It’s Sunday and I don’t want to be here

Yesterday, after church, we went to lunch with some friends of ours. Ever notice how ‘friends of ours’ sounds friendlier than ‘a couple from church’? Anyway, we got to talking about work and when they learned that I had to work that night they asked, “Are Sunday nights busy?” Yes. Here are some clips from my Sunday night.

I’ve been off for two days and that first day back is difficult. The counter and register area has been completely re-arranged and there is not much counter space left. My manager, I like him, but he seems to thrive in clutter. The register area is cluttered, cramped, and claustrophobic. The main walkway is like a maze. And I am busy. People just keep coming and coming. I’m pretty steady for the first two, two and a half hours. As in, I’m pretty much stuck behind the counter.

People can’t read – they plant themseleves right in front of the “This Register Closed” sign and wait for service. “Oh, you’re on the other register?” Yes.

The first couple of hours feels like the ‘hood’.

I am still selling beer at 5 am.

Sometime during the night a police officer came in and she asked me how I was doing. I said, “Alright.”
“Just alright?”
“Yeah, I don’t want to be here tonight.”
“Isn’t that every night?”
You’re right, but some nights I don’t want to be here more than others.”
And being sharp she said, “And this is one of those ‘more than others’ nights?”

But the high note of the night came sometime between 1 and 1:30. Two guys come in and look around. One man comes to the counter for his purchase while his friend lingers at the doughnut case. He says to his friend, “Man, that red velvet muffin looks good.”
I have already counted them as waste so I say to him, “Tell you what, you can have it.”
"What?"
"Yes, you can have it."
"What?"
"You can have it."
This goes on for a couple of minutes as even his friend tries to convince him it is not a trick. I get this response a lot so it makes me wonder how many stores have tricked customers with fake free donuts and then charged them with shoplifting.
Then he asks, “Why? Why are you giving me this donut for free?”
So I explain that I put them out new every morning and then throw out the ones that don’t sell when I come back to work. His friend gets the picture, “Can we have them all?”
“Yep.”
They take several, thank me and head out to their car. But ‘red velvet man’ comes back inside and to the counter. He offers an explanation that I cannot hear and then he pulls out a Starburst candy from his pocket, “I was gonna steal this from you, but you were so nice that I brought it back.”
My response? “Thank you. The Lord bless you, man.”

That changed the night for me.