Trainees

So, we hired a new girl this week and she started today. Normally I don't mind training people. I kind of like it. This new girl is really nice and has a god sense of humor. She's young, only 18 I think, and has NO cashiering experience. Throughout the shift, she kept asking the same questions. I felt like I was an underpaid babysitter.

I figured that scanning an item, hitting "total" and then [amount given] and then "cash" would be a no-brainer. It's the easiest thing to do. For the first few HOURS she was asking what to do when a customer gave her money. I have patience when it comes to trainees, old people and very young children. Other than than, JESUS FUCKING CHRIST GET A BRAIN. Annie left at 7:30, Brian left at 9. I was left with the trainee for the rest of the night. I was showing her a bit of how to do the paperwork (I even made a mega cheat sheet for her) and then shit got wicked fucking busy. I was trying to count the cigarettes and she was waiting on customers. The retards we have for higher-ups insist that we can't have more than $400 in our drawers at any given time ($150 for the beginning drawer, $150 for the drawer we have to make for the next shift and whatever we get from cash sales). A few coworkers and I noticed that as the night goes on, the amount we can have lowers. Once, I had my $150 drawer for the next shift made and was told by the register to make a drop. (Note: We can't do ANYTHING until we make a drop, except approve pumps. This is horribly time-consuming and pisses all employees off.) I had 2 $20 bills, so I made a $40 drop. I decided to count my money in my drawer to see what it was. It was $101.65. Before the drop, it was $141.65. This means that we should have LESS THAN $150 in our operating drawer. WHAT THE MOTHERFUCK. Higher-ups never had pricks like them fucking with how things should be done when they were cashiers, I'm sure. They wouldn't be doing this bullshit otherwise.

We got a huge rush of people at 9:15, leaving me to help the trainee with nearly every transaction she had and waiting on shit tons of customers. I finally got the cigarettes counted and shit straightened out by 9:50, a little before 3rd shift came in. Trainee wasn't feeling well (I think she felt overwhelmed with all the shit that was going on in the rush; some gas got moved and people claimed they bought gas but never pumped it, etc.) and threw up in the bathroom a few times. Normally I would have them stay and see how the paperwork's done, but I sent her home. No one's gonna throw up on me, thanks.

We were 105.83 short and I know Trainee forgot to write down some drops, so I'm not worried about that. I've never been so damned frustrated before. Customers were being ultra rude today and shit just kept coming at us. At least that's over.

I guess I'm glad that Trainee learned some things today.
1. Don't litter in the parking lot.
2. Stop talking on your cell phone.
3. Keep your shit to ONE transaction.

She also learned that cashiering isn't all it's cracked up to be. Until you're in the cashier's position, you don't realize the bullshit that goes on and the stress it has.

To lighten the mood, I'll share with you a little story about a dumbass customer I had when I was at my first store.

During the summer of 2006, we had a customer walk in glance around and stop in front of the registers. In front of the counter, underneath where the registers are, are our shelves of candy. He bent forward a little and was looking back and forth at them for a few minutes. Finally I asked,

"Are you looking for something specific?"
"Yeah, where do you keep your ice cream?"
"....... Novelty ice cream is in the cooler to your right and we have a few freezers toward the back with others."
"Ohhhhhhhhh, okay."

Wait, SERIOUSLY? You're looking for ice cream in the CANDY BAR SECTION?

I think I'll make a little afterthought section for you guys. You deserve to know what we (or at least I) do when you piss me off and what things actually piss me off.

STOP BEING A FUCKING COCKSUCKING ASSHOLE WHEN I CARD YOU.
"You're going to card me?"
NO SHIT. "Yeah."
"I don't like 18?"
"That's not how it works. If you look under 30, I'm going to card you."
His ID gets flung across the counter. I check the birth date. It's November of 1990. That stupid asshole is FOUR YEARS YOUNGER THAN I AM. That's why I card stupid cunts like you.

What do I do to piss YOU off when you piss ME off?
If you're on your cell phone and you hand me a debit card, I run it through as credit. You obviously don't have the time or courtesy to get the FUCK OFF YOUR PHONE to tell me you want debit. Have fun with held money on your account, asshole.

Our registers look like this:


and the buttons look like this (for the most part; we don't have keys for brand-specific products and some keys are in different spots, like the lottery. We have $1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 lottery tickets. Those spaces go from right above the 7 key to right above the "ticket print" key):