Life in Retail

Senpai

Standing in front of Convenience, I let out a long sigh.

Am I sure I want to do this?

I glance at my watch, my shift starting in ten minutes. I wanted to be early, but I also wanted to quit. Doing another shift with Marcus and Taki is the absolute last thing I want to do on my last Saturday before school starts up.

The seconds tick away as I stare at my watch. One more minute. I slouch my shoulders and figure I've put off the torment long enough, reluctantly dragging my feet on the way in.

*Ding-a-ling*

"Hello! Welcome to Convenience, the store for all your needs and necessities. How can I assist you today?" Says a the bright and cheery smile of a tall guy with nearly white hair and glasses. "Oh, wait, are you Nagisa?"

I glance around, thankful Marcus isn't working up front. "Oh, um, yeah."

"Great! Let me just get your login card set up." He searches for something behind the counter. "Ah, I knew I put it here somewhere." He pulls out a plastic card that's white with a blue stripe running across it diagonally. He swipes it on the side of the register. "This'll be your login card. I apologize that my coworker wasn't more accommodating on your first day." He taps in a few things, a receipt paper prints, and he hands me the card and receipt with both hands. "This is how you'll clock in and out, so don't lose it."

I carefully accept the card, already feeling a little better than I expected.

"My name's Yukito, and I'll be taking over your training the next few weeks." His smile is one of the friendliest I've ever seen.

"What happened to Marcus?" I ask, confused.

Yukito looks over both his shoulders and leans forward, whispering. "Taki's been meaning to fire him for a while now. Marcus was supposed to train you as his replacement, but from what the boss told me about your first day, it's no wonder he let him go early."

My eyes widen. "Seriously?"

Yukito nods, standing normally again. "I usually don't have availability on the weekends, but I happened to get the next three off so I can train you. Unfortunately I won't be able to give you the full five shifts one would receive for training, but I'll do my best." He stands firmly, determined.

I feel myself blush a bit. I almost want to cry. My first day was so horrible and I truly did not want to come back here ever again and suddenly, everything's better. I secretly wonder if Karma ended up doing something to Marcus though because it seems so aptly timed.

"Here's your apron." He hands it to me. "I'd like you to just watch me while I explain some things until you get more comfortable. It might get a little busy today, but feel free to just stand back and watch if it does. I'd rather you not get overwhelmed."

I tie the apron around my waist and sigh with relief. So much better than my first day.

Yukito shows me how to log into the register using my card. Marcus had a habit of always losing his and Taki isn't supposed to be on the register for some reason, so I never knew they had login cards. He goes through typing in the codes for produce, pointing out a little cheat sheet stored behind the counter. There's another cheat sheet for how to cook some of the food items in the store for customers to take on the go. There's so much more to this job that I actually feel bad for getting paid for last week. I didn't do any of it, and Yukito makes it all seem so easy.

"Thank you!" He waves goodbye to a customer after walking through ringing up their order. He turns to me. "And most importantly, feel free to tell the customer you're still trying to get the hang of things. You'll find they're much more forgiving when you let them know you're struggling than if they see you struggling and you don't say anything. It usually improves their experience a great deal."