A Cashier's Work is Definitely Not Easy

I dragged my aching legs across the campus toward my dorm. After five straight hours of standing behind the counter of the U-Mass bookstore, my legs are as stiff as turkey legs. I got a temporary job at the bookstore during the beginning of the school year. Never did I expect that these three days of working would teach me knowledge that I would never be able to obtain from books.

This is the second time that I have worked at the bookstore. When school begins, the busiest place on campus is the bookstore. Every student has to go to there to buy his/her textbooks. The first time I worked there was after winter vacation last semester. It was a cold, wet day. Not too many people showed up the day I worked, but a lot of workers had been hired. If even only one customer came into the store, he/she would get the most attention and assistance. I didn't get much of a chance to help out anyone.

This time was a completely different story. People came in and out of the store and waited impatiently in long lines that wound all the way out the door. Everyone was looking for textbooks. Boxes of books were carried onto the shelves from the storage room. We had to stock new textbooks and used textbooks onto different shelves at
an incredibly fast pace in order to satisfy our customers' demand. Even though my eyes were aiming to work as a cashier, (so I could see how the cash register, one of my favorite toys as I was growing up worked) I was still at an entry level position, so I worked as a bag-keeper at the entrance of the door.

Everyone who went into the store must put their belongings into a small security room; this is to prevent anyone from stealing books. How hard could this be, right? Wrong! With only two people working in the room, we had to quickly label every bag with numbers and give them a matching number too, so they'd be able to retrieve their bag later. When a throng of people came in, we had to run around checking and labeling. Every bag was also extremely HEAVY as well! People passed their laptops to you with instructions to be very careful with it. After hundreds of backpacks, handbags, laptops you found yourself almost losing your happy smile and working like a robot.

On the second day, I was promoted as a cashier. I was very eager to learn this amazing "toy." As a child, I always admired the cashiers who constantly pushed the buttons and put in/took out the money. I liked the dinging sound it made as well.

Now, standing behind the counter, my boss gave me $200 to put into the register tray and taught me how to use it. It was pretty easy, since the computer calculates the change for you. The hard par-you have long lines of customers waiting in front of you, you have to work fast, and you must make sure you give back the right amount change.

If a customer uses coupons, you have to press a special button to deduct from the total amount. I learned how to swipe credit cards, cash traveler's checks, and regular checks. At first, I was really nervous. The workload is so intensive; you don't even have time to go to the bathroom. After a couple hours, though, I began handling it very well. We have 11 cashier registers, and everyone had a non-stop flow of customers. There were two security guards standing by to help out.
The store was bustling with noise. At the end of work, we all went to our boss, counted the money we had taken in, and gave the money to him. Then, we could leave. At that moment, you found out your legs do not belong to you anymore.

During my last day of the work, I worked as a cashier register again. People still poured in. As a pro, I could take the customers more easily. I returned their change faster. I also saw many familiar faces from last year's class. We can only exchange a quick smile, before I had to return to concentrate on my work. Through my work, I also met some new friends, especially those who helped me when I was still fumbling with all the buttons. I am very glad I didn't make any mistakes counting the money. It would be such a headache if my cash tray ended up missing some money.

Three days of work has trained me to be a fast, efficient worker. I also learned that every occupation is important in this society, no matter if it's big or small. You have to be responsible, have a good line of communication with people, focus on your work and accomplish the work in a timely fashion.

I also learned that a cashier's job is definitely not child's play!