More Cashier Humor-Why Do They Do That??

Once again I find myself writing about the things that happen to me every day at this crazy, unpredictable, patience-testing job that I go to every day. It is really hard to be friendly and nice sometimes.

Ok, I understand that a person sometimes might forget to look and see which gas pump they are on before they come into the store to pay. I can even understand if maybe one person is pumping and another one is paying, how there could be a lack of communication as to how much gas is pumped, sure. BUT, it is beyond my comprehension to understand how one single person who has just pumped gasoline can walk into my store and tell me they did not get a gas receipt and could I print one for them, and not know how much gas they pumped or what gas pump they pumped it on!!!

Last night a man walked into my store and stood at the end of the line for a good 5 minutes to get to my register and proceeded to tell me he needed a gas receipt. He had left the pump he was on and pulled his car up to the door. I asked him, "sir, do you know which gas pump you were on", and he says, "NO, I don't, but I need a receipt", so, I say ok, "sir, how much gas did you pump?" His reply was, "I don't exactly know how much, probably about 30 or so, but I need a receipt". I tell him there is no way I can print a receipt for him unless I know either the amount that he pumped or the pump that he got the gas from or both!! I swear it is like people think I should be a freaking mind reader or something. So, then, the man insists to me that it was either pump, one, two, three, or four, so, I began to search print-outs for each pump and call out amounts, to which the man did not think any of them was the right amount. In the meantime, there are 20 people standing in line waiting to check out and this man is determined to get his receipt that he does not know how much he paid for or what pump he used to pump the unknown amount! FINALLY, I began to check every gas pump print-out (there are 16 of them) and we discovered he was on pump #7 and his amount was actually over $60.00! Now, I am a patient person, but GOOD GRIEF!!

There is another phenomenon we encounter at work with our customers. I would call it: The-stand-here-and-stare-at-my-food-in-the-warmer-so-it-does-not-run-away", approach. The register is over to the left of the food warmer and either way, after the food is chosen, or before, I will have to ring it up for the customer, and they KNOW this! Yet, they will stand with their head against the food warmer, as if looking at a puppy in a window until I leave my register, walk over to the warmer, ask them what they want, I begin to get their food for them, AND THEN, nine times out of ten, they will turn and walk away to go get a drink even before I have the food in the take-out box for them!! IS THERE A FORBIDDEN rule or something that keeps them from walking up to my register, telling me what food they want, and then waiting at the register for me to get it for them?? The quickest way to get waited on is to do that, but, NO, they have to stand staring at the food for 10 minutes until I finally have the time to walk over there to see what they want, and then, as I am getting their food, they walk away to go get a drink or some other thing and are just TOTALLY shocked to come back and find I am waiting on someone else who was standing at the register waiting on me when I went to get food for the first person!! WHY DO YOU PEOPLE MAKE SUCH A SIMPLE PROCESS, SO HARD???

The absolute WORST experience that happens daily is the dreaded nighttime gas pump ORDEAL. I am only 5" tall, ok, that is not my fault, my dad was only 5' 6", so you know; anyway.......there are racks of T-shirts, racks of movies to sell, phone card advertisements, and endless other things between me and the outside window of our store. There is also a great deal of reflection from the lights, the advertisements and colorful displays in the store that only add to the problem of trying to see the gas pumps out the window at night! The most common thing on a nightly basis is that someone will come into my store and as they are telling me what vehicle they are driving (because God forbid they should look to see what the number on their gas pump is) they will turn toward the window and proceed to describe the vehicle! First of all, if you are turned away from me, I cannot always hear what you are saying to me, and secondly, I don't know an F150 from a G350, ESPECIALLY in the dark!! Tell me something I can use, like; is the vehicle facing me, are the lights on; is it a car or a truck??? WORK WITH ME HERE, FOLKS!! How on God's green earth can you expect me to see above all the store displays, through the vehicles that are parked between me and your vehicle, into the complete darkness with all kinds of reflections in the window, and KNOW exactly what gas pump you are using??!! The whole thing would have been so much EASIER if you would just look at the number on the gas pump you are using!!

You know there is one other really nasty thing that I just cannot help but mention, since I am on a bitching spree today. Can anyone tell me why on earth someone would go into a public restroom, do their job and then proceed to smear the product all over the wall, the toilet, and the immediate area in which they are using?? This happens in the men's room most of the time, and it happens at least, two or three times a week. I mean, what kind of a twisted mind would do something like that ON PURPOSE?? I understand that sometimes people have medical problems and that kind of thing, but, this is beyond medical, THIS IS MENTAL, at least, it seems like a mental problem to me. Could this be a "ha, you have to clean this up, I don't moment" or just what would make a person's mind think to do something like this?? You know, come to think of it, if anyone does know why, maybe I don't want to know anyway, but my advice STAY HOME IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN THIS!!!

Well, this concludes the end of my bitching for the day, but tune in next week when I am quite sure I will have a whole host of new complaints to tell you. I am sure that as long as there are people of every shape, color, size and age, there will continue to be endless, head-scratching moments that make you go "now why did he do that". We may even tackle the "old coots' brigade" that sits in my store day and night, next time: who knows.