A Cashier Story and High Praise From a Professor

Today was the end of three things that have been major factors in my life these past few weeks.
1. The stupid buy 10 items, get $3 off sale at work.
2. The last day of my first summer semester for college.
3. (This doesn't truly apply till tomorrow). The end of an 8 day work streak. I can't wait for my day off on Friday.

And now my story. A middle aged man, probably in his late 30's early 40's came through my line today. Well, that's not really where the story starts. I was standing at my register, looking in the other lines to see if there was someone who hadn't already put their items on the belt yet. And I caught this man's eye. He came over into my empty lane and said: "I saw you're beautiful eyes and couldn't resist coming through your line." I had the sudden urge to laugh, but instead smiled, and I think I thanked him. It was by far the highlight of work. It was just so creepy and funny.

My lovely blue eyes:


And I have one last random story. My professor emailed me an awesome e-mail. This made my day.

"You've clearly benefited from excellent home schooling and caring parental oversight. You're a very good writer, Sara. The one point I would like to make, is take time to proofread carefully.

"Occasionally you make a grammatical error that I think you should be able to catch with careful proofing, but you're an impressive writer. I especially like the way you write with character and personality. Keep that up! Congratulations, Sara, you've earned an A in the course."

So I am impressive and have character and personality? I'll take it! Along with that lovely A.

(I think I was super hyper and random when I wrote this)

Yes, I am an Intelligent being

She stared at me through her old-fashioned, horn rimmed glasses. I couldn't help but think she looked stuck in the '80's. "I have 10 things" she repeated defiantly. I inwardly sighed and pressed 15 sign on. I began naming off the things she bought that were part of the sale. I counted 8 things total. "You need 2 more items, ma'am." "No, I have 10," she insisted. Good grief. "What did I not name that you thought was part of the sale?" She began to think as I went through the list again. "The cheese. Did the cheese not come off?" I looked through the list, then turned to my bagger, Sami. "Can you find the cheese?" Sami began digging though the bags, bringing up 16 oz. shredded cheese. I consulted the ad. "It's only on the 8 oz. cheese, ma'am." And then begins the defense. IT wasn't clearly labeled, she just grabbed what was under the sign, the print was too small. Sami couldn't get back fast enough with the right cheese to suit me. And this is one of the less ugly scenarios.

I am a trained cashier. It's been a good 9 months. That's long enough to create a baby. That's long enough to know what I'm doing behind a register. Yet, because of my age, and sometimes I wonder if it's my blond hair, people don't trust me to know what I'm doing. They think I'm stupid and incapable. But it's their own lack of knowledge that is the issue. I know my register and I will consult my ad, and between these two key things I am very capable. I know how to manipulate the machine to do what it needs to do. IF that's what I want it to do, of course. I love a challenge, and the satisfaction of pointing out to a difficult customer that they were wrong is a satisfaction unparalleled. I do know what I'm talking about, so next time, if I were you, I'd listen.

Little Spots of Sunshine: How To Add a Little Joy To a Cashier's Day

-Keep in mind I am a person. This will get you far.
-Phones make you an idiot. If you want me or anyone else in my line to think well of you, get off your phone.
-When I ask you if you would like your milk in a bag, a simple yes or no will do. I don't need your whole life's story involving milk and bags.
-Instead of leaving food items, especially perishable ones, on the a display or the candy rack, just hand the item to me. I don't mind taking care of it.
-If you don't speak the language, and you want to use coupons, either learn to read English well, or hire an interpreter. I am not going to learn your language just to tell you that I can only accept one coupon per item. And just because the brand on the coupon and the brand on the item is the same doesn't mean I can accept it. It has to be the right product of the brand.
-And thank you, but no. I really don't want to touch your sample cups covered in germs and nasty foods. Find your own trashcan.