Life in Retail

Unexpected

I didn't expect today to be so bad.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't that bad, but I didn't expect her to be so angry.

Wait, no, I expected her to be angry, just not with me.

...

Okay, so today was a bad day, but I sorta saw it coming, just not the way it came.

I show up just before 10am for my first seven hour shift. It's so long, I actually have to take a lunch break, according to Yukito-senpai. I'm worried about being alone the whole time. I know Taki will be in the back, but because I won't see him, I'm basically alone.

I stand up straight and confidently walk in, feeling ready to tackle the challenge. Even Mom believes in me, and that honestly means a great deal, despite our differences.

I grab an apron, tie it around my waist, and clock in. I think part of where the confidence comes from is knowing something will go wrong because I'm not perfect, and I accept that. I just hope I can fix it when it happens.

Spoiler, I don't.

Anyway, Taki dismisses himself to the back where he'll be most of the day, as usual. If I had to wait for a customer to come in, the nerves would've gotten to me, but I didn't. A guy visits the store for some groceries. A few fellow teenagers come in, kill some time, then leave without buying anything. On a hunch, I go to see if some of the canned coffees are missing, and they are. Or it wasn't stocked yesterday. I decide to let it go and commit their faces to memory, just in case.

Around noon, it actually gets kind of busy, but that isn't what happened that just completely destroyed my expectations. We'll get to that.

I end up not being able to leave the register for a straight hour and a half. Taki brings up a cart for me to put away near the start of the rush and after forty minutes or so, comes up with a second asking why I hadn't put the first one away yet. Then just after he leaves, my first problem rears its ugly head.

*Beep*

*Err-err*

I frown, straighten out the crinkles in the bag and try to scan the item again.

*Beep*

*Err-err*

"What's wrong? Won't scan?" The customer asks.

"Hold on just a moment, I'll get it to work." I try typing in the number and hit enter.

*Err-err*

The guy smirks. "That mean this is free?"

My eyebrow twitches in annoyance and I brush it off, pulling out my notebook to try and find the advice Yukito-senpai gave me for when this happens. Joke not appreciated.

"Hey, I don't pay you to read!" The customer raises his voice.

I furrow my brows and just stare at him in confusion. You don't pay me at all! "I'm... just trying to find my notes on what I'm supposed to do when this happens." I explain, not exactly sure what he means by his statement.

He crosses his arms. "You know what, maybe you should just give this to me for free since you clearly don't know what you're doing."

At this point, I'd love to! But I remember exactly what Yukito-senpai's advice was for these types of customers.

I close my notebook, give him my nicest smile and set it down. "Oh, sure! Let me just call up my manager so he can sign off on it because I don't have the authority to approve that."