Cashier Conversation 1.3

~I figured it was high time for another one of these!!


Customer: "I get a case discount on these...."
I ring up 12 of them for a case and he gets a discount on them.  The other 9 I charge normal for.  He gets upset, so we call over a bookkeeper.  She can't give him a case discount on 9, so we call over the manager, who (to my surprise) asks the man, (semi-politely, with an edge in his voice) to put in an order for a case if he wants a full case discount.  The man argues and almost shouts, but the manager keeps his voice even and after a bit punches a couple buttons on the screen.  The customer asks for the home office number to complain about the manager and the store and the manager writes it all down coolly on a scrap of receipt and hands it to him.  The customer huffs, pays for his order and leaves.
My fellow-cashier girl who was also bagging for me at the time told me that this guy pulls this stunt every week or so.  He apparently came to my line because I had not had him before.  He bullies the other girls and most of the time gets what he wants (10% off on a case/non-case) but not this time!
(yay, I'm the new meat!)


*I just finished checking one girl out.  With her was another girl and guy.  They might have been family of friends, either way.
The guy leans over the counter and looks me in the eyes "I know I don't know you or anything," he begins. (Me: Ummmm..... *has no idea what to expect from that)
He continues: "But I didn't used to have peace or joy in my life until I read the Bible and....."
(Me thinking: *rotfl!!!!!!  I am being "witnessed to"!!!!)
I laughed out loud, and that cut him off.  I asked if I looked sad or lost or something.  He looked confused and the girls said no, I didn't.  I told him that it was nice that he was trying, and that it was a brave thing to try.  I didn't tell him that it was a pretty bad try, but with practice he should get better.
They asked me if I thought I was going to heaven.  I laughed again, and said that I was pretty sure I was, but that if they asked my father he would say no.  They were confused (of course) so I just told them that I left an extremely religious cult, and all that, and they encouraged me to read the Bible and get to know God for myself.


The store closes at 9 pm.  At approximately 8:58pm about 5-10 people come into the store.  I was absolutely shocked, as common decency and respect for rules have been well-ingrained in me.  I asked the bookkeeper if we could shut the doors, and she said that it was the MOD's job.  Then, when he came to the front to lock down, he let in a couple more people (after 9 by this time).
Surprisingly, they all got out of the store by 9:30, but we were just (*slightly) annoyed.


Older (greying) black guy checking out... there is a bag with a couple of something in it.  I pick it up and ask (to be sure) "Are these dates?"
"Yeah," he says.  "Do you want one?"
Me: *laugh politely, because I assume it was a joke.
Him: "Actually, I was just joking.  I wouldn't date you because I only date 'church girls.'  I am waiting for the girl God brings into my life, so I go to church all the time."
Me: o.0 (*thinks: WHAT?!?  I'm not a church girl?  I have gone 'to church' more this past three months than my whole life combined!!!)


For Halloween I dressed up in one of the long black skirts I owned and went as a gypsy.  I bought some large, obnoxious, and shiny gold jewelry for it and wore a bandanna and bright red lipstick.  It was so much fun!!!!!  I love dressing up, like when I was in plays or theater, so it was a lot like that, but I took care of details, and everyone said it was a great costume.  I made people smile all evening and returning customers remember me for it.  It was great fun and I will definitely be plying my creativity next year to do it again!

That night, as I was taking bagging up some stuff, this little girl looked up at me and said: "Ooooh, you are so preeetty!!!"  I smiled kindly at her, and asked what she was going to be for the evening (yes, I can't believe I actually SAID that! :P).  She said she was going to be a princess.  Her little brother (not more than 7 years old) said that he was going to be "A....a... knight!" (He fumbled trying to remember the right words) "A knight in shining armour!"
I laughed: "Would you be MY knight?" I asked him
He looked at me very solemnly and considered it for a moment.
"No thanks," he said, and walked away.  Oh, how everyone laughed.



This place seems to be a good one to "get away" in.  One lady who was recently hired as a cashier came here from farther north.  She is getting divorced from her husband and is trying to "start a whole new life" down here with her sister and bunch of friends.  She varies in how she tells the story, sometimes saying she just "came here to get away" and sometimes talking about her husband.  I once teased her about something and said "Ohh... I am going to have to smack you for that one!" and she said "Huh.... I haven't been hit in a couple months..." or something like that.  Please pray for her.  She is on my heart.  Her sister came to the store one evening and seemed to be bright, cheerful, and full of life, so I know that she is in a safe place.

Also, one of the bookkeepers talked to me about her new life here.  She had a great career with a big company and a nice life in another country, but when her marriage fell apart, she left everything and now she and her child are living here.  She does not like working in "the frikin' grocery business" but she is in a relationship with another guy who she says is great.  He is a divorcee as well and has a child.  I try to remember to pray that her life will turn a corner.

M. (my bestie) is working two jobs and gets about 4 hours of sleep every 36 hours or so.  Her mother has cancer and the rest of the family is doing very little.   I don't know what happened to her marriage, but she has two teens who make her life.... "interesting."  Even so she is perky when at work, very kind to me (she trained me my first day), and one of the best workers there.  She talked to me yesterday about what I was going to do with my life and encouraged me to not let my 20s lay fallow.  I mentioned that I liked this place and she encouraged me to take management classes or something and move up.  Then, she told the CSM that I was going to be a bookkeeper.
She makes my day, every day she is there.