Cashier Life

I started working as a cashier in May of the year 2014. I remember getting the call, and doing the interview. It would be a second job for me, so I kept thinking if I didn’t like it I didn’t have to stay. I ended up getting the job (crazy!) and began training on a rainy weekend the same month. I met another girl who I had gone to high school with and she kept telling me it’s not hard, but I had my doubts. I googled away and tried to remember every instance of interaction I had ever had with a cashier. To me, it was mostly scanning and bagging.

I was definitely NOT prepared for everything that came along with the job.

Many people think of cashiers as people with mediocre lives, low skills, perhaps low education. Let me be the one to tell you how untrue that is.

I have met every person in the one year I have worked as a cashier. I have met people with degrees, high school students, retirees, parents, single mothers, wives, husbands, students, and everything in between. I have heard stories, I have LIVED those stories along with them. Many have come and left and you never really know who’s going to be next. They come and go, but yet their stories have stayed with me.

The people I have met at this job have been some of the best people. They are all unique, they each have a story. There’s that mom working here as a second job to be able to afford her daughter’s rising medical bills. There’s that girl who’s a young Mom trying to make money to support her son. There’s that mom with 4 kids, one who is disabled, who needs to put food on the table. There’s that boy who is in college and needs just a little bit of spending money.
We’re all there for a reason, and that reason isn’t always money.

There’s that lady who lives with her dad and has never had a boyfriend, even though she’s in her late 30’s. There’s that older lady who retired a long time ago but couldn’t stand being at home doing nothing.
It’s all different.

So those are the coworkers.

The customers are another story. It’s a very similar story- you never really know what you’re going to get. Is this person having a bad day and are they going to yell at me because their coupon isn’t scanning? Is this lady going to keep thanking me for ringing her up quickly?

Every day is very different!

The first few weeks were spent getting acquainted with the things you’ll be spending more time with than your own home! Your keyboard, your hand-held scanner, your cash drawer, your coupon/money bag, receipt tape, pen for WIC and your water bottle! The first days of training for me were spent on a virtual cash register ringing up the same few items and learning all the different functions, codes, and situations that could arise in a typical shift.

That can include ANYTHING from an ad match to cashing a check to reloading a prepaid card/gift card to overriding an item with the wrong price. Or just learning all the different types of tenders and how to do each. Everything else you had to learn with experience.

So after the three days of virtual training not just on the virtual register, but also learning safety rules and other basic job requirements like back safety and fires and hazards, it’s time for your first day on the floor! Wear your blue shirt and khaki pants and don’t forget your badge! By now you have probably guessed where I worked, or if you know me, you already know.

I work for one of the biggest retailers around, so in terms of cashiering, I’ve pretty much seen it all.

The first few days you spend shadowing another experienced cashier. By experienced cashier I don’t necessarily mean someone with 40 plus years of experience, just someone with more experience than YOU. I still remember the three ladies who trained me, and I will probably never forget them. All of them are STILL there, and I see them often, and I enjoy talking to them. They are exceptional, hard-working women and I truly admire them!

Watching someone do the job is much easier than doing it yourself. I watched her for a few hours and when I came back they asked me if I was ready to do it myself. I panicked and said sure, because I’m a risk taker, god dang it! So there I go and I’m going SO slowly and everyone’s being so patient and I never realized how bar codes can be so sneaky! I checked out maybe three people and then I was done. But I had done it! Success!

I heard all the same old jokes these first couple of days. I laughed so hard and now I hear those same jokes and it’s like Dear God, help!

But back then they were hilarious and I had a good time. It was scary, but fun. So there I went, little ol’ Brenda, her first day on a register by herself! It was fine, I remember some tea lights wouldn’t ring up and the man decided he didn’t want to wait for me to figure it out so he just left them. Other than I that I don’t think I really messed up too much. I kept thinking I was giving out too much change or something. The pennies were hard to count!

Over the next few months I came across all the aforementioned situations and more! There is truly never a dull day in the life of a cashier. I don’t know if I can ever truly complain that it’s a boring job. Mindless maybe, but not boring.

In this job, I met some very nice people. People who had amazing stories, people who would talk your ear off and people who barely said a word. I saw old ladies who were so cheap they watched EVERY stroke of my wrist on the scanner and only spent 10$ or less. I watched husbands sigh and swipe their cards and give their wives a look when I told them the total. The wives would look at me for an understanding look, and I’d give it to them. Because why not?

I saw people who didn’t have enough money to pay for their purchases. Sometimes strangers would pay for them. I myself paid for a few people when I was able to. I watched mom who couldn’t afford to buy necessities because they were buying diapers.

I saw and felt every story.

A lot of days were forgotten for me throughout the years. Some stood out in my mind. I can tell you a lot, but there’s a lot more that was filtered out a long time ago.

So that’s the customers.

The managers/supervisors/other coworkers not cashiers

When I started working there we had a manager named Andy who was very, very nice. I never really dealt with him because I had no reason to, except for one time and it was because I had to call out of work due to a church commitment. So that was that. A few months after that, we switched managers. I really liked our new manager. He did things differently.

It took me awhile to get used to and to learn all our of CSMs’ names. By the time I wrote this, two have left or moved on, and we have a new one. These ladies are our backbone! They make sure we get our breaks and lunches, sometimes even pushing theirs back so we can have ours! They’re there when we need them, and so are we. I love all of them, even when we don’t get along. One of my CMS’s is very special to me- Judy. She is an incredible woman who I feel extremely lucky to have met. I want to take care of her FOREVER. If she lets me J

There were times when I got very frustrated with them. I didn’t understand, I guess. I know I wasn’t the only one. But most of the time we have a pretty good relationship.

Some of the problems I’ve dealt with are confusing availability, time-off requests, and excessive absences coachings.

All in good time J

If I could sum up my experience in one word it would be eventful. I do not lie when I say I have seen and learned more about life and myself working as a cashier than as anything else I could have done.

I’ve learned that some people are just bad people. Some people are good people. You can’t tell by looking at them. You tell by how they treat others and how they handle themselves. I’ve learned that there really are good people out there who care and who take the time to wish you a good day and mean it.

There’s also a small fraction of people who overreact.

I’ve learned patience, and if you know me at all you will know that this is HUGE for me. Patience is most definitely NOT my virtue. But I had to learn it.

Some of the weirder things that have happened include: dreams about scanning items, someone once ate a whole tub of cottage cheese, and just left the tub sitting there at self-check!! What!! WHO would do that?!

I’ve seen shoplifters, I’ve seen homeless people, and I’ve seen rich people spending 1,000 dollars at a time. I’ve seen children who have more money than I do. I’ve handled hundreds of thousands of dollars. I’ve worked ONE Black Thursday, one Christmas, and one New Year’s Day (so far).

I’ve seen people who are just crazy, others who are lonely, and others who are plain rude and disgusting.

I’ve seen so much and learned even more.

Being a cashier is so much more than standing behind a register scanning and bagging. It’s seeing the public at their worst. I never will understand why they think it’s ok to yell at a retail worker.

Some things I wish people would remember:
Don’t think of us as having no skills.

·        Please for crying out loud leave your 100-pound dog food and waters in your cart! I do NOT want to lift them!

·        Don’t throw things at me. I’m a human, not a dog.

·        We are trying our best, but with a big as store as ours, people don’t buy “just” a few things. They buy groceries for weeks. Please stop your “why can’t these damn cashiers speed it up?” comments. If you’re so ready to help, there is a job application in the back.

·        We are human, too. We need restroom and rest and lunch breaks.

·        If you have a family of 4 and you are all standing there watching me struggle to get your 10 packs of sodas in your cart, you’re the worst type of human!

·        PLEASE bag your produce. For the same reason that OTHER people don’t bag their meats. I don’t think you want chicken juices all over your greens.

·        It’s 2015, WHY are you paying with a check? It’s LITERALLY the same thing as a debit card, but faster!

·        Why in the world would you want me to bag your gallon of water? I don’t know if you realize but the flimsy bag will most likely break.

·        “You look like you need something to do” is a guaranteed way to make sure your eggs get cracked. Haha just kidding!

·        We are smart enough to know not to bag cleaning items with food. I promise. You don’t have to tell us.

·        Don’t expect us to greet you with a huge smile. After eight hours of fake smiling, even the happiest of people get tired. However, I do not condone rudeness. Even on the worst days of the job I still manage at least a “hello”.

·        Don’t talk on your phone while I’m ringing you up. That’s just rude.

·        If I think a bag will break, I will double bag it. DON’T feel the need to do it yourself, please.

·        If you’re shopping a basket, for crying out loud, take the stuff out and lay it on the belt. How lazy can you be!

Just some quick observations!

Life of a cashier include
Hurting feet

Hurting wrists

Always losing your pens

Finding random scratches and bruises like whatttt

Dreams about scanning items

Starting to recognize people and freaking out a little

When people recognized YOU outside the store you work at and freaking out a little

When people call you by your real name and you can’t remember if you know them or if they just glanced at your nametag. And freaking out a little.

Old men who hit on you. I could be your granddaughter!

Not being able to ring yourself up L

Seeing people buy cool stuff and then buying the same thing after your shift. Frosted animal crackers FTW.

The compulsion to open bags when you shop somewhere else.

Walking into a busy store and feeling bad for the staff.

SUNDAY RUSHES

When your feet hurt even though you’ve been standing for eight hours a day for MONTHS whaaat

Hurting knees

Hurting fingers and hands

Hurting back

Losing your divider and accidentally starting on someone else’s order and then they yell WAIT that’s not MINE and you’re like sorry due

Ringing up your teacher from sixth grade who saw how awkward you were at 12 years old

Ringing up cute boys you wish you could date

Ringing up people you know who are buying an embarrassing item like lube or yeast infection cream.

Wanting a piece of cake that someone’s buying.

Having to learn cigarette lingo to sell them, even though you’ve never smoked one in your life.

Selling alcoholic beverages yet not being able to buy them.

When all the self-checkout machines go crazy at once and there’s only one of you.

When people keep their baskets with them and you’re running out of space and Dear God, help.

When people don’t bag their meats and all the juices run over you and your scanner.

When you’re on a 20 or less lane and someone with 4,000 things comes up and says you don’t look busy therefore you should check them out and then someone with only one thing comes up and huff and puffs and gives you dirty looks and it’s like I’m sorry I didn’t ASK them come please don’t hate me.

When people forget stuff and have to go get it and make everyone wait

When people fill out their checks! Why!!!

When people try to do ridiculous ad matches. Who are you fooling?

When people tell you to “keep the change” and it’s 10 cents. Like oh yeah, I’m just going to go over there and buy a Ferrari with this.

When churchgoers bombard you with pamphlets about your salvation and you have to stand there and take them with a smile.

When people tell you to smile. Aaaaaarrg.

When you’re trying to close down and people keep coming to your line.

Lines in general.

Lines that are so long that your wonder if it will ever end.

When people’s cards won’t slide because they look like they’ve seen death and come back from it.

When people split the total and expect you to know what 145.67 divided by 3 is. Yeahhhh right.

When people put ONE thing in those big brown bags. Those things can hold a BUNCH!

People who have their own bags and stand there and watch you struggle.

People who don’t wash their reusable bags regularly. Blagh!

When people refuse to set their clothes on your belt because they’ll get dirty. Please, your shirt costs 5$ not 50$!

When the hanger won’t come out of things and it takes you awhile.

When men buy XXXL magnum condoms and smirk at you.

When kids spend 20 on gum and video games. Please, I want your life.

When kids are ruder to you than adults. Whaaa?

When you ring up your best friend and she makes you count her change back penny by penny.

When you drop change everywhere.

When you’re just trying to clean your belt between customers and people still come to you.

When you first open up and say “I can get someone over here” and no one moves.

When customers have bad BO and you have to keep a straight face.

When people buy a weird combination of items like 3 packs of lube, cucumbers, and the book Fifty Shades of Grey.

….just some insight into the cashier life!