Monday night is usually slow. This happens so often that I can now say, Monday is supposed to be slow. Somebody forgot last night. For a while, it felt like a Thursday night, maybe even a Friday night. This is how it began. From the start.
A woman came in and asked for Newport 100s in a box. Her friend asked, “You buy them in a box now?”
“Yeah. People say the box tastes different than the soft pack. But to me they’re the same. But you wanna know why I get the box? I keep ‘em in this pocket [pointing to her back pants pocket] and my butt is so big that the soft pack gets crushed.”
[I, uh, had no idea what to say to that]
Shortly after this a man comes in and brings a large bottle of Icehouse beer to the counter. I scan it, $2.13.
He says, “I’ve got a bunch of change, you want to help me out?”
I said, “Help you with what?”
“I was just kidding. But I want to pay with change.”
By this time I could tell that he had already had at least one other bottle of beer. He then proceeds to start dropping coins on the counter. I counted out $1.96.
He looked at me and asked, “How much is that?”
“1.96”
“How much more do I need?”
“Seventeen cents.”
“Can I borrow seventeen cents?”
“No.”
“Let me go to the car.” When he came back he had a debit card and told me, “I’m gonna put the seventeen cents on the debit card because you have been so difficult.”
[People who drink and people who smoke are always begging money. This is, of course, a generalization. But true.]
Next person came to the counter jabbering, I mean, talking on the cell phone. Barely even acknowledged me. Happens all the time. The new rule of civility, Talking on the cell phone trumps all other forms of communication.
After a little while, a woman came in with a scratch off lottery ticket. Said she had come in a few nights ago (different clerk) who told her it was too late to cash it in. The machine shuts off on its’ own at midnight. But then she told me that when she had gone to a different store to cash it in, they said it had already been cashed in. By us! Yikes! This is the second time this has happened to this particular clerk, too!! I told her she would have to come in and talk to the manager. Strange night and I’ve only been here 30-40 minutes!
Then another lady came in and asked for “Those $7 a pack Basic Light 100s.” I scanned it and it was only $5.96. I said, “Oh look, not as much as you thought.”
She said, “Last time I bought them from this store they charged me $6.50”
I have no idea how that could’ve happened. I think she bought them somewhere else that other time. But I don’t know, it is a weird night.
Oh, sometime this week the company changed the music. That’s a good thing. It would probably be classified as “Oldies” but what a combination. Beach music, early rock ’n roll, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Donavan. I like this stuff.
Why do people I do not know and have never seen before, feel like they can and should call me by my first name? I know it is on my name tag, but they go out of their way to use my name. When I grew up, you called a man ‘Mister’ until he told you different. Nowadays, you can actually offend someone by calling them Mister.
People who buy cigarettes and cigarillos assume you know what they want. “Give me a pack of cigarettes.” We have twenty different brands. “I’ll take a pack of Marlboros.” There must be fifteen different kinds of them. “I want a cigarillo.” They are always surprised you don’t know right away the specific one they want – and there is a specific one they want. Just an observation.
Monday night. Tuesday and Wednesday I get to train someone. Yeah…
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