Black (and Blue) Friday

Ahhh--the holiday season is here again.  I have shopped for Christmas present and I have also worked retail at Christmas so I have been on both sides of the Christmas rush.  Generally I am more of a last minute shopper but there have been a few years when I found my self out at the stores on Black Friday, being pushed and shoved through crowds and being herded through the lines at the cash register.  I guess the chaos of Black Friday and the rest of the holiday season is part of the deal when you work in retail over the holidays and I get it.

But I have noticed that more and more retail stores have started opening on Thursday night--Thanksgiving--to get a jump on Black Friday.  Just as a few examples...Walmart opens at 8:00 p.m. and Toys 'R' Us opens at 9:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving night.  So that means that a group of unfortunate employees have to pull themselves away from Thanksgiving festivities and go to work.  I know that these business are there to make money and that employees in retail should expect some inconvenient or late hours over the holiday season but I really think that people in retail deserve at least one FULL day off to enjoy with their friends and families--especially since they are gonna be running around like crazy for the 5 or 6 weeks after Thanksgiving.  I think it is more then reasonable for stores to open crazy early on Friday morning (even at like 4:00 or 5:00 a.m.) so they are open for those customers who are really itching for those Black Friday deals.  That way the store is still open but their employees have had the chance to enjoy a day off.

And maybe there are some people who don't mind working on Thanksgiving night but I think generally it's good for employee morale for a company to give all of their employees a full day off--not to worry about work and just to enjoy spending the day with friends, family, pets or however else they would most enjoy it.

Bizarro Black Friday

What is the opposite of Black Friday? Teal Tuesday? Somehow that sounded funnier in my head but I'm gonna go with it...Anyway, have you ever wondered to yourself, "Well, where can I go on Black Friday that will be practically deserted? If you are looking to avoid the mad dash to the stores and people elbowing each other and knocking each other over to get the perfect gift (because shoving the little old lady in front of you to get the last 'Piss my Pants Polly doll' is totally in the spirit of the Christmas season) I have the answer for you. If you are looking for 'Bizarro' Black Friday spend it at the grocery store. While retailers all across the country are gearing up for the annual mad frenzy of shopping and spending the grocery store is practically empty. It's like getting tickets to a Miley Cyrus concert (no one listens to her anymore, right?) when there is a Lady Gaga concert going on right down the street. No lines, no waiting at the Miley concert because everyone is at the Gaga show.  I think this happens for a few reasons 1) everyone is out shopping at Black Friday sales and 2) It's the day after Thanksgiving--no one is thinking about food or grocery shopping! They have too much food at their house as it is. So I got stuck at work on Black Friday. There were 5 cashiers, 1 bagger and no customers. And I couldn't stop yawning (I think I still had a bit of a turkey hang over).  The customers we did have were really just running into the store to pick up a few things.  No one was really doing any serious grocery shopping.  The store manager didn't feel like being there either and there wasn't much work to do so overall it was a quiet, low key night without a lot of work to do.  I figured it wasn't too bad being there and being paid for doing nothing.  "Just enjoy it while it lasts!" I thought to myself, "Because in a few weeks it will be a zoo in here--everyone shopping for holiday dinner, holiday parties, Christmas cookies.  The mad rush generally starts at the beginning of December.  Then through the first week of January everyone makes that new years resolution to lose weight and eat healthier so they stock up on Slim Fast shakes, health food and rice cakes

Let them eat cake...

Cranberry Upside-down Cake

• 1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine, softened, divided


• 3/4 cup brown sugar


• 12-ounce bag cranberries


• 1 1/2 cups flour


• 1 cup sugar


• 1 tablespoon baking powder


• 1 tablespoon soy flour (recipe says soy flour but I imagine you could use regular flour--but I don't guarantee the results)


• 1 cup soy milk


• 1 teaspoon vanilla


• 1/4 teaspoon lemon oil or 1 tablespoon lemon zest, chopped very fine

Preheat oven to 350 degree. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt together 1/4 cup of the Earth Balance and all the brown sugar. Pour into oiled cake pan and arrange cranberries evenly on top.

In a large bowl, mix flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and flour. In a medium bowl mix milk, vanilla, lemon oil or zest and the remaining 1/4 cup of Earth Balance. Using a mixer, blend the wet ingredients into the dry indregients and mix well.

Spoon the cake batter over the cranberry mixture and bake for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cake and run a knife along the circumference of the pan to seperate the pan from the pan's edge.

Allow cake to cook for at least 15 minutes--ideally 30 minutes. Place plate on top of the cake and quickly invert it and remove the pan.

Bon Appetite!

I'm stuffed!

Vegans and I guess some vegetarians don't eat stuffing that has been cooked in the turkey so here's a stuffing that cooks separately. This sounds delicious to me!

Walnut-Apple Stuffing:

• 6 cups firmly packed diced whole grain bread


• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil


• 1 1/2 cups chopped red onion


• 2 crisp apples, peeled and diced


• 3 scallions, thinly sliced


• 1/4 cup chopped parsley


• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme


• Several leaves fresh sage, thinly sliced to taste (or 1/2 to 1 teaspoon dried sage)


• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts


• Salt and freshly gound pepper to taste


• 1 1/2 cups apple juice
  
  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  
  Place the diced bread on a baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minuted or until dry and lightly brown.
  
  Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the red onion and sautee' over medium heat until golden. Add the apples and sautee for another 5 minutes.
  
  In a mixing bowl, combine the bread crumbs with the onion and apple mixture. Add the remaining ingredients except the apple juice and toss together. Pour the apple juice in slowly, stirring at the same time to moisten the ingredients evenly.
  
  Transfer the mixture to an oiled shallow 1 1/2-quart baking pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until browned and still slightly moist. Stir once during the baking time.

This recipe serves 8 to 12.

Hot Potatoes

I think potatoes are a central part of the Thanksgiving meal. Here are some tasty ways to use sweet potatoes.

Sweet Potato Soup:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil



• 2 medium onions. chopped


• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced



• 1 large celery stalk, diced



• Handful of celery leaves


• 6 cups peeled diced (about 1/2 inch) sweet potatoes


• 2 bay leaves


• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme


• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg


• 1 cup rice milk or coconut


• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a soup pot. Add the onion, carrots and celery and saute' over low heat until the onions are golden.

Add the celery leaves and diced sweet potatoes. Add just enough water to cover all but about an inch of the vegetables. Bring to a simmer, then stir in the bay leaves. Simmer covered, until the sweet potatoes and vegetables are tender (this should take about 20 to 25 minutes). Remove the bay leaves.

With a slotted spoon, remove about half of the solid ingredients and transfer to a food processor along with about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Process until smoothly pureed, then stir back into the soup pot. Or, simply insert an immersion blender into the pot and process until smoothly pureed.

Add the rice milk to give the soup a slightly thick consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer over very low heat for another 10 to 15 minutes.

This recipe serves 6.

Maple and Tarragon Sweet Potatoes:

• 4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick


• 1/2 cup maple syrup


• 1/4 cup margarine or butter substitute, melted


• 1/4 cup orange juice


• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 2 teaspoons dried tarragon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Arrange the sweet potato slices in overlapping rows in an oiled shallow 2-quart casserole dish. In a small bowl, combine the syrup, margarine, juice, cinnamon and salt. Pour even over the potatoes. Spinkle the tarragon over the top.

Cover with lid or foil and bake, covered for 25 to 30 minutes, or until readily pierced with a fork but still firm. Bake for another 20-25 minutes, uncovered or until glazed and golden around the edges.

This recipe serves 8 or more.

Starter

All of the recipes I found for this Thanksgiving meal were on www.vegkitchen.com. This web site had tons and tons of ideas. Of course, the internet is a great source for recipes (duh). This salad sounds refreshing and fresh and sort of fall-like. A lighter way to start what is normally a really heavy meal.

Pear and Toasted Walnut Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 teaspoon guar gum (or you can substitute 2 teaspoons of olive oil)
3 tablespoons walnut halves or pieces, toasted
2 large ripe pears, each cut into 8 to 12 slices
4 to 6 cups greens or spring mix, including some bitter one like arugula or cress
Freshly ground pepper, to taste.

Combine the water, orange juice, balsamic vinegar, mustard and 2 tablespoons of the cranberries in a food processor (or you can use your blender if you don't have a food processor). Process. Then add the guar gum. Process. Set aside.

Put washed and dried greens in a large bowl. Pour half the dressing over the greens and toss. Arrange pears over the greens and sprinkle walnuts and cranberries over the pears.

Add the remaining dressing if you like. Top with fresh ground pepper. Serve quickly and watch everyone enjoy!

This recipe serves 4-6

A very vegan Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday for a few reasons. It "kicks off" the holiday season but without all the pressure and holiday stress of shopping that comes at Christmas. You get to spend to time with your family. It's close to my birthday--yay! But I especially love it because it's all of my favorite comfort food all in one meal. Turkey. Stuffing. Mashed potatoes. Gravy. Warm rolls out of the oven. Pumpkin pie. What more could you ask for? I still love Thanksgiving but over the past few years a few things have changed in my family. A few years ago my stepmom developed allergies to all dairy. Well, the most important part of creamy, delicious mashed potatoes is the milk and butter. And, my sister became a vegan. Not just a vegetarian--a vegan. So (obviously) turkey was out and mashed potatoes were out and pie crust with butter was out. We still do the traditional Thanksgiving dinner but with some modifications. Last year my sister made vegan mashed potatoes and used soy milk and put roasted garlic hummus in them--I have to admit at first I was very skeptical but they were actually really good and the hummus made them creamy.

This Thanksgiving we went to my Aunt and Uncle's house for dinner. I was about to start getting ready to go when I remembered to send a quick text to my friend, Mindy and her husband, Kevin to wish them a happy Thanksgiving. Mindy is my oldest "friend". I put friend in quotes because I have known her since kindergarden. I met her when I was 5. That is unbelievable to me. I met her at the bus stop on the way to school. She was the first friend I made there. I moved when I was in 5th grade and of course life goes on. We grew apart as people do but e-mail and text messaging has helped us stay in touch. So we don't have a "day-to-day friendship" but we keep each other updated about the big stuff that is going in our lives. She invited me to her bridal shower and her wedding and invites me to her New Years eve party. So as I was deciding what to wear to Thanksgiving dinner Mindy sent me a text back wishing me a happy Thanksgiving but also saying that she got some upsetting news a few days ago. She found out she had diabetes. She had to take insulin shots and she found out 2 days before Thanksgiving that she had to completely change her diet. She said that it makes for a frustrating holiday that is all about food. So besides the obvious tie in Thanksgiving has with food and the grocery store--this week in honor of Mindy and my stepmom and my sister I wanted to put together a few recipes for people who might not be able to eat all the "traditional" Thanksgiving feast. These recipes sound delicious! So if for whatever reason you can't eat what everyone else is eating this Thanskgiving here are some other options for people who are eating meat-free or dairy-free. Enjoy!

Words of Wisdom

"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid." -Benjamin Franklin

It's not me, It's you

I would like to start by saying that I really like 98% of the people I work with...but there always seems to be that 2% that I really don't get along with. This leaves me wondering, 'Are these people really assholes or am I the asshole because I don't get along with them?' Well, since I have started working there I can think of 6 people who have quit--(I'm sure there have been more then that but these are the people I can think of just off the top of my head) and Rose has been involved (in one way or another or flat out the direct cause of) 3 out of these 6 people leaving. Now if you have been involved in some way with 3 out of 6 people quitting (that means 50% of the time you had something to do with these people leaving their job) do you think maybe it's time to start to reevaluate your management style and start to think about how you interact with your coworkers? Nope! Well, at least not if you're Rose. I think that is part of the problem with Rose--she will never take responsibility for her actions or think about the way she treats other people because she always has an excuse for her behavior and she always feel totally justified for acting the way she does. I actually almost quit once after a nasty encounter with her. I even had a short note all written out giving my two weeks notice but I calmed down and thought I wasn't going to cut off my nose to spite my face. To be fair I'm sure Rose has her own side of the story and I'm sure I have done things that frustrate her too, because I am far from a perfect grocery store employee. But it makes me feel (at least a little) better to know that it isn't just me who has a problem with Rose. It's not me (at least not totally), It's Rose.

Every Rose has its thorn

I was always sort of raised to follow the old adage, if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all. I also sort of hesitate to say anything negative about the people I work with when they aren't here to defend themselves but there are a few people (two specifically) who I really can't stand! If I pull into the parking lot and see their cars parked there my stomach sinks and I roll my eyes because I know when I work with them I'm going to be in for a looonnnggg night. Whenever I hear the sound of their voice it's like fingernails on a chalkboard. For some reason it seems to be that way in every job I've had. I get along with most of the people I work with but there's always two co-workers who just drive me crazy and make my skin crawl!

One of these co-workers is Rose. I was going to tell you what incident in particular started my problem with Rose but to perfectly honest I don't even remember how it all started--I do know it started a while back. I also know that it if had been just one argument or one disagreement I could have let it go but it has really been a series of incidents that led me to the conclusion that I really don't like working with Rose.

The other person I can't stand working with is Barbara--even the sound of her name makes me wince. In fact, I dislike her so much that the other week when I checked my schedule and saw I would be working with her I called Shirley and asked if she would switch shifts with me. I know that sounds petty and childish but I couldn't stand the thought of having to work with Barbara all night.

In the real world if you don't get along with someone you can avoid them or just politely walk away but at work if you don't like someone you're kind of trapped together until the work day is over. And I guess we all have people at work who we don't get along with.

The top of the food chain

Here is a brief overview of the heirarchy or

At the top of the food chain (ha ha) is the store manager. He (or she-- because I don't want to be sexist) oversees the store. This seems sort of obvious given his title. A grocery store is divided into different departments and the manager of each department reports to the store manager. Then there is the department manager. The department manager is in charge of their department. They do the scheduling for the employees who work in their department. The meat manager and produce manager place the orders for the products for their department. The one I am most familiar with is the customer service manager. He does the schedule for the customer service employees. He also Then there an assistant manger who runs things when the manager isn't there. The smaller departments don't have assistant managers. The assistant customer service manager is mostly there at night after the day managers have left for the day. Each manager has a rotating schedule so that they work a few nights a week. Then there are the people who work at the customer service desk.


I decided to write this blog for a few reasons. First, I am writing this because I thought it might be helpful to customers. Second, I was watching t.v a show on t.v the other night

The Obligatory blonde joke

Here's the obligatory blonde joke...

There were two blondes and they had just come out from shopping in a store. They got out to the car and realized that the blonde that owned the mustang had locked her keys in the car. She was trying to pick the lock when she stopped to rest for a second. When she sat down, her friend said anxiously, "Hurry up--it's starting to rain and the top is down!"

If it ain't broke, don't fix it

My perception is that the grocery store where I work is falling apart. Now, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there are repairs being made and maintenance being done that I don't notice--but I can tell you that there are leaks in the roof. And at a more fundamental level some of the basic equipment necessary for grocery store isn't even working properly. Some of the cash drawers are literally taped together. Some of the printer machines that print out receipts are falling apart. And this got me to thinking, 'how can any worker do their job (regardless of where they work) well or take any sort of pride in their work if the don't have the things necessary to do their job right?' I'm not even talking specifically about the grocery store. I remember one of the law firms where I used to work had a postage meter. Once the postage meter ran out of funds. This meant that all correspondence to our clients, court documents that needed to be mailed to the court, appeals that needed to be mailed sat on our desks until the postage meter was fixed. Nothing got mailed for a few days and everything was at a stand still. This may seem like a small thing but it was something that made it difficult to get work done. I'm not saying that every checkout lane has to have a brand new cash register but I believe it's important to maintain what is there and replace equipment as it becomes necessary.

Awww...that was nice of you.

It was a pretty typical day. I came into work, signed onto a register and was taking customers. When I first got there it was pretty slow but it was starting to pick up. I was working with 4 other cashiers--Maria, Nick, Chuck, and Andrew. They were standing in a group, at the end of one of the registers, talking and joking around. Now, I have no problem with people talking or having fun while they're at work but I think you also have to know when to step up and actually do your job. So while they were standing around (doing absolutely nothing work-related) my line started to get backed up with customers. Nick noticed this and (thankfully) he called some customers over to his registers. Valerie (still standing there doing nothing) said to Nick, "Awww, that was nice of you." Now, please don't get me wrong I definitely appreciate that he helped me out by taking some customers--but it's also his job. Nick gets paid to be there, right? I mean, it's not like he's volunteering to be at the grocery store out of the goodness of his heart. So why would Maria say it was nice of him to do what he gets paid to do?

Maybe this will sort of sound like sour grapes, since I happened to be the cashier taking the customers and not one of the cashiers standing there talking and laughing, but I think a group of cashiers shouldn't be standing around doing nothing if there is another cashier who has a line of three or four other customers. Just to state the obvious here--cashiers work in the customer service department and it isn't very good customer service to leave customers waiting (unnecessarily) in line. So while I definitely believe in rewarding good work and giving recognition to those who do an exceptional job I think in this particular case what Valerie failed to realize was the Nick was doing his job-nothing exceptional, nothing extraordinary. He was just taking customers which is what he is paid to do in the first place

Take care and happy shopping!

Hurray for High Tech!

The store recently began the process of installing a new time clock machine where you have your fingerprint taken and then you punch in for work using your fingerprint. The rumor going around was that one of the reasons for switching to the new time clock system was to prevent one employee from clocking in for another employee. I believe this is something called "time theft." The idea is that if someone is running late for work or is unable to punch in on time for some reason they could have a friend who is already at work punch in for them--but using fingerprints would prevent this. This new system may not seem like a big deal but something was bothering me and at first I couldn't figure out what it was that bothering me so much. After I thought about it for a while I think what bothers me is the underlying message it sends to all the employees. I think it says very clearly, "We don't trust you." It's like there's a presumption that all employees are out to steal from the company--whether it's "time theft" by having another employee punch in for you or another type of theft. Well--if the headlines in the news are any indication it's the heads of corporations who are the ones stealing or taking home millions of dollars in bonuses after receiving a large financial bailout from the federal government (but that's a story for a different blog). Needless to say, it all just felt a little "Big Brother" to me.

The whole thing reminded me of another "job" I had in the retail industry. I put job in quotation marks because I worked at this job for about a week--I was miserable the whole time and left immediately when I got a job at the book store. This job was at Bath & Body Works and when you came in at the beginning of your shift you had to leave your purse with the manager and the manager locked it up somewhere in the backroom or the manager's office. Then when your shift was over you had to open your purse and show the manager the inside of your bag to make sure you hadn't taken anything--never mind, by the way, that for most of the day the purse wasn't even in your possession--it was locked up by the manager. (By the way I always thought that if I was going to steal something from the place where I worked--which I wouldn't-- I certainly wouldn't be stupid enough to stick it in my purse...but whatever). So the presumption was that you were probably going to steal from the company at some point, so you had to prove to them that you hadn't taken anything from them. It was guilty until proven innocent! You weren't even permitted to have a place where you could put your personal possessions, like your purse, during your shift. You just had to blindly hand your personal stuff over to the manager--trusting, by the way, that the manager wasn't going to steal anything from you or go through your purse...but I guess Bath & Body Works wasn't so concerned with that, huh? And I don't mean to single out Bath & Body Works--it's a pretty standard practice in the retail industry to have your bags checked at the end of your shift before you leave--the bookstore did it too. To be fair and to play devil's advocate these procedures are in place because there are employees who do steal from their employers and companies face great financial loss every year from employee theft. But overall, I really believe most workers are honest people who are entitled to be treated with dignity and fairness. I do recognize that some of these policies are in place for a reason but I think when we follow them blindly without any question we give up some of our rights and some of our dignity as indivduals.

Anyway, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth and to me having a company take your fingerprint so you can clock in for your shift has a similar vibe. Of course, it could just be that I am being old-school, anti-technology and anti-authority. What do you guys think?

Food for Thought

Food for Thought...

• Why do hot dogs come in packages of 10 and hot dog buns come in packages of 8?

• Why do people order a double cheeseburger, large fries, and a diet coke?

• Why do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and fill our garage with worthless junk?

Sick and tired

Looking at the calendar and seeing that we are rapidly approaching cold and flu season got me thinking about sick days and how it affects other workers and the customers when a cashier or a bagger calls out sick. Now based on what I have seen there are two types of sick. There is (1) actually, physically ill or not feeling good, and then there is (2) what I call "Saturday Sick". I started working at the grocery store in the beginning of the spring. I noticed that as the weather started getting warmer, it would be a beautiful, sunny weekend and almost every Saturday I would get a call asking if I could come in to work because at least one person had called out sick. Now, of course, it is possible to actually be sick on a Saturday but for some people calling out sick is just a substitute for poor planning. There is one bagger--who has to be one of the laziest kids I have ever met--who calls out sick almost every time he is scheduled to work on a Saturday. When he does actually show up he never does any work. Finally, someone said to him, 'If you don't want to work on Saturday, why don't you just request off?' He just shrugged and said, 'I forgot.' When someone calls out sick the people working at the service desk call people and try to fill the shift but if they can't find someone else to come in we are just short staffed.

At the other end of the spectrum are the people who come into work no matter how sick they are--and while this is sort of admirable it isn't necessarily the best thing when you are handling other people's food. I was working with my friend, Ken, last week and I went up to his register to say hello. He gave me a small wave and weak little smile. His face was a palish green. "Oh my god, Ken, you look terrible! You should go home." I told him. Ken did go home early. He was scheduled to work until 10:00 but he ended up leaving a little before 9:00 instead. The only problem with that was that Ken and I were the only ones scheduled between 10:00 and 12:00. So when Ken left around 9:00 that meant I was the only cashier up front for 3 hours! All night there was a looooonnnngggg line of customers starting at me and wondering why there was only one cashier.

Yes, please

Yesterday I wrote about a few of the stupidest things I have done as a cashier. Today I wanted to write about a few of the funny things customers have done when they aren't paying attention.

There was a customer who came through my line with a medium sized order and everything went fine. We got to the end of the order and there were no problems and she paid using her debit card. She slide her card through and put in her pin number. At the end of the transaction the machine where you slide your card asks the customer to select yes to verify that the transaction is for the correct amount and that also authorizes that amount to be withdrawn from their bank account. So I said to her, "Could you hit yes, please?" She looked at the screen in front of her for a second, then looked back up at me with a slightly confused look on her face. She was quiet for a second and then she said, ''There isn't a 'yes please' button on the screen." "No," I told her, "I said please--you just have to press 'yes' on the screen." She laughed and said, "I'm sorry its been a long day." We've all had days like that! Hee hee!

Take care and happy shopping!

What are you deaf or something?

I was a political science major in college and I have always had an interest in politics and the way government works. With that being said I just wanted to remind everyone that today is November 2nd--election day--so get out there and vote! I'm excited because I'm going to be volunteering at the polls later this afternoon. And if you think voting is a waste of time, maybe just take a minute a think about the groups of people throughout our history who have fought and struggled for a right so many of us take for granted.

Now that we have taken care of the serious business I wanted to talk about some of the stupidest things I have done as a cashier.

There was a customer who came up to my register. He had his hands full and was looking down as he set his groceries down on the belt. I smiled and said, "Hi. How are you?" and he didn't look up or even nod in recognition. Now, I thought this was sort of rude but I have gotten sort of used to the strong silent type so I started scanning his groceries and I asked, "Are plastic bags ok?" And he still didn't answer me--well, now I'm starting to get sort of annoyed and I'm thinking to myself, "God, this guy is really rude. I mean how difficult is it to at least acknowledge that I asked him a question--what is he deaf or something?" I was about to say something else to him when an adorable little girl with blonde, curly hair ran up to him and tugged at his jacket sleeve. He looked down at her and she started signing to him and asked if she could get some candy. He shook his head and signed back something else (which I obviously didn't understand because I don't know sign language). He finally looked up at me and smiled and pointed to the screen asking for the total. I pointed to the total and he nodded. And wow, did I feel like an asshole after that. I think I learned that sometimes it can be easy to impatient with someone but if you take a minute and put yourself in their shoes or ask yourself why they are acting a certain way maybe something that seemed rude at first will make sense.

That is just one of the many stupid things I have done as a cashier--there are many stupid things I have done and, unfortunately, I'm sure there are many more stupid things I will do in the future.

Let's start at the very beginning

Many of you have asked me how did all of this start and what sort of training is involved in becoming a cashier? Ok, I'll be honest--no one has really asked me that but I thought I would talk about it anyway. I have sort of touched on this before but here is the full story. As many decisions having to do with a second job it all started with money (or lack thereof). I had taken a look at my check book and my most recent bank statement (complete with a few overdraft charges)...I was also facing the realization that I probably wasn't going to be getting a raise from boss at the law firm anytime soon (especially considering some people in our office had been layed off recently). I thought, "Time to get a second job." It was harsh. One of the reasons I had gone to law school was so that I could make a living and support myself and a second job was just never really part of that equation but that's what I was faced with. I sucked it up and spent a Saturday afternoon in early February applying for various jobs and thought a grocery store would be a good fit because it would allow me to work nights while keeping my "real" "professional" job. Weeks passed and to be honest I had completely forgotten about applying for the cashier job. Then in the last week of February my cell phone rang and an unidentified number showed up on my caller id. I answered and it was Julie from the grocery store. She told me that the cashier who had worked nights was leaving and called because my availability was primarily nights. We set up an interview time and I have to admit I had mixed feelings going into the interview. The interview went well. When Julie asked me why I was interested in the job I told her I was looking for a second job with a flexible schedule to help pay back student loans and she said she was actually working this as a second job as a way to pay bills, too. She liked that I had previous grocery store experience and asked when I could start. And there you had it---easy as pie--that was my official reintroduction to the grocery store business. I went home feeling a strange mixture of gratitude (for a little extra income) and depression.

A week later my orientation was scheduled. The orientation was long...about 4 hours. We watched videos on store policies and procedures, safety procedures, sexual harassment. During our scheduled break I went to use the employee bathroom. I walked into the stall and there was a large sign posted that said, "Please remember to flush toilet after using." I didn't know whether to laugh or cry...but the urge to cry was very, very strong! Did I really have to work at a place that had to remind people to flush the toilet after they used it? Isn't that something that most people over the age of 3 already know? What the hell had I gotten myself into here? But I took a deep breath, splashed some water on my face and went out to face the music. Another 2 hours of orientation videos and some training on the register and I was out there on my own.