A promotion of sorts

Not me.

Don't get me wrong, promotions are nice. Its empowering to know that someone thinks you are good enough to move up in job status or pay grade or whatever.

Being a 'lowly' cashier suits me to a ' T '. I'd like to, at times, be a 'customer service' person dealing with lottery, till balances, counting money, etc.

BUT . . . .
I AM a customer service person in that I am one of the last people the customer sees and the last one they deal with in the store. I have to leave a good impression. The customer remembers that. They remember someone that was concerned for them, cared enough to pack the groceries well, made sure the bags weren't too heavy if its an older person. You know, important stuff like that. Sometimes being pleasant is all they need.

You have to be able to read people. You have to know if they need chatter or quiet. You must not force your opinions on them or try to force them into something they don't want. You have to be able to tell which ones are in the kind of mood to linger a little or to get out fast. You have to look down the line as well, to see who you have coming. I know which of my customers want 'double bags on everything' or need lots of bags with little in them, or, unfortunately, know the one that tries to steal things. I haven't seen her since she overheard me warn a newer cashier to keep on their toes around her. She has tried to steal something every time I have dealt with her. The problem is she's not good at it.

* * * * *

So, anyway, the Promotion goes to . . . . . .
The Diva !

She is now known as The Prima Donna.

This woman has or is trying to take over everything. I mean knowing how to do lots of stuff is good, but telling people when they can go on break, doing lottery, telling an employee they can get through the line before customers, pushing around co-workers with more seniority? 

I'm older than most of them there, but I also recognize when someone that's young enough to be my GRANDdaughter is also the person in charge that night. I mean come on, I COULD send them to bed without supper, but they show me the respect I deserve for my age, because I show them respect for their authority.  And for that matter you can't push around people with less seniority TOO much because you are NOT THE BOSS that night. If the customer service/head cashier tells you do to something then, damn it, do what you're told, when you're told.

The Prima Donna is developing a reputation amongst her peers for being rude, bossy, loud, grating, pushy, etc.

And, when you are running the express aisle you HAVE to realize that, even though we are supposed to push our new program, you must know when the customer is NOT in a receptive mode. Yes we want them to use the 'program' but more important is the fact of getting them home. We want their last thought to be "boy, I got through fast, finally the day is done, supper soon" NOT "why didn't that person shut up and do her job so I can get home."

I have had people come over to my aisle because even though I'm doing larger orders I am confining my talk to what I can get done WHILE doing the order. Oh sure, I have some customers where the conversation carries over to the next person in line, but I am not ignoring that next person. AND I apologize to them for the delay. I also leave them with some kind of pleasant comment, even if its only "you have a great evening".

AND I made several people happy last week, even though they were in a hurry, by stopping and giving one woman a hug because she had just lost her mother and was suddenly missing her. They all commented on what a 'nice thing" I had done.

* * * * *

So, apparently I think I'm wonderful and she's not.

She is a nice person on a personal basis, but just too plain bossy and know-it-all-ish in the work experiences I have had or have witnessed or, worse, heard about from other employees and customers.

So that's my 37cents worth for today.