so christmas is apon us

this is the time of year all retail staff dread. not only do we have to suffer through shopping centres ourselves trying to buy for our third cousins boyfriend who she is brining christmas day. but we also have to sereve the agitated, disorganised masses.
not heres some tips to keep your friendly local supermarket check out chick sane at christmas:

• shop early. christmas eve is the biggest day in the grocery world. every staff member works their butts off. take not of what time your local store is closing and for chirsts sake please come long before then. every christmas eve the staff are stuck till 10 minutes after closing trying to usher the last customers out because everyone seems to think its a brilliant idea to start shopping 2 minutes before we close. nothing encourages us to destroy everything you purchase more then eating into our precious free time
• if we have a mobile phone, wallet or handbag with us, we arent on duty. we re on our break or our way home. simple questions dont hurt. but dont ask me if i can go find you an extra packet of tic tacs cause there are none on the shelf when i am halfway out the door.
  
• dont bring young chilsren last minute shopping. its stressful and noisy enough without screaming, running, sticky children.
• make sure you have everything before you get the register. and if you bring it to the register, buy it, unless it is ripped and torn and destroyed. i dont care if you got one can of tuna too many or the wrong flavour of cordial. if its still in your trolley at the register i dont have the time or energy to deal with it any other way than selling it to you.
• be sure of a price innaccuracy if you are going to question it. we dont have a spare 10 minutes to get someone to check it then double check with managers and then get the okay from our supervisor. if you want to question something do it as quickly as possible.
  
• smile. be nice, start conversation. it will make our day

its funny, people fail to realise that after years standing behind a register, and packing groceries into plastic bags, that i might actually know the best way to get everything they buy into the small bag without squashing anything

today i had a customer ask me to put things in a certain configuration "so they dont get squashed"
well, i did it the way she asked, and lo and behold, they were getting squashed, so she moved them all around. if she had of let me be to begin with, she wouldnt have had to repack.

now re packing drives me mental. i say go ahead if you happen to cop one of the idiodic employees who thinks bread is okay under cans of beans. but when the bags are all organised and nothing is squashed dont move stuff around, and if you absolutely HAVE to, dont do it right in front of the person who packed the bag in the first place. its just insulting. this isnt me being all full of myself and thinking im infailible, this is me saying i know what im doing (ive been complemented on my packing skills) and i dont like being treated like an idiot because you are overly picky about how your groceries are placed in a plastic bag.

so saturday i was working as usual, having a semi decent day for a change.
well that was untill the manager did something insulting and stupid
it appeared some kind of review thing was to be done on me (mind you in the 3.5 years if been working there ive never seen this kinda thing happen before) so they have someone stand there and tick the box on their piece of paper if i smile and say the right things and do all the correct proceedures (you know, the ones i have drilled so far into my mind i could do them in my sleep)
now to be honest, i dont care that this was dont too much. i know im good at my job. ive had 2 complaints in the whole time ive been working, one was stupid and the other was a misunderstanding.
the thing that really ticked me off was the person doing the revue
it wasnt the manager herself
it wasnt a supervisor
it was even someone whos been there forever thus is respected
no
it was a 15 year old kid who has been working there maybe 5 months, tops.
i found this so upsetting and disrespectful. especially when there were supervisors and such wandering around the store not really doing anything, who could have easily done it.
i have nothing against this girl, shes nice, polite, quiet and decent at her job, but its what she represents that upsets me

congratulations work, you managed to piss me off again

things no check out chik ever wants to hear or see

• "are you open?" now this question seems logical when written down. but when i am standing behind a register, with the lights on, and am doing NOTHING i am open. i don't just enjoy hanging out behind a register for no reason. also. if there is a closed sign up, lights off, etc, I AM CLOSED. don't bother asking, there is a reason i will not be serving you

• "how do i prepare this/what does this taste like/ can i use this for this" i'm a check out chick, not a chef. i don't know how each item tastes or how you should prepare it. i stand there and scan things, occasionally i might have an opinion, but seriously, if a checkout chick knows how to prepare it, its probably microwaveable

• when you dump your full basket on the belt. but don't unpack it at all. okay so this is common courtesy. we aren't you god dam slaves. the least you can do to make everyone's lives easier is take you items out of the basket so the conveyor belt can actually serve its purpose. then once you've unpacked it, put the basket with all the others, don't leave it sitting there for us to move, and don't go off for a walk and start your own pile of baskets

• "are you closed? well where will be opening up? why isnt anyone else opening this instant" i'm sorry i have a home to go to. i'm sorry that the second my shift is over i want to be out the door. i'm sorry that i don't want to stay back 5 minutes that i wouldn't get paid for. i'm sorry there are no other registers open. i'm sorry i don't know where will be opening next. do you get it though. its not my fault i'm finishing my shift. its not my fault the supervisors haven't got anyone else open. its not my fault i'm not told who and where will be opening next, only the supervisors know that. finally. its not my fault you decided to come shopping at the busiest time of day. I DON'T DESERVE OR WANT YOUR DIRTY LOOKS.
  

after an unusually quiet Saturday

today we had a quiet day at the old supermaket.
which is really odd for a saturday
but it reinforced something that really bugs me

every week, a woman comes shopping with her two young sons. nothing unusual there
the two boys load up of candy, then run around out ot control, ignoring their mother when she yells at them (in a scottish accent which makes it scary and a tad funny all at that same time)
now these two innocent looking boys have been known to:

• climb all over the registers
• go behind registers where customers arent allowed
• climb all over unused trolleys
• unlock a door we had locked due to the freezing cold weather
• run around and TACKLE each other

now this wouldnt be so bad if it wasnt EVERY SINGLE WEEK
its beyond a joke.
this mother cannot control her children. i know, im in no place to judge how someone raises their children, but you'd think with how frustrated she gets and how annoyed everyone around them gets shed find a way to go shopping without them!?

dont get me wrong
i can handle your average annoying child that cries and screams cause mummy or daddy said no to the chocolate bar/dvd/ hanna montna hair clip. but these two kids leave a trail of destruction in their wake and make me want to scream

and i like kids!

the new kid arrived!

beginning a new blog is always so awkward
how do you start off?
do presume someone will actually read the drivel you write?
do you presume the only person reading is your best friend?

let me start by explaining.
my names Megan
i'm 19 and work part time at my local supermarket. as i have for the last 3 years and 3 months (and counting)
the point of this blog is to vent my frustrations at the customers of said supermarket.
id tell this stuff to my friends, but very few 19 year olds tend to be the ones driving me mental.
it probably doesn't help that i work every Saturday and Sunday during the day, meaning i am at the mercy of local sporting clubs requiring drinks and food, and the parties that night and the results the morning after.

if my rambling, whining and complaining can make one person a better customer, i think a hundred or so fellow check out chicks might get an actual reason to smile during the long hours behind the register.