Wow, Where have you been??

Been a while I know.

So, the store is nearly done. We have new concrete at both entrances. You had to have heard the noise of buggies entering and exiting the store to know what an big deal that was.

We have new tiles on the walls in the hot food section and in the bakery. We also have fancy shelving now that makes the store look so new and updated. People are wondering whether prices are going to rise as soon as its all done. I think they will a little due to gas costs etc, but I don't think it will be TOO bad. (at least I hope not) Apparently the store over the bridge is getting a big renovation as well. A few customers have mentioned that.



We have our new uniforms now. We are to supply dress pants AND dress shoes (with rubber soles). In other words NO RUNNING SHOES. Great. Except what do you do if you need a runner because you wear orthotics? Also, I can't afford to buy MYSELF a pair of pants let alone a pair I have to wear for work!! To be fair though, we were told that they can supply us with pants, but don't know what they look like yet and when they'll have them. I honestly don't care much as long as they sort of fit. They have got to be better than what I have now.

Funny thing is, I was not looking forward to the clothes change, etc, but after sitting through the meeting and listening to what's happening, I actually feel bad. I feel like a slob in what I wear now. I feel like I don't represent the company as well as I could. I am always a professional in my manner and the way I treat customers but after trying on the new shirt its hard to put on my old shirt and pants now.


Worked with TCFH (cashier from hell) today. She was okay until I went on my break. I hadn't even left the area when I hear her bitching about the fact that she is the only one working. "Can somebody open up?". This was said too loudly and was unnecessary as another cashier was standing two feet away from her. She only had to ask her rather than announcing to all and sundry that she's crude and rude.


The Princess was in today as well as The Unreliable One (UO). The UO didn't even show up the day before. She was there for five minutes today before she started to complain about how she doesn't know what she's doing there and she's messing up her packing, letting unbagged items go without green stickers (the proof that something has been paid for). I honestly don't understand why she is still employed. I can count on one hand the times that she has been on time. I hate working with her and/or the the Princess because I end up doing twice the work. Granted they get a fair share of customers, but when they're working and I'm on express I get a lot of people with too many items trying to get into my line because they don't want to deal with the attitude or the slowness.


Yesterday was a great day, though. I worked with a few of the girls that its a pleasure to be with. Even thought they have stresses in their lives, they are still professional, considerate and pleasant to others, especially co-workers. I like most of the girls actually. There are not too many I don't like. Maybe four or five. I just don't have the time for slackers or lazy people or people with at-ti-tude.


And one last thing. I was mentioned at a university party. One of the girls I work with, Long Lost Grand-daughter (LLG-d), went to a party and got talking to someone there abut the fact that she is a cashier at the store. She was asked which store and when she told the guy he got all gushy about how there is this cashier that is so terrific and always asks how he is and what he's making for dinner and packs his groceries so well and she is his favourite. So the LLG-d says my name and he goes "Yeah that's the one. She's the best. I love going through her line. One of my two favourite cashiers."

And on that note, I bow and leave you for now.

Holy Crapppppppppppp

I got to work next to TCFH (The Cashier From Hell) yesterday.

Bitch, bitch, bitch. The good news was that when she wasn't bitching she was just being plain nasty. As sometimes happens all the people we expected and were prepared for Friday night didn't show up to shop until Saturday when we were short because someone canceled.

I had a line up at one point of about eight people and she had two. Turns out that the customers didn't want to go in her line. HHHmmmmm wonder if its because of the bad vibes? Maybe its the attitude? Or could it be the sour face?

Anyway, at one point, before it got busy, one of the cashiers was doing 'go-backs' (items that customer decide NOT to buy). I had one customer, TCFH had one and then another one stepped into her line. She gets on the phone to page the other cashier back! WTF??? I am giving change to my customer which means they are gone soon and can take them in my line. Just send 'em over!!


She was on the phone every 15 to 20 minutes asking for another cashier, plus she was making comments to me like "Are we the only ones working today?" Now this is all going on while customers are going through the lines. She even grumbled to every customer about how hard she had to work.

Shut the ---- up.

Its like having Yappy Girl back without the speed talking. Pretty mush as annoying. She takes breaks when she wants to, wanders off to the washroom without letting anyone know where she is. She never cleans her workstation up and doesn't make sure there is any change for the next person coming on the tray.



OTHER THAN THAT: Lots of compliments from customers about the look of the store now. They like the openness of it and I have heard that salad bar sales have increased by about 50%!!

The place for the sign is all ready and the new stucco is being applied to the front of the building. It will be painted when its dry. The interior is gradually getting painted, but they have taken our clock down and we are LOST without it. You have to be able to know what time it is, because if you are on audit you are to go to the office five minutes before the end of your shift. Hard to tell the time without a time piece.


We've heard a little about uniforms, which I think I have already mentioned. They sound like they will require ironing. Not happening to mine. Also we are to wear black pants, but they can't be jeans. So... they want us to BUY black dress pants!! Not happening, either. If I spend money on a pair of dress pants, they'll be for me to wear when I go out. NOT to wear to work.

Cashier sort of joke

I do this puzzle every day and couldn't resist adding this to my blog.

My own Political Poll at Work

Just a quick one today.

Yesterday I managed to chat with quite a few customers that asked how I thought the election would go last night. We discussed Obama winning and not one person thought that McCain would be able to pull off an upset.

Therefore, our unscientific poll predicted an Obama win and then was confirmed last night when Barack Obama became the President - Elect in a virtual land slide.

Unreliability

Why is it that young people sometimes don't have any sense of responsibility? If you are written in the schedule and its a day you have said you don't work then you have to tell someone. You can't just 'not show up'.

What about the rest of us? At least one of us will be waiting for you to show up so we can go home.

Show a little consideration. There are days I was scheduled that I was NOT happy about (see previous posts Sept. 26, 29 or 30). It ended up working out but at least I made the arrangements or let them know my displeasure or whatever. I DID NOT leave them hanging short handed.
end of rant


The store seems to have more space now and it appears neater. It has really helped having doors on the freezers now and the product arrangement seems to make sense. It still takes time to find things but all in all not bad. Fewer and fewer complaints from customers. Still the odd one saying about prices but they don't seem to realize that it is due to the recent gasoline price problems more than the store changing.


An awful lot of product is ending up on the shelves that has not been entered into the computer. Its annoying when this happens, because:
the customer is inconvenienced,
the cashier is stressed,
someone has to take time to find it,
time is wasted while waiting.

An aside: I watched a cashier the other day that was waiting on the price for something and just stood there rather than ringing in the person's other groceries???? WTF?? (like I said: no common sense.)



One last thing for today. I am still pretty sick and it must have scared the crap out of some of the customers to hear me coughing. I made sure they could see my hand sanitizer and that I was using it between each customer PLUS anytime my hands came near my face. I also made sure to turn away if I had to cough. Short of staying home, which I couldn't afford, I did all I could to make sure I didn't make anyone sick.

Wow that was rough! ! ! !

So I went into work yesterday for the first time in three days. It was B U S Y ! ! !

I was working with a lot of the newer girls. Its okay to a degree because they ask me different things which keeps me on my toes. They don't know a lot of the different fruits and vegetables so don't even know how to look them up. The downside is that it takes a little away from my job. But not enough that I'll stop doing it. Its kind of fun to show off your knowledge.

Although, I DON'T like it when people that ask are just being lazy. I'll tell you, the Princess, sure has no clue about customer service. She was on express and at one point just walks away from her line up to ask me what a certain vegetable was. You didn't think to ask the customer? I'm sure if they're buying it they know what it is.


The store is coming along pretty good. The sign background is up now. Heard a little more about uniforms. Apparently they are not as nice as head cashier thought at first. They were only seen in a video and now that they have been seen in person it looks like ironing will be needed. They include a vest???? I don't think so. And nay, nay to the ironing thing too.



I went in there first thing Friday morning to get a couple of bananas and some grapes for lunches. Boy was it a mess. Very dirty looking, stuff left laying around, garbage on the ground outside the front door, transport buggies in the front of the store and one employee who looked like he had just gotten up and hadn't bothered to get clean clothes. Other than the fact that I knew him you couldn't tell he 'worked' there. The shelves weren't fronted either.

It looked a lot better when I got in on Saturday. The Cute One and The Stern One were busy filling shelves and getting buggies and tidying things up and checking prices and getting information for customers.

And then at the end of my shift, and an hour before her's, Unreliable Girl called in sick.That meant there was a scramble finding someone to fill in till 11 pm. I was asked to stay a half hour later as it was so busy and there were a couple of slower girls working. We got through the crowds though and the 7 o'clock girl came in so I was able to go home.