While I complain about my job as much as the next person, in general I really don't mind it. It's easy, it's mindless, it's money. But the past week has really tested my patience with it. Not only customers (I hate dealing with the public though I've gotten used to dealing with their asshattery so it doesn't bother me as much anymore) but also coworkers.
First, the owners. The liquor store is owned by two individuals, who are there during the day. They are nice people and I don't mind working for them but I dislike working with them. They micromanage and nothing is ever done how it should be. You're either working too slow or too fast. If you're doing Task A, you should be doing Task B, but then will get in trouble for not doing Task A first. We had a bottle stolen from the store today and it was, of course, the cashiers' fault. Similar to how a goalie will get blamed for letting the other team score in soccer, we got blamed for "letting" someone walk out with a bottle hidden in his hoodie. It wasn't the fault of the stockers or managers that were all on the floor and who can more easily monitor the entire store (the vodka aisle is way in the back and out of sight from the cash registers.) No, it was the cashiers' fault, or, more specifically, my fault. Fuck you. It's a liquor store, shit happens, shit gets stolen, deal with it. I didn't even see the kid, since I was doing OTHER WORK. But if I hadn't been doing that other work that was occupying me, I would have been reprimanded for "standing around."
On the day before Thanksgiving, near the end of the day when things were slowing down, around 8 o'clock, I was still running a cash register and was dealing with a pretty constant stream of customers. During a small lull, one of the owners commented that if I helped the other cashier who was currently stocking product at the front, then I could get out of there faster. Um? If I was doing that, who would do the cash register? I would certainly get yelled at for that. If I'm on the register, I should be doing something else, but as soon as I'm doing that something else, I should be at the register. How about you just fuck off and let me do my goddamn job? If, by the end of my shift, something I should have done hasn't been done, then maybe please remind me that next time I will need to do whatever it is that I missed. Don't talk down to me and boss me around about doing shit that is less important than what I am currently doing.
I also have a serious problem with the attitude that customers can't POSSIBLY wait in LINE for thirty fucking seconds. Today I had signed up a customer for our "value club" dealie, so after they left I still had to print a duplicate receipt and do some other shit to make sure that they would get registered in the system properly. This took me about 10 seconds, which was enough time for someone to walk up behind a customer another cashier was dealing with. One of the managers was around and basically said "Katie, you need to call customers over to you." Again: fuck you. I was working, finishing up a task from the previous customer. I'm not lazing about doing nothing and ignoring customers. Also, since when are customers completely helpless and incapable of doing things on their own? Can they not look around and say, oh, there is a cashier who is open, and go to that cashier?
One of the owners also has the feeds from the video cameras in the store on his computer at home so he can watch the store 24/7. This is fine and totally understandable, since there is a lot of alcohol in the store and a lot of money. But he takes it way too far into Big Brother territory when he calls in the evenings wondering, you know, "why is this person doing that" or "why hasn't that been done." Tonight he called because the ONE customer in the store hadn't been helped. Ohhhkay. Yes, someone should have asked the customer if he was finding everything alright, etc. But, seriously, buddy, get a life.
*sigh* Ok, just had to get that out lol.
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