You all know Lightbulb’s diairies on being a retail worker, and now, it’s time to share what working as a cashier looks like. I work at Wal-Mart as a cashier.
Yes, THE dreaded abysmal, union busting, sexual harassing, low paying steal America's future Wal-Mart. How I got from running my own business to smiling nicely while taking all kinds of abuse, is a story for another time.
Let’s just say the last five years in a rust-belt town treated me with the most utmost cruelty, and I rage inwardly at the stupid mistakes i made, as well at the people who tell me that this is the best I can do in this area. Sadly, they are completely right.
But, we are here to talk black Friday, and pre-holidays at Wal-mart, and what it is like to work in the front-lines in the battle of exploiting people, both customers and workers for their money. Because that is exactly what Wal-Mart, and retail in general does, exploit everyone to make money. They are not here to better their communities, they are not here to serve you, they are not here to provide you with anything more items you think you need so they can make money.
It’s quite simple really,I think of Wal-Mart(or you could insert Target, or K-Mart, or Sears, or Bank of America, or in this area, our notorious Adult-Foster Care homes) as corporate living entities and they focus with laser like precision on one thing and one thing only, how to make money off the humans. That is the business’s only reason for existing, despite the whole, “but we contribute to society by giving them low prices to live better.” Anyone believing that, and many, many, many people do believe they are living better because they can purchase celery for 55 cents a stalk, can also buy stock on this bride I own in Brooklyn.
This belief of mine, that Wal-mart and their ilk exists to make money, and it’s my job to help them make money, keeps me from going crazy. I am not, like our store managers, a Wal-Mart Kool-Aid drinker, just a realist about my place and what my employers think of me.
This brings me to pre black Friday holiday shopping. No one likes to shop, or at least no one likes to shop at Wal-Mart. I pick up this distinct vibe from my customers, that they hate being at Wal-Mart but unfortunately, despite the evidence that 55 cent celery and Ocean Spray cranberries one cent cheaper than the local, unionized grocery store’s they know on a deep level that they are participating the exploitation of themselves, the Wal-Mart employees, and the community. Yet, when the average salary in the area is 9.00 dollars and hour, and $12.00 an hour is considered and excellent wage, one cent does make a difference in their lives. It truly does. I call this the “Love-Hate relationship” most of customers have Wal-mart. They may not be able to articulate this on such a level, but I can see it in their eyes, waiting to blame Wal-mart for anything to confirm that unspoken hatred of being forced to shop here by their economics and lack of choices for other reasonably priced retail stores.
So, they take it out on us. They take the fact that they don’t have time to preplan for the holiday because they are forced to work two jobs to make ends meet, on the cashiers. They take the fact that our card readers are old, and if we call for service or ask for them to be replaced before our store remodel, our managers' bonuses are reduced, so no manager will replace something like a broken debit card reader before it's time for a remodel. As you can imagine, our store manager doesn’t want anything to cut into her personal profit, so we will wrap your card in plastic bag and try to force it through the reader. Or, conversely, they will blame us for our lousy card readers- won’t read their cracked card, that they refuse to replace, and Wells Fargo will charge them $5.00 to replace their debit card before the expiration date. *
They blame us when corporate decides that they need to upload the day’s register data at 9 pm, making them wait in line for five minutes. They throw their dish liquid detergent at our heads, when they discover that the stick on coupon is not a stick-on coupon but just an ad for another product.
But mostly, they get upset at the waiting. They get angry that our company refuses to pay people well, and cashiers who put in requests for time off to be with their families six months ago, were refused, and now are calling in sick, making them wait for 10 minutes instead of 5 minutes. They get mad that we had to pull poorly trained sale associates off the floor to cashier and they don’t know how to WIC vouchers, requiring me, as a senior cashier, has to help the “it’s not my job to cashier” sales associate and the single mom who is probably “stealing tax money so she can eat” causing them to wait.
So, here is my advice to all the late shoppers who due to poor planning or inability to get to the store before now, to keep in mind. First off, your lack of foresight and planning(I knew I would be working up to Thanksgiving so I started buying stuff in October, one item at a time) is not my emergency. I will be efficient and courteous, but I refuse to get caught up in your anger at your lack of planning for a holiday.
Along with that, waiting in line is part of the shopping experience. Yes, it sucks, yes, i know you would rather have a root canal than wait in line, and you are mad that the person in front of you is requesting I price override fifteen items, yet, this is part of the total shopping experience. It is not my fault that you didn’t learn your lesson in kindergarten and i don’t deserve to be abused, or yelled at because you can’t wait patiently. Also, if you exhibit any impatience such as raising your voice, tapping your fingers on the checkwriting ledge, or rolling of your eyes, I will slow down considerably as I check your items out. It’s called passive-aggressiveness, and I may do it with a smile, but rest assured, yes, I CAN GO a lot slower.. a lot slower. Sure, it’s passive aggressive, and yet it makes me feel infinitely better knowing that I am controlling two more minutes of you, the arsehole’s time.
so, be nice to each other out there in the trenches of retail.
Thanks for listening. P.S. No time to fix grammar, or make my English writing 101 prof proud. I wrote this pre-thanksgiving. I spent thanksgiving in the ER getting treated for my bladder infection which Wal-Mart’s insurance will turn down, like they did this summer when they denied my claim for chest pains. It appears that I needed health insurance before i got health insurance with Wal-Mart. But, now i have to go in for THE EVENT-we aren’t allowed to call it Black Friday, as coporate decided that term was racist in an hour. I can’t call in sick as i used up all three sick days I had alloted to me, and won’t be able to call in until Jan. 7th. if I do call in sick before that day, I will be fired in a New York NanoSecond. Wish me luck.