Working at the Store-Night Shift

I thought, yall just,ugh….and then you act like you so scared when somebody trying to talk to you, and joke around with you about the job, you act all confused, what?, “what did she say?” what” , I be like what you gone do about it, Nothing so just shut up.

“You don’t have to be so harsh,”

“No you don’t have to be so weak, now, toughen up that’s what you need to do”     

They get all defensive, “You don’t have to talk that way”

I say, “well, you need to be talked to that way, or I wouldn’t have to.”

They be getting mad at me, but they get over it real quick cause, they know it’s the truth and this is just a place we come and work at and if we work together we should be able to get through it.”

Oooo. This one lady wouldn’t check me out at the register one night, I bought some socks for Robert, let me tell you about Miss Donna. They put Miss in front of each others names hear in the south, still I suppose it’s a tradition in communicating with some modicum of respect for each other since boy and gal were used most frequently, no matter what age a person was, showing no respect at all. 

They finally get a new manager and he tells us that we must have our Discount cards ready to be scanned if we are going to buy something, no memorization of number, no punching in the number by hand it has to be scanned.

I suppose they don’t have enough data to justify ROI with the bar code system included in their systems they bought. The price tag scanner is used mainly for purchases, sales, but now they want to track what employees are buying what and for how much to try and say employees are the reason they are such bad employers, either we stealing them blind or we take before the outside customers get to pick and choose, which makes them look bad.  Scans, more scans are needed of employee sales for some purpose or another and in retail it probably has to do with loss prevention.

Somewhere along the way they have been convinced that if we scan each other cards to purchase, they system report will tell them some helpful information regarding employee purchases, which will probably be used against employees in the future calling it change or continuous upgrade improvement or whatever.

So one night, I was working close shift and ran across a pair of socks, my boy needed some bad, and I had just promised myself that every time I ran into a pair at work, I would buy them for him until he accumulated a bunch.  I ran into a pair that night, The cashiers had just be told that the employees must have their discount cards if they are going to buy something. I didn’t have it on me I usually left my purse locked in the car went I went in to work, I hadn’t been issued a locker and I felt it was safer there anyway.

The cashier that was on duty that night worked close whenever she was working, she had a day job too, and this was the first time the first day this new rule was to begin, the first thing she said was,  “do you have your card”?

I went to the register to make my purchase before we began the routine close activities and said, “Miss Donna, can you ring me up please” and she said to me, “do you have your card”?

I said, “no it’s in the car” and she said ,”well Mr. Willie just told us today employees must have their discount cards when they make a purchase”.

I said, “Miss Donna, it’s in the car.”

The store doors were already locked and I was thinking it‘s okay the new deal just started, but next time I’ll be prepared, the cashiers knew the new rule but others did not, like myself, working in the fitting room, on the floor that night, had not been informed. 

I said to her, “I know my number by hart Donna, ring up my socks!”

She said again, “you don’t have your card?”

I said, “No I don’t.”

“Well I’m not gone ring it up Lisa and lose my job!”

I said, “Who gone fire you, who gone know, who gone tell that you did that, I don’t have my card on me.”

“I can’t do it, I’m not gone do it, no, no, you not gone make me lose my job!”

I was like, “Donna, shame on you.”

I got on the loud speaker and said, “anybody got they discount card on them so I can buy something, cause Miss Donna won’t let me buy nothing cause I don’t have my card?” and this man I work with in the fitting room named Kevin came up there and, he said, “ you can use mine”.

I said, “Miss Donna you ought to be ashamed of yourself.”

She did it, she scanned his card for a purchase for me I paid for, defeating the whole purpose of the idea to scan employee purchases.

And then when I left for the night, she was still inside, up front so I got in the car and pulled up to the window and got out with my card in hand and knocked at the door and put my card up to the window, and I called out to Miss Dian I said, Miss Donna, miss Donna look!” I licked my tongue out at her and laughed and she said, I ain’t thinking about you, Lisa I’m not gone lose my job over no card” and I got back in the car and left.

I said to myself, that’s just being silly. The manger was not even there, the closing people at night work by a   different set of rules.