You Have Not Been Missed

I've had a lot of jobs in my life.  I guess when you move every 6-12 months, you are bound to have to get new jobs.  My last two jobs didn't deal with the general public.  It was blissful.  Seriously.  What is it about the general public that causes such a strong struggle?

I work at a factory that makes ice cream type products.  I'm one of the secretaries.  I get to share the job with one of my best friends.  She works 3 days a week, I work 2, unless one of us has a need to have an extra day off, then we cover for each other.  It really is a great situation.  Along with basic secretarial duties, we also have a small store where we sell our product.  I am the cashier.  Normally, that's fine.  I see lots of people some are great.  But many, many are not.  Let me vent a bit.

We sell seconds.  SECONDS as in, they have issues, so we won't sell them at full price.  However, if you are just after flavor, and not looks or perfection, then they are great.  (I'm all about the seconds, personally.)  The seconds are super popular, because they are $.10 - $.23 cheaper a piece.  Because we are a business, we don't try to make mistakes.  We always aim for firsts.  This means a few things.  1st - you CAN NOT order seconds. We don't have an employee who's job it is to work in the back and mess things up so you can buy them at a cheaper price.  That would be stupid, and said person would probably be fired.  2nd - Because these are mistakes, we can't promise to have a certain amount, a certain flavor, or anything like that.  Sometimes we run out.  If you wanted them, you should have gotten here sooner.  Not my fault.  3rd - When I tell you that we are out, we really are out!  I'm not some mean person who enjoys toying with the public's ice cream needs.  Sarcastically offering to go in the back to check for me just makes you a jerk.  4th - We sell seconds individually.  This means, you need to count as you are throwing them into a bag.  You see, I work in an office.  I have about 1 foot of clean space on my desk, because we had to make room for the cash register that is about as old as I am.  Passing me 2 bags full and saying, "why don't you count them" once again makes you seem rude.  Ok, so a lot of places don't trust their customers.  We do, and we'll let you count for us.  You had to put them in the bag, why didn't you count a little?  Could it be because you are wearing shoes, so you couldn't look at our toes to help you?  Ok, that was mean.  But really, when you have 45 in a box, and you hold the box up, do you really think I can magically count them just by looking?  This isn't a carnival game, where we get a prize for the closest guess.

Our store is small.  As in, I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that it is about 8ft X 8ft.  And this includes 3 chest freezers, 2 chairs, and a small table.  On top of the largest freezer, we have a bunch of plastic bags.  At least 3 times a day, I have someone ask me if we have bags.  PLEASE open your eyes!  Really, you have 64 square feet to look through.  Can't you glance around?

We sell about 10 flavors.  10.  Not 1,000, TEN.  So, WHY does it take you 20 minutes to pick one?  Heck, we even have 2 different multi-flavor packs to make it easier to be indecisive.    AND if you're indecisive, please don't come in 3 minutes before we close.  Some of us have family, who have to leave for work 10 minutes after I get home.  I would like to see my husband.  If you really are sorry, then make a choice!

Don't get me wrong, I am very happy to have this job.  I just sometimes wish the general public would be a little bit easier to work with.