As Heard At Save-A-Lot...

This post is dedicated to Soap Opera Girl, who is a new cashier. I, too, was a cashier once, and saw it ALL! I'm pretty sure SOG is working at a much nicer establishment than I was working at in 1996. Don't get me wrong, some not everyone who walks into Save-A-Lot would be best described as "redneck white trash", but it's a pretty safe bet that over 75% of the people who walked into our store would be described as such.

I met some people that I loved, and some that I couldn't stand. Some that made me laugh my ass off, and others who would make me cry. I'm going to share some of the fond memories of my first job with you.

My favorite story. Stamps. Yes, I am referring to food stamps. No, I'm not trying to put down anyone who gets them (legitimately). There was a man who came into the store a few times a week. This guy had NEVER heard of a bathtub, and soap was just not in his vocabulary. We all had to hold our breath when he came by. The smell of body odor would permeate the air around us for hours. Anyway. He was absolutely NUTS!!! He would come in, and start laughing to himself as he walked through the store. Now, he wasn't exactly easy to miss, if the smell didn't knock you down, he would. I'm not what you would call a small woman, but this dude would easily make three of me at my heaviest. He would walk up and down the aisles for hours, doing nothing. Two to three hours later, he would check out. He always bought chicken livers and nacho chips. The BEST. When he would pay, he would hold his food stamps right up against his face, shake his head while grinning like a shit eating possum, and say "I... I've got stamps". That was all it took. I would bust out laughing everytime he came him. Luckily, he never knew I was laughing at him, because he would always laugh with me. That's one case I guess ignorance is bliss, huh?

My least favorite person. I have no idea what the girl's name was, but I was fed up with her. She was MAYBE 21 then, and had 5 children. She would always come through my line with over $500.00 worth of food stamps. Ok, for the kids, that's fine- if the kids got anything. She would always put the steaks and such first, and tell me to scan them, and what was left, was what the kids got. After a few months, that finally REALLY got to me. She came through my line, and said the same thing. Only this time, I told her no. I said, "I'm paying for your food with my tax dollars, I'll decide what you eat." With that, I scanned the baby food, cereral, ground beef- foods FAMILIES need. Am I saying people on food stamps don't deserve a steak, too? Absolutely not. But I'll be damned if I'm paying for someone's food, and they won't even feed their children. Needless to say, she never came back in again. If nothing else, I hope it knocked her back into reality.

People who made me cry. There were two who stood out. Two women, one white, one black who worked their fingers to the bone every day. They were single mothers, trying to make ends meet. They would come in each month with a measly amount of food stamps, not even enough to remotely cover what they needed. My heart would break each time they would have to take something out of their bags, because they couldn't afford it. They have no idea how many things "bypassed" the scanner into their bags, that I would pay for later. I couldn't stand to see someone go without.

What story would be complete without a creep. Yes, a scuzbucket!!! I don't know his name, Thank God. He came in nearly every day to constantly harass the high school girls working there. I would be so uncomfortable that I'd begin shaking when he walked in. Luckily, a guy I was dating began working there at night stocking, he took care of him really quickly.

I had a lot of fun at Save-A-Lot. I worked with three other girls I went to high school with, Jessie, Ebony, and April. My cousin's husband, Reggie, was the manager, and Mark (not an ex), was the assistant manger. We pretty much did whatever we wanted, when we wanted to. That place was an absolute zoo. For all of the ups and downs I had, I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. It taught me so much, and I've taken the experiences I had at Save-A-Lot with me throughout my life.

I think everyone should be a cashier at least once in their life. You learn so much about human nature, and the public, while learning a lot about yourself. Best of luck Soap Opera Girl, I hope you have a good of a time as I did :0)