Day 2

Thank fuck it was a short day today. I got in early, about 1:15 and left a little after 8. I was working with Annie and Brian again. Shit got pretty tense when Brian said he needed to leave early because he had to write a paper and Annie would have to be by herself for an hour. Annie's got a bit of personal stuff on her plate and this tipped the scales. She wasn't happy and will be pissed for a while, I'm sure. This is a downside to getting to know people. You learn a lot about their problems and their pasts which can be sad, but you do realize how many hardships they've gone through and it gives insight as to why they've become the person they are.

Not long after I punched in, my crazy Filipino manager, Flora, asked me if I would be interested in becoming the assistant manager of another store. The manager at that store is the manager I had when I first started with the company. I LOVE HER! She's really fun and is pretty lax about things. She said she wouldn't take me in until Flora got another person hired to replace me. Perfect! We just hired a new girl. I'm going to work her like a dog and make sure she knows how everything is done. She'll be at the Post Office with me when I'm there so she can replace me on weekends. I'm pretty stoked that we have a new hire ANYWAY since we're about to be incredibly short-handed with 2 leaving because college is getting out and one just getting fired.

Here's a little story for you guys. It happened about 2 weeks ago. Keep in mind the layout of the men's room:



I was cleaning the bathrooms while Brian was trying to light the pilot on our furnace, which is in the drop-ceiling in the women's bathroom. I cleaned the women's room and went into the dreaded men's bathroom after. I sprayed the sink first to let it soak since it gets really grimy with the nasty boys washing their dirty-ass hands. I sprayed the toilet and cleaned it. I went back to the sink, sprayed it again and started wiping. The door opens (because you stupid men NEVER knock).

Customer: Oh, sorry.
Me: I'll just be a minute. I'm cleaning.
C: Oh, okay.

About 10 seconds later, the door opens again.

C: Sorry, I've had like 10 beers and I've been holding this since Ludlow. If you don't mind...

AND HE WALKS TO THE URINAL, UNZIPS AND STARTS PISSING. WTF.

As pissed off as I am that this dumbass can't wait 30 seconds to pee, I just giggle the whole time.

C: Ohhhhhhhhhh yeah.
Me: ........

I lean over to the toilet and grab the bathroom cleaner spray bottle and start to walk out. AND THEN...

C: Don't worry. There's nothing to see here anyway.

And that, my friends, was the icing on the cake. I actually lol'd and swung the door open just in case someone wanted to see why I was giggling in the bathroom.

Seriously. Working at places like this is what drives us to smoke and get pissy. It also provides entertainment for you for a few minutes.

No work for me tomorrow, but I will be getting up at the ass crack of dawn on Saturday and Sunday to pick up my assistant manager. We're scheduled for the same time and he got into a little car accident earlier this week and since he lives in the next town over, I offered to give him a ride there and back this weekend since he has no car. Not sure how he's going to do the deposit, though. Probably my car. Anyway...

Night!

I got offered an assistant manager position! Of course it happens as soon as I start his blog. Whatever. I have lots to share anyway.

Day 1 of this silly blogumentary.

Annie was in with me tonight and I was on the main register. Brian got in early, as usual, and went to the Post Office CPU we have in the store. For some reason, tonight was a crazy night for diesel. On a busy night, we can do about $3000 worth of fuel (gas and diesel) between the two registers, maybe more. Really busy nights can bring in about $4000. Tonight was a busy day for truckers, bringing in $6200. Everyone was fueling up with credit cards, ranging from $65 to $600. It's not unusual to have the regulars stop in and top off the tanks before bringing them back to wherever they stay for the night, usually just buying somewhere between $50 and $200 worth. We were getting truckers from EVERYWHERE today. A lot of them were charging hundreds of dollars' worth of diesel. It was crazy!

In other news, the debit and credit was kinda flaky today. The new assistant manager, Matt, had to reset the things a few times. It was the end of the world for some customers and I have to be honest, I didn't see the Messiah, so I assume I have been right all along: there's no God.

Anyway.

A trucker came in to pay for his diesel. I told him the debit/credit would be down for a few minutes while it rebooted. He was patient and looked at the newspapers. The customer behind him handed me his credit card. I told him what I told the trucker. "Well that's great," he said. The debit/credit came back up. I ran the trucker's card. The customer (who was still behind him) gave me his credit card again.

"I need gas."

"What pump?"

"Uh, FOUR." (He's pissed because I don't know.)

"Okay, how much?"

"Fill it."

"Well if you're paying here, I need to know how much to put on. I don't know how much your car needs."

"UGH. Just put on fucking $20."

I swiped his card and he basically rips the receipt as he signs it. He tosses the pen back at me. Fucking prick.

WE'RE NOT FUCKING PSYCHICS. We don't know where you parked, what pump you're on, how much your car needs, how much it will be, what cigarettes you need, what lotto tickets you want to buy. Don't be douchebags like this guy. This happens quite often. I've learned how to deal with it and, for the most part, can let it go. I've never sworn at a customer or been intentionally rude (okay, that's a lie) to a customer. I can handle difficult situations well and can be pleasant if you're not an asshole. There are things you need to STOP DOING. That's tomorrow's rant.

Well, it's 2:17 am and I need to rest up for the lovely shift I have tomorrow. Maybe there'll be another story in it for you.

P. S. I bought a giant jaw breaker at 7-11 the other day and I think I'll document the progress. Here's what I did tonight:

Background

Before people start bitching about how "insane" is spelled incorrectly, let me explain.

I'm 23 years old, living in an apartment in Massachusetts. I work at a big-name gas station with a local no-name owner. I work with a bunch of loons, one who's Annie. She's been with the company for 7 years and has been in the business for 25. She lovingly refers to crazy days (pretty much every day) as "insale asylums." I don't know if she doesn't realize she's saying it incorrectly, runs the words together or what. In any case, that's why.

I decided to start this to document a bit of the trials and tribulations that come along with being an under-paid and overworked cashier. I started working for a different big-name gas station in June of 2005 for $7 an hour. When I left, I was making $8.75. It was right down the road from my parents' house and was my job for my vacations from college. While in college and living on campus, I worked at a grill on campus. This lasted for 3 1/2 years. My supervisor was a bitch and I quit in May 2008. In September 2008, I moved to the city in which I go to college (not on campus like I had been) and couldn't be travelling the half hour each way to get there since I didn't have my license. In April 2009, I applied for a position at the gas station up the road and was hired. I have been there ever since and let me tell you, Annie's correct in calling it an asylum.

For those of you that have never worked retail and think it's an easy job, it's not. There's a shit-ton more to it than you realize. For those that have, you can back me up. Working as a cashier has its ups and downs and sometimes it seems like there are too many. As I said, I'll be updating this blog with recent stories, past experiences and I'll include some emails we get from corporate. You wouldn't believe some of the shit they want us to do, how they run things and even their reactions to things we send.

Wear your seatbelts, kids. It's going to be a bumpy ride.