thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. I had no idea what he wanted until he said something about blunts. I told we don't sell singles and I sent them to another store.
He called me ' love' and said 'cheers'. Very nice.

Tags

The new girl was at the Register and I was in Cos. She seemed alarmed by this. The manager gave me tags to do; I had to make them, and put them up. Everytime I try to make tags, I always face adversity. This time was no different. First, many of my items didn't scan. Then I put the wrong paper in the printer. Then it took me a long time to put them up. Bummer.

I rung up the new lady and she behaved just like a regular customer, it was astounding. Before she used her Rewards card, she starts fussing about the price.
"Type in your Rewards card." I said.
"I don't have it with me."
"So type in the phone number", I said, somewhat dumbfounded. Hadn't she been doing this all day?  She typed it in, and I rung her up under her brother's name, with the employee discount added on. Before doing so, I had to wait for her to grab several items seperately (grab one thing, rush to the register, rush away to grab another ) like we are on some Grocery Grab N Go game show.

I did not finish all my tags. It is what it is.

Toilet Paper Showdown

A customer told me he probably would buy toilet paper for his house, but he has decided not to. Because his teenage girls are almost grown, and they use up all the paper and don't buy any. He was heading to a hotel and his girls think he was heading home. With toilet paper.

The manager I have never closed with (maybe once) was closing. We got out on time.

What Is Happening?

My co-worker is being transferred for a variety of personal reasons.

We got a new manager, who seems pretty hip. But he's never done a WIC check.

I actually let a younger woman touch my belly. Weird. But I also told her being pregnant is like swallowing a sack of ferrets.

I Might Have To Choke You Out

I was so salty for the first hour or so...too many customers were bad listeners. And my feet are swollen.

I got "paid" for my purchase today. I got candy, tea, toilet paper, and baking soda. And with my coupons I paid $1.39. Then I got a $1.50 coupon back.

Before I came in to work, I called my boss to tell him I wouldn't be able to cover the shift tomorrow night. When I checked the schedule, I was alarmed to find my name on that shift. I was very upset. I felt ignored and pressured. I texted my boss to tell him I wasn't coming in. So there.

Mustard Gas

I cleaned the bathroom with the company toilet cleaner and Comet. Then there was a weird smell. And I thought I might be poisoning us all.

This asshole customer came in looking for the "body spray powder from Michael Jackson". It took me a while to understand what the fuck he was asking for, and every wrong answer I gave him the more rude he became. What he was actually looking for was Gold Bond body spray. By Shaquille.

My co-worker called in to say he was in jail and/or police custody so he couldn't come in.

Fourth Of July

We weren't as busy as I expected. But the night felt super-long. As does my work week.

My co-worker came in 6 hours late and drunk! He didn't have his work shirt. And he was a mess.

There was about an hour or so when it felt like 'anything goes'. My co-worker was drunk, my customers were in a good mood, and there wasn't a lot of supervision. But then I remembered that in a corporate setting, nothing goes. And there is always a camera on us.

July Third

We were WAY busier than I thought we would be. There was a lull from about 5-7 then it got kinda crazy.

I went on lunch and about two minutes into it, my least favorite co-worker came in and ate his chips really loud. It seemed like he was also on lunch because he ignored the calls.

Super-Busy

We were super busy all night. I didn't get to start facing until 11:30. Then we had to stay late because we supposedly have a visit tomorrow.

Luckily I have tomorrow off.