And it begins again......

I can't believe the holiday season is already upon me again. I was so hoping that I would not have to face another retail holiday, but here I am again and Black Friday looms before me. It's totally different at this store, too. Before, I was solely on the register. Now I work in bridal, home, lingerie, women's plus-size, misses petite, and the formal dress section. That's a big section. And I am usually the working the department by myself. I also have to run the register, recover the dressing rooms, and merchandise the store. Needless to stay, I am generally never still from the time I clock in. This morning, everyone had to come in two hours early to "bust freight", aka, open all the shipment and unpack it. Long day. My cousin Kristen works at the same store with me, so that makes it a little more fun. We took our lunch break together today and both of us nearly fell asleep over our chips and salsa.

I'm also working a second part-time job at the local community college teaching a computer class twice a week. And I'm still taking online college classes that I hope to finish soon.

In my freetime, I am unpacking even more boxes at home. We have finally bought my grandparent's old home and the moving truck brought all of our things from our old home just two weeks ago. The spare room is stacked floor to ceiling with boxes. I am trying to paint, also. I should post a before and after pic of my room. It is so full of boxes and clutter that I can hardly turn around, but I have big plans for painting and organizing it next week when I have a week of vacation. I am so glad to have that week off. It is going to feel wonderful to not have to go in to work for a whole week!

So, now you are all pretty much caught up. A lot has changed for us and there is a lot of work to do, but we are getting through everything a little at a time.

Cashiering at Christmas, Part 4

There is a lot more I could tell -- a LOT more-- but I'm determined to end this series with a post about the nice customers that came through my line. Most people weren't as too terribly bad. But there were some who were really nice.

I was in the middle of a frantically busy work day with lines that never went away. This guy came through the line. As I was ringing him up, he was very polite, asked very nicely if he could have a box and a gift receipt, and I could tell he really felt sorry for me because I was working so hard. He actually apologised for asking me to go through the extra trouble to hand him a box and thanked me for ringing him up.

One morning before we got busy, this couple was in the store and the woman began to talk to me. she mentioned that the store wasn't busy and said laughing that I knew it would be before long. She actually turned around and thanked me for all the work we cashiers did over the holidays and told me how much she appreciated it.

I was dead-on-my-feet tired on day and this sweet little old lady came through my line. She was so nice and so pleasant and gave me a tract from her church when she was leaving.

A young girl came through my line, was very nice, and even though I had never met her before, asked if there was anything she could pray for me for.

When the hours are long and the work is hard, people like that really stand out brighten up your day. So thank you to all the customers who took the time this holiday season to show a little patience and friendliness to your overworked and exhausted cashiers. :)

Cashiering at Christmas, Part 3 -- The Boxes

Of the top three most annoying things about being a cashier at Christmas, the demand for boxes is definitely one of them. Everybody wanted a box for every single thing they purchased. To start the problems off, we didn't get any boxes until Black Friday. To add to the problems, the manager told us that we had received a very limited number of boxes this year. Customers could only get one box for each item they purchased and they could not bring in old receipts and ask for boxes for previous purchases.

Before the boxes arrived, everybody thought I was a liar when I told them we had no boxes. Many of them were determined to intimidate me into giving them a box. Well, all the whining, complaining, and yelling in the world couldn't make boxes appear when there weren't any, so they went away angry and empty-handed, declaring that they would bring their receipts back and get their boxes.

Well, Black Friday brought out the boxes -- and the problems. We only had three sizes of boxes, shirt boxes, boxes a little bit larger, and small boxes. One of my first customers on Black Friday bought a lot of items and stated in a very bossy tone of voice that she wanted 20 boxes for them. The person who was bagging for me was carrying on a very friendly conversation with her and gave her all the boxes left in my package, which was already more than 20. Then the customer pulled out a receipt from the week before and wanted 20 more boxes. I said very nicely that we could not give boxes away for previous purchases. She threw a fit, not just a typical fit but rude. She had spent $400 at this store and she was going to get all the boxes she wanted and she didn't want to hear any lip about it. While she was thus griping, my bagger went around behind me, opened a new package of boxes, and pulled out an armload to give that customer. The customer was still going on and on that this was the worst customer service she had ever seen, and my bagger started agreeing with her and saying that she deserved all the boxes she wanted because she had spent so much money. I was furious. For one thing, I had called the manger over to ask if she could have the boxes, and he said she could, even though he didn't realize just how many she was getting away with. So, I had been doing what I was told and called a manager to ask if she could get her way, not giving bad customer service. For another thing, the person bagging for me was an employee of the store who knew what the rules were. She was not supposed to go behind my back and hand out that many boxes or take the customers side against me. In the end, the customer got away with around 60 boxes.

Another incident that stands out to me (out of many) was the older lady with the boxes. First she wanted 10 boxes. She didn't need 10 to go with her purchase, but I was battle-weary, so I just handed her 10 of the larger boxes. She said, "Honey! I don't need boxes that big! Don't you have any smaller ones?" I had to search the other registers until I found ten shirt boxes. I very nicely handed them to her, expecting to take the large boxes back. She scooped up both the shirt boxes and the large boxes and scurried away as fast as she could go.

Then there were the people who didn't understand why we didn't have boxes for trench coats, for frying pans, for picture frames. Maybe I'm tacky, but I've never put a picture frame in a box. It comes in a box. I wrap it as is. Then the people who bought various odds and ends that didn't even need a box along with a few shirts. How many boxes do you need? 20. And they wondered why we ran out of boxes a week before Christmas.

Cashiering at Christmas, part 2 -- The Grouchy Customers

With customers, I always have my moments. There are some who, with their OCD bagging obsessions (all the shirts in one bag, all the pants in another, all folded perfectly) leave me ready to take their bags to the car for them if it will get them out of the store. There are the customers who question every single price. And then there are these customers:

I'm standing at my register and here comes this woman with a Hanna Montana guitar and a big toy truck. She's totally excited.
Customer: "I can't believe a found a Hanna Montana guitar! I've looked everywhere for a Hanna Montana guitar! I even looked at your other store this morning and they didn't have one, but I finally found one!"
Me: (in my very best promote-our-store voice) "Well, I'm so glad you were able to find one here! People have been able to find a lot of hard-to-find toys here!"

I rang up her truck, put it in our largest bag and rang up the guitar. Including the box it was in, it was the size of a regular guitar. Anyway, I gave her the total. She handed me a ToysRus card. Uh....this ain't ToysRus.

Me: That's your ToysRus card.
Customer: I know. (trying to hand it to me).
Me: We don't take ToysRus cards.
Customer: Yes, you do! This isn't a credit card, it's a points card! Everywhere I buy toys, I have them scan this card, and I earn points. I did it at your other store just this morning.

Now I'd never seen this before and knew there was nowhere on our computer for other stores' points programs, but I called the manager. He had never heard of it either, said the computer wouldn't take it and we couldn't do it. I informed the customer of this and she went ballistic.

Customer: WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T TAKE IT? That's stupid, it's just stupid! They took it at your other store just this morning!!!"
Me: (I can imagine the other store scanned it just to pacify her, even though the computer would spit the numbers back out so I say calmly) We can't take it.
Customer: Well, that's just STUPID!! (stuffing her card back into her purse with a gusto and tossing her head as she slides a real credit card, still muttering and griping. Then she turns on me again.) Well don't you have a BAG for this guitar?!?!?
Me: (getting pretty annoyed) No, I don't have a bag big enough for it.
Customer: YOU DON'T HAVE A BAG BIG ENOUGH FOR IT!! IN THIS WHOLE STORE THERE'S NOT A BAG BIG ENOUGH FOR IT?? (tossing her head with her hands on her hips)
Me: No. The biggest bag I have is the one this truck is in.
Customer: Well, it's RAINING outside!!
Me: (Well, I can't stop the rain, is what I'm thinking, but I say firmly) I don't have a bag big enough.

She really thought she was going to make me come up with a bag. When she saw that I wasn't going to, she was still mad, but she gave up.

Customer: Well, give me one of those to put over half of it then. That way at least HALF of it can stay dry. (That was supposed to be a fatal stab to make me feel guilty)
Me: (I put the bag over half over it for her-- and the one bag didn't even cover half of that big box. I would have put one over the other half, but she started to snatch away, so I asked very nicely) Would you like me to put a bag over the other half?
Customer: (all but screaming) No, I wouldn't!! FORGET IT!! JUST FORGET IT!!
She snatched up her track and her Hanna Montana guitar, and away she flounced.

This is no exaggeration, within fifteen minutes, I had another experience. My line had backed up, so I called for additional cashiers. I was in the middle of bagging up a huge order for one customer, and the next customer was already piling an equally huge order up on the counter. While I'm in the middle of trying to shove a blanket in our not-large-enough bags to pacify this customer, I see a women holding a stuffed monkey shove around the customer who's piling her order on the counter. I look at her, the customer looks at her, and she screams, "ALL I HAVE IS A MONKEY AND I'M GOING NEXT!!"

My thought was "BREAK!! I NEED A BREAK!!"

Cashiering at Christmas, part 1

Now that Christmas is over, the decorations are down, and life has regained its normalcy, I actually feel like posting about some of my retail holiday experiences. Let me just say first of all, as I think I have before, that working retail during the holidays totally nixes your Christmas spirit. I knew I was going to be tired, overworked, and irritated by the multitudes of customers that would come through my line everyday, but I never thought I would come to the place where I was counting down till the day AFTER Christmas.

Well, my first venture into being a Christmas cashier began in September. Yes, September. Here, at our friendly, happy-to-help-you department store, the Christmas trees went up in the beginning weeks of September. I was glad to see them. The were covered in beautiful ornaments, sparkling with lights, and brought a feeling of wonderland to the store. That was, until every customer began to gripe to me about them. Why were they up this early? Were we just trying to get them to buy more by shoving Christmas down their throats? Oh yeah.

It was really funny to feel the crescendo of holiday shopping. It really started in September, when all the organized, will-do can-do people marched into the store list in hand, loaded down a double buggy, and crossed off items as I rang them up. Every super Saturday sale was getting busier and busier. Every cart that came through had more and more in it.

In October, the reasonably early shoppers came out. They were just beginning, had no real plan and demanded gift boxes for every item they purchased, from toe socks to trench coats. Uh... we have no boxes. YOU HAVE NO BOXES??? What do you mean you have no boxes? You had boxes last year! (These people were really determined that I was keeping boxes from them out of pure spite.) We won't get boxes until Black Friday. Well, can I bring my receipt back and ask for boxes then? I don't know, but you can try. Well, what am I supposed to wrap ALL these presents in? My thoughts were that they could go to Walmart or any store of their preference and buy a package of boxes, but of course I couldn't say that.

November brought out the crazies. You know, like crazy basketball fans during March Madness, these were the crazy shoppers, glassy-eyed and dangerous. Every American citizen should be obligated to work retail during November and December just once. It should be the initiation into working adulthood or something. Maybe if everyone had worked retail once, they wouldn't make such spectacles of themselves as a customer. I can't count the tantrums over those miserable gift boxes, (which did not appear until Black Friday), the slick tricks with the coupons, the whining and the complaining that went on and on forever. And I was working 40 hour weeks, never less than five days straight.

December the pace began frantically and actually began to dwindle some. Or maybe it just felt that way to me because I didn't have to work any evenings. The biggest change was that people went from whining and griping to just plain mean. Now I had line jumpers, more tantrum-throwers and the same old sad song over the boxes because we ran out. For real people! Go buy yourself a gift bag or package of boxes! Nowhere is it written that this store is obligated to give you a free box because you purchased a present here. The week Christmas was actually not quite so busy. I guess most people had finished. And 75% of the customers those last three days were men running in at the last minute to buy a giftcard for their wives, mothers, and other female relations they'd forgotten until now.

When that clock struck 4:30 on December 24, I was out the door. And for the first time since the trees went up in September, I felt the Christmas spirit. I sang to the radio on my way home and was excited at the thought of presents the next day. That was the first time I had given them a thought, I'd been so busy ringing up everybody else's. I can honestly say that being a Christmas cashier has changed my outlook on the retail world.

Call me Scrooge..

I've heard several people at work say that working retail through the holidays will ruin your Christmas spirit. I believe it. At this point, with forty hour weeks ever since mid-October, long hours, several days at a time without a day off, and grumpier customers than usual, my Christmas spirit is virtually non-existent. I don't care about going shopping. I dreaded the thought of putting the tree up. I would rather take a nap than wrap presents and if I manage to bake one batch of cookies I'll give myself a big pat on the back. Normally, I can't wait to put the tree up, want to go shopping everyday, and come up with ten new recipes to try. Not so now. Not that I'm being a total grouch. The tree is decorated, but it took two days to get that accomplished instead of two hours like usual. I've taken Gabrielle out shopping twice and we've managed to finish most of our shopping. But my usual Silver Bells, Sleighride, and Winter Wonderland mood is instead: "Let it be over soon!" If I have to wrap up individually another 24-piece place setting of china, I'll lose my mind. If another customer tries to use a store-credit-card-only coupon and then pay with their Visa, I may snap. And if I hear Christina Aguilera screech Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas at the highest pitch the human voice can reach before actually shattering glass, I may scream myself. (Sorry if anyone enjoys that version. I've heard it all I can take.)

I'm kind of reminding myself of A Charlie Brown Christmas. Charlie Brown sees Christmas as commercialized holiday and is trying to find the giving and good will toward men the season is supposed to be about. Linus reminds him, quoting Luke 2:

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Jesus is the reason for the season. It isn't about Santa Claus, or jingle bells, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, or even buying a hundred presents. Christmas is a celebration that Jesus came into the world to save sinners. When I think about that, I'm glad it's Christmas!

BLACK FRIDAY

Well, it's already over. I was exhausted before it began. I worked nine day straight prior to having Thanksgiving Day off so I was tired. Getting up at 2:30 Friday morning wasn't an appealing thought.


But, the alarm clock went off, and I got up. I put on my make-up, my required black shirt, gray slacks, and tennis shoes (we were allowed to wear tennis shoes for the long day). I put on my name badge, my coat, shouldered my purse, and left home a 3 am.

When I got there, the parking lot wasn't too bad. I found a parking space easily and noticed that there were only about thirty people lined up outside the door. At least I knew I wouldn't have to fight to get in. Someone let me in and I went to the break room. A lot of people were already there. We stayed there, talking for a few minutes, then headed up front for a meeting with the manager. Within that few minutes, the crowd had tripled. I could see them pressing against the glass doors while we listened to the managers. The employees that tried to come in now had to fight there way through the crowd. The manager said that before he opened the doors he would make an announcement over the intercom for everyone to clear the aisles. He said we better do it or we would get trampled. Everyone dispersed to where they were supposed to be and I got in my register. The manager waited until 3:59 and made the announcement to clear the aisle over the intercom. Then he had people hold the doors open.

The crowd ran in. And I mean, they ran. One woman was so crazy to get a cart and run that she turned the cart over and almost trampled an old lady. For five solid minutes, the crowd kept coming through the door. It was pretty amazing to see. I never knew that many people would line up outside of a store. Within ten minutes, the line started forming. We had a great line system worked out, though. One huge line was mapped out for the misses' registers and one for the men's registers. Then a manager stood at the end of the line and directed traffic, sending customers to registers 1,2,3, etc, as they finished a customer. That relieved so much stress from the cashiers. I never had a line full of cranky people right in my face, we never had to worry about line-jumpers, and there was always a manager on hand for price adjustments or anything I needed. I did not have a full minute without a customer for the rest of my shift. There would be slight lulls in the crowd, I think because they went to the other stores as they opened, then it was just as big as before. I got several breaks, so that was great, and I had someone to bag for me which helped a lot with the big orders.


I was supposed to get off at two. About thirty minutes before, the manager came around asking everyone if they could stay late. He said it was a lot busier than he anticipated for the afternoon. A lot of people wouldn't stay, but I decided to try to stay an extra hour. The crowd was still really busy and it would have been hard to leave knowing there weren't a lot of people coming in. So, I ended up clocking out at 3:15, almost twelve hours after I clocked in. I shopped for just a few minutes, found two presents and a sweater, and LEFT. I managed to stay awake for about an hour after I got home, then I collapsed on the couch for two hours.



All in all, it wasn't too bad. Most of the customers were really nice to me. I only had one hateful customer and one rude customer in the whole twelve hours and hundreds of transactions, so that's a lot better than I expected. It was actually kind of fun. Exhausting, but fun. I wouldn't mind doing it again -- if I have to. :)

Working late...

So, yesterday and tonight my schedule is 4:30 to midnight. The midnight part is no fun. I do enjoy having time off during the day, though. Yesterday was nice. I spent some time studying, worked on my drawings, and just caught up on different projects. Today, I went back to the allergy/asthma specialist for an allergy test. The test was not fun. One part involved having 16 needles stuck in my arm! The results were that I'm allergic to grass, trees, dust mites, cats, horses, milk, ragweed.....I don't even remember what else. The good news is that I'm not allergic to Princess! Not that she would have gone anywhere anyway, but it was good to know that she's not the problem! Now, I'm at home baking cookies. I think they are about ready to come out of the oven, so I better run!