Hello! Welcome to a multi-part saga that never ends, because I work in retail and despite the store not having a fast lane, it’s never slow there!

I used to work in the court system, as a secretary, y’know, receiving and sending mail, contacting people, writing down the happenings in the court and making it readable for people later, that kinda stuff. It hadn’t been super busy, there were days I was just sitting in the chair, waiting for anything to come our way, but when it got busy, we stayed past workday end time just to get things done.

But then COVID happened. Work got reduced by a whole lot more. Enough so, one colleague was taking thick books to work just to have something to do. And the fact we had so little to do, a number of secretaries were let go.

And months later, dozens of applications a week, the only place to call back with a human - was a supermarket.

Well, one place did respond, but it was to give me homework just to be selected for a candidate pool. They didn’t even call back when I submitted the work to them. WTAF

So, yeah, supermarket. That was 2020 and I am still there as of writing this. And boy, I thought people in my country were generally smarter than a certain country with Karens abound, but NOPE! I am amazed that I have not seen anyone stick their tongue into a power outlet, thinking that was how they had to pay.

And if you think I am joking, then buckle up! I’ve got over 5 years of certifiably crazy capers causing complications.

My first day on the job was also training day: December 30th. You already see the problem, but let’s continue!

My Mentor and I got the register ready for work, they were showing me how things work behind the system. As I usually shop in the Self-Check-Out, I had some idea how this works, though seeing things like codes that you can write in instead of looking for items was certainly interesting. And soon after, the store was opened and people started coming in.

Y’know when in video games, there are just wave after wave of enemies with little to no break? It was like that. Honestly, despite it being a training day, I barely sat in the register, because the lines grew so long so quickly and my first-day-on-the-job-ass was not fast enough to dissipate them, leading me to mostly stand there during the day and learning where stuff was in the store, while Mentor Flashed her way through the lines.

I swear, it still feels like every single person in the city specifically came to that one store all at the same time, there is no other explanation for it. But I got to go home early (16:15-ish) as newbies do, so at least got to rest my feet.

And on the second day, Mentor had the day off, so I was put together with an experienced cashier to sit back-to-back and help out when I had questions. Most of which were variants of what the heck is this thing? me showing the product with no labels But since the Head Cashier put up an ad sized notice of 'I am training, so I may be bit slow. Thank you for understanding' at the til, so people would be aware that this one might take some time. But the waves were far more manageable.

Mostly due to the limits of baskets and trolleys. If nobody recalls or this was not done in their country, we had rules, enforced by the government, that you could not enter without either a basket or trolley, as it was a way to keep track of numbers inside of the store.

Not that people were not causing problems even that early. I heard and saw so many folks throwing tantrums that they had to wait for baskets or that they had to bring their baskets to the registers to be collected and not just randomly thrown somewhere in the store. The lines were so long, they were going out of the shopping center doors as they waited. It looked ridicules. And many folks bought enough food for a week, ate it all the same day and would come back for seconds.

I recall one lady got chewed out by the Security Guard for dumping her basket in the store and was told to bring it to the registers. She thought she was so smooth and just took a basket from the tower that formed by the registers. Security Guard was Not Amused and told her to find her actual basket. Ever seen a 40-50-year-old woman throw a tantrum and yeet a basket away? Oof.

But recall that humans also fill up the governments and they certainly…had ‘ideas‘ of solving the COVID problem…

The first! They had the brilliant idea of not allowing to sell anything other then food or hygiene products during weekends, then close all stores that aren't all purpose ones (so supermarkets open, but the beauty product shop closed). But then they also decided that the open stores couldn’t sell alcohol and such products during those weekends - I saw a man go to the register with a whole trolley full of alcohol...my liver nearly shrivelled up…

After two weeks, they then changed their minds - now you could buy alcohol, in addition to foodstuff and hygiene products, but you can’t buy clothes, etc… so when two kids wanted to buy glue sticks, I had to explain that new rule prevented me from selling that to them, which we all agreed was stupid.

Then they made a new rule: curfew! When has that ever been the solution?

So, there had been a curfew from 22:00 to 5:00, so nobody could be on the streets - at all. Or get arrested and fined. Some people joked about getting shot after 22:00 - then somebody said the shots were vaccines, which, y’know, is what it is, but considering the 'geniuses' in charge have said 'Every life of our citizens is a tragedy' (yes, they have said that)...I wouldn't put it past them…

Alright, stopping here for now! There is quite a bit more, my first three months were…something. And this feels a good enough spot to take a break.

Till next time! Bye~!