Observations from behind the counter

Let me grouse for a moment and then offer a couple of anecdotes.

Grouses

After a while I begin to strongly dislike $20 bills. You get them for everything. Everything. And then folks come in and just want change for a $20...

And $100 bills. They carry them because it must make them feel good to have one and then want to buy a pack of cigarettes or a cup of coffee with a hundred, really just trying to break it into manageable bills. I don’t know a sales associate who is impressed when someone presents a hundred dollar bill….

I cannot tell you how much I do not like the lottery. Let me just say it, I hate it!

Alcohol sales on Sunday. I sell a fair amount late at night, and strangely, mostly to people who appear to be addicted to it. But there was one humorous incident last Sunday night. A man came in and asked me, “Do y’all sell y’all’s beer on Sunday?” I said “Yes” but I was tempted to say, “No, just Walmart’s!”

Have you ever driven by a Krispy Kreme store when the “Hot Now” sign was on? Well, when I mop the floor I feel like there must a “Hot Now” sign outside! “If you mop it, they will come – with really dirty shoes!!” One night, I must have mopped the floor ten times, no kidding….


Anecdotes

Mary and I went out to Cracker Barrel for supper the other night. A worker standing next to the hostess said, “You look familiar!” I looked up and replied, “Yeah, I work at the Kangaroo and you come in a lot.” She remembered.
Mary said, “This happens all the time, everywhere we go. He knows everybody.”


Whenever I run across an ID from another State I always ask them where in that State they lived, and if it is far away, I ask them how they found Rock Hill. Last night there were two such people.

One guy was from New Jersey. We got to talking about what part of Jersey he was from (the southern, rural part) and how he got here. Turns out they did an internet search for a place with low taxes and cost of living - Rock Hill. His brother and wife came down first, and because they liked it, he and his Dad followed. They like it, although Rock Hill is a bit of a big city for them!

Later on a woman came in to buy cigarettes. I had never seen her before so I asked for her ID. Colorado. “You came all the way from Colorado for cigarettes?”
And she played right along, “Sure did!”
I asked what part and she said Denver.
“How did you wind up in Rock Hill from Denver, Colorado?”
She said her boyfriend was from Gaffney and they moved back here (there is a step or two missing, I’m sure) to open a restaurant.
“What restaurant?”
“Culina. Just up the road.”
I asked, “What do you serve?”
She said, “Global comfort food.”
I was shocked at that, so we talked for a while about the menu. And the size of the store. They have a real definite plan. I told her it was neat that they had such a well thought out plan.
After a while I asked my usual question of people who have come to Rock Hill from a distance, “Do you like it here?”
She said, Yes, and explained that one of the things she liked was the openness and friendliness. She said, “For example, back in Denver, I would never have this conversation. You can small talk there all day, but nothing like this.” She took it as genuine, friendly interest. Which it was.
Turns out, I’m pretty much a Southern boy.
Oh yeah, she invited me to come by Culina and try it out. Global comfort food?? Maybe I could try the Cheer Wine Fried Chicken!


OK, I admit it, sometimes it’s really interesting working here.