Friday, September 4, 2015

#Friday Reflections: Thanks for the Memories




       When I was 19 years old I got my first job as a cashier at Maurek’s IGA, a locally owned and operated grocery store.  I was paid minimum wage, which was a measly $3.35 an hour at the time.   Every week I would cash my paycheck and sit on the living room floor and count my money much like Scrooge Mc Duck.  It was my money, I hoarded it, and I loved it!
 



        I learned in a quick hurry how rude some people could be.  The bitch of it was that you weren’t allowed to be rude back.  No matter what, the customer was ALWAYS right.    Thinking back, working the express lane could really be a blessing or a curse depending on the day.  The whole point of the express lane is to allow customers with 10 items or less a speedier option than waiting forever behind folks with carts heaping with groceries.  Obviously it was a blessing not to be required to bag tons of groceries.  It wasn’t a guarantee though.  You could always count on that one asshole that ignored the ten items or less sign and pushed their grocery cart heaping full of everything from soup to nuts into your lane.  You weren’t allowed to remind them that it was an express lane.  All you could do was deal with it while everyone in line behind them grew increasingly more pissed with every item you scanned.



           If that wasn’t bad enough, that particular asshole escalated to a whole new level of asshole when they whipped out a huge wad of expired coupons and then realized…oh shit…I don’t have any money.   No, those three crumpled dollar bills you have there with the handful of change and mountain of expired coupons, isn’t going to cut it!!  WTF!!  Being just a cashier I wasn’t authorized to void anything so when disaster struck and Mrs. I Don’t Have Enough Money showed up the stress level tripled as you tried usually unsuccessfully to grab a head cashier in a quick hurry to sort the situation out.  Once that was sorted,  Mrs. I Don’t Have Any Money took off everything she couldn’t afford and  left happy as a clam with her pack of cigarettes. 

  Grrrr!

      Let us not forget the folks that showed up and bought random stuff and refused a bag and were just plain hilarious.  Like this lady who came through with a bag full of fresh tomatoes, a douche, hemorrhoid cream, and a package of condoms.

    “Oh no. I don’t need a bag.  I got this.”

  Seriously??


       Of course that was back in the day when I would have been MORTIFIED to be buying a douche, condoms, or hemorrhoid cream, let alone all three in one stop.    The beauty of the passage of time though is that the older you get, the less you care.  I could totally waltz into a store now and throw a douche, a pack of condoms, and hemorrhoid cream at the cashier and pay for it like a boss.  Hey, I believe in being fresh, tending to the UFO growing on my ass, and in safe sex.  However, I am not insane.   I  have standards.   I expect a bag!!   Thank you very much!
 

Everyday Gyaan








38 comments:

  1. Great memories Kathy! Minimum wage was $2.35 back when I got my first job..and you're right, it seemed a fortune!!! Lol

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    1. Joe, It did seem like a fortune at the time! Thanks for stopping by to read and for your comments! ♥

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  2. I remember the days when, in our very small town grocery store, the boxes of Kotex were in brown paper bags. But, the owners two sons insisted on calling out, "Hey, Mike! How much for the extra absorbent in the pink box?" I think they did this only to me. Bastards.

    Min. wage for me was $1.69.

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    1. Susan, oh they were bad! Lovely memories though. Thanks so much for stopping by to read, comment, and share your memories! I am so pleased you enjoyed my post! ♥

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  3. Love it, Kathy! Minimum wage when I got my first job was $3.00, so I was thrilled that my employer actually paid me $3.15. Too funny!

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    1. Laurel, oh yes I remember being absolutely thrilled whenever I got paid more than minimum wage. Thanks so much for stopping by and for your sweet comments! ♥

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  4. This was too good Kathy. Such a good telling I may add. Minimum wage for me was 65 cents an hour. I was a waitress so tips made a difference.
    I especially liked the last story of a douche, condoms and hemorrhoid cream. That is a cavalier attitude with too much information. I'll take mine in a bag.

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    1. Ann, wow! 65 cents! That is wild. Of course things probably cost a lot less then too. Thanks so much for stopping by to read and for your sweet comments! I am so pleased you enjoyed my post. ♥

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  5. Wow, that was sure sucky minimum wage. Yeah, I hated how i couldn't be rude back. Meh, can stuff the condoms and such in your pocket haha

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    1. Pat, exactly! Thanks for stopping by and for your sweet comments! ♥

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  6. Minimum wage was about $3/hr when I got my first job too. I hated dealing w/ the public though. I lasted 2 weeks at McDonalds.

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    1. JoJo, I had several jobs where I had to deal with the public over the years and found it depended on where you worked. On the whole, I don't really like to deal with people. Lol Thanks for stopping by and for your sweet comments! ♥

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  7. Gosh, i have similar experiences with customers when they visit the bank. Few of them throw tantrums and would start screaming at my tellers. But then I must say that i am good at handling such mean customers. Experience is a great teacher u see!

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    1. Ajay, experience is a good teacher! Thanks for stopping by to read and for your sweet comments! I am happy you enjoyed reading it. ♥

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  8. Memories like this do really put a smile on our face no matter how hilarious was it. I can relate to this as I work as a cahier before, yeah I hate that buffering thing. And I never thought swearing can be sometimes be funny in a statement such as this. Nevertheless, I enjoy reading your blog, entries like this helps me tp learn a lot, especially my English practice. Lol!

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    1. Leomar, I am so pleased you enjoyed it. Thanks for stopping by to read and for your kind comments!n ♥

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  9. you had nice memories from first job Kathy :-) lady who refused to take a bag after shopping is hillarious. It's nice reading your blog.

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    1. Mathathi, I am so pleased you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for stopping by to read and for your sweet comments! ♥

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  10. So funny. You've reminded me of all the people who refuse to fit in with the crowd, to be polite and thoughtful, to care about anything but what they're doing.

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    1. Francene, I am so pleased you enjoyed it. Thanks so much for stopping by and for your sweet comments. People are pretty self contained most of the time.

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  11. What memories Kathy! Great post. And so true, the older you get, the less you care. Haha!

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    1. Aditi, very true. I am so pleased you enjoyed my post. Thanks so much for stopping by and for your sweet comments! ♥

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  12. Loved reading this post as you took us down the memory lane. Yes, some customers can be so annoying not only for the staff but fellow shoppers too. Oh yes, with age, the earlier big issues (in our head) dont bother us much :)

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    1. Shilpa, I am so pleased you enjoyed traveling down memory lane with me. Thanks for stopping by to read and for your sweet comments! ♥

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  13. Checkout queues are always interesting. But here if you were in the 10 or less and came with more you would be politely told to join another queue. In any case now it's all self serve.

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    1. Suzy, personally I love the self serve lines. I would rather do it myself. Thanks so much for stopping by and for your sweet comments! ♥

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  14. hahahah - I so enjoyed reading your post Kathy, so funny! And I also had a similar extra job many years back... Oh yeah- what cn I say, some people are sooo weird.. Hugs

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    1. Eli, they sure are! Thanks so much for stopping by to read and for your sweet comments! ♥

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  15. hahhaa after a long time I am here and u make me giggle like every time. That douche , condom and haemorrhoid cream combo is outstanding! I salute u for bearing different types of mudheads

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    1. Afshan, I am so pleased you liked it! Thanks so much for stopping by to read and for your lovely comments! ♥

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  16. I remember making those really low minimum wages too. I know how pissed I get when some idiot gets in the express checkout with so much stuff. I usually take my own reusable bags into the store so I always have something to put my stuff in.

    Susan Says

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    1. Susan, it is honestly a wonder how anyone survived and made a living on such low wages. Thanks for stopping by and for your sweet comments! ♥

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  17. Enjoyed the read, but I'm sure it was no fun serving such creeps!

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    1. Corinne, it could be very stressful trying to balance a cash drawer with people like that constantly screwing up the works. Thanks so much for stopping by and for your sweet comments! ♥

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  18. Oh, gosh, I cracked up at this. Those people who muck up the express line need to be taken aside and beaten. So do the ones who stand in line with two items in their hand... only to have someone else with a heaping cart show up just before it's their turn to unload the groceries... I'm always standing behind that person it seems... and they are oblivious to my drop-dead glare. Although I've not worked at a grocery store, I did work fast food and waitressed through college. Rude people are everywhere. I remember a funny one where a customer called complaining to the manager that we messed up their drive thru order. He stayed calm and asked if they were sure they called the right store. He pulled the phone from his ear and there was more yelling. He calmly apologized and told them to bring their order back through the drive thru and we'd fix it for them. The funny part? our store didn't have a drive thru :)

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    1. jannatwrites, that is funny! Although there were lots of great people, there were lots of rude people too...so I really don't miss working with the public one bit. I am better off isolated in my own little world. Thanks so much for stopping by and for your sweet comments! ♥

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  19. I commented on this post and another one from my computer and they disappeared without asking me to prove I'm not a robot. I think I've been sent to spam :) trying this one from my phone to see if it likes me better.

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    1. jannatwrites, I have it set to go into comment moderation if you comment on posts older than like 30 days or something. That is why you are having troubles. I apologize for the inconvenience and will look into seeing if I can adjust the settings. I appreciate you stopping by to read my words and leave your lovely comments! ♥

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