Creepy....Part Two

In the last blog I talked about creepy old men hitting on me. The next story I am about to tell is a bit more direct and freaked me out even more than the first instance.

Last week I was working at customer service and a regular customer came in. I see this guy every week and he always says hi to me and asks me how I am doing. I never found that odd until this day, since many of the regular customers say hi and ask how I am and I do the same in return. So, I see the guy and we wave to each other and he comes over to say hi and whatnot. We were talking and since it was slow and no one was coming up to customer service, he was talking to me for a little longer than usual. We talked about the tsunami and earthquake in Japan and other things that he brought up. Then, out of nowhere, he says “so maybe we can get some lunch together sometime”? I kind of was not sure of what had happened because he mumbles a bit and I was not sure if he was talking to me or about him and his wife getting lunch. So I just dismissed that he even said anything. But, then what he had said was confirmed when he said “so, um, should I get your number or something”? I laughed a little and he said “oh are you too busy?” So I told him yes because I have school and work and I do not have time for anything else. He looked at me and said ok and walked away. I seriously had no idea what to do. I am now scared to talk to that guy, but he is always in the store. So I guess I will have to come up with some sort of plan to avoid him or something.

Creepy...Part One

Have you ever heard jokes about creepy old men hitting on younger girls? Well, it is not much of a joke since I have started working at Stop and Shop. Since I started I have had a few old men stare at me in a creepy way and tell me how beautiful I am and all that stuff. But, there have been two instances so far which have stuck with me more than the rest. In the following two blogs I will tell you each story.

The first instance happened about a year into working. I was working on register that day. A fairly old man, I would say about 60’s, came into my line. I said hi like usual and asked how he was, like I do to all the customers. We were talking for a little while I was ringing and he asked me how I liked working here. I told him it is very nice and they work with my schedule well. To me that was not an odd questions since I have been asked that before. Then the weird part began to happen. He asked me if he would like him to get me a job at a casino that he owns. I told him that I am ok where I am working now. Then he says “are you sure, I would get you a job as a cocktail waitress”? I just looked at him and again told him no and that I was happy where I am. It was so weird, and I felt a bit uncomfortable.

Free Peanuts?

There is nothing that I dislike more than people who demand to get things for free. It is our policy to give them their money back, but it bothers me when they demand it, because sometimes it is up to my discretion if they get the full price back or just the difference.

Last week I had a woman come up to the courtesy counter and explain to me how she found some plastic in her peanuts. I called the manager because she wanted to let him know what had happened. He said he was sorry and that he could write up a report to the company for her. She said that she would appreciate that. Then he told her that I will give her the money back for the peanuts, which I figured I was going to do anyways. So I gave her back the full price which was $3.29.

About a half hour later the woman comes back up to the desk and complains that she bought the peanuts for $2.50 last week and now they are ringing up the regular price of $3.29. I explained to her how the sales change each week so that is why the peanuts are not on sale anymore. She then says “Well I think because of the situation I was in I should get this one for free or get the difference back.” I then explained to her how she got a refund of the full regular price for the peanuts before, because I did not know she paid a sale price. So I tried to have her understand that she pretty much just traded cans because I gave her the same amount of money back that she just spent on the peanuts. It took her a few times to understand that she only ended up paying $2.50 for the first can of peanuts and that she was not going to get a refund on another can.

I thought it was funny how she was telling me that she should get it for free just because she found plastic in her other can. She would then be getting 2 free cans, one for no reason.

The Lost Keys

The following post is nothing too funny, but when it happened I thought to myself “this is going in the blog.” The funny part of the story is how it ended because the customer’s daughter was so angry and demanding; that it is ironic how it all played out.

            I was working the customer service desk last weekend and a looked at the next person in line and asked “how can I help you?” All she said was “I think I am going to need a manager.” I was a bit confused, and I thought I was about to get yelled at or something because the woman seemed to be a little tense about something. So I asked her what the problem was and she told me “My mother was in here shopping yesterday and the person in front of her in line stole her keys.” I just looked at the woman, but in my mind I was thinking of how she knew it was the person in front of her and why she is telling me. So I told her I am sorry that happened and said that I do not know who was in front of her mother so I cannot help much.

            The woman then told me that I have a computer that I can look up the customers on and see what order they went through which register. So I can use the information that is on her mother’s receipt and track down who is the woman in front of her was and then I can call her and ask for the keys back. I was a bit taken back because I do not have any type of system like that at all, and I did not like how she was telling me what I could and could not do like she knew. “I wish I had a system like that to help” I said to her and explained how I do not have anything that can look that up. So she asked me to call down the manager and I did.

            He told her, again, that we do not have a system that can look that sort of information up, but that headquarters did. So he took down her information and took the receipt so that he had the time and register number that she went to. The woman left, just a bit happier.

            About an hour later I see the manager walk to the register that the woman was on and lift up the belt. To my surprise he pulled out the woman’s keys. I started to chuckle a little to myself and I asked him how he figured out that the keys were there. He said he had watched the security tape and saw the cashier put them on the belt and they fell through. So he gave me the keys and the woman’s number and I called her to let her know we had her keys. She showed up two hours later to get them.

I think that this was funny because the woman was so angry and flustered about her mother’s keys, while the mother just stood there quiet and calm. Then she accused the person in front of her mother in line without proof, which I found funny because it is usually the person behind you in line that takes your keys. Then at the end of it all, the keys were under the register belt.

You Found that Where?

Have you even gone food shopping and while you are searching the isles you see items that do not belong in that aisle? Well I see that a lot and it is one of my jobs as a front end employee to walk around and gather those misplaced items. I think it is lazy for people to just place down an item that they do not want somewhere random, but I have done it before so I cannot complain too much. The one thing that drives me crazy is when people put cold items in an aisle that is not refrigerated. I think that, that is not only laziness but inconsiderateness. Throughout my years at Stop and Shop I have found some odd things while searching for the out of place items, but the following story is about the experience I had one day, when I found the oddest items in the weirdest places.

            One day at work I was asked to do a back shop (find the misplaced items), so I began in the produce section, but only found a few misplaced items. The next aisle was the sales aisle. I did not find much, but as I went to exit the aisle a shopping bag caught my eye. It was on the bottom shelf. I went over to see what was in it. There were six packages of meat in the bag. I picked it up, only to find another five packages in another bag underneath it. I could not believe that someone would leave bagged meat in an aisle. I put both bags in the cart and continued on my search through the rest of the store.

            The next place that I found an odd item out of place was the bread aisle. In the middle of two loafs of bread there was a pineapple. I picked it up and was trying to think of what person would think of throwing that in with a pile of bread and why. I continued and a few aisles later, I found something else weird. There was a big bag of cat litter in the middle of the toy aisle. I could not even imagine why or even how it got there, so I just picked it up and added it to my cart of other finding.

Another few aisles down there is the makeup and hair supplies aisle. As I walked down the aisle I noticed something odd on the bottom self under a large display of hair ties and brushes. As I walked up to see what it was exactly I could not help but laugh to find out that it was a gallon of milk. I was floored to see that someone would even do that. Dairy is one thing that you do not want to get warm and the fact someone just left a whole gallon in an aisle amazed me. Not to mention the fact that about two aisles over is where the milk cases are. I picked up the milk and put it in the cart with the rest of the items. I did the last few isles and returned to the front end to see what else needed to be done.

            It still amazes me to think that people would put items in aisle that are not even close to the appropriate aisle for that item. I can understand little items like a card or a pack of gum, but to put large or perishable items in another area is crazy to me.

Say What?

                Have you ever been in a supermarket and seen a customer yelling at the cashier? I would probably guess that many have because I know that it is a common occurrence in stop and shop. The one thing that bothers me about people yelling at the cashier is that most of the time the problem is not the cashier’s fault. The only thing that can really be the cashier’s fault is if they ring something more than once. If the price is wrong, it is not the cashier’s fault; it is the computer system. Yet, that seems to be something that many customers cannot understand and they chose to get angry with the cashier. The following story is one of the oddest things I have seen that is an example of a customer getting mad at the cashier.

            I was at work one day and I was on register ringing up my customer, then all of a sudden I hear some sort of commotion going on at the register in front of me. I looked up to check it out and I could not believe what was going on. Apparently an item did not ring up the proper price and the woman was angry. The cashier was trying her best to remain calm and quiet the woman down, but this woman was relentless. She was screaming and yelling and complaining about the store, the service, the products, and everything else that came to her mind that had displeased her about our store. I finished up the order that I was doing and went over to the register to see if I could help the situation and maybe calm the woman down a bit.

 As I approached the register the woman’s voice grew even louder and scarier. But, this time I was not able to make out any words that she was saying. It seemed as if she was chanting or calling to the Gods. It was really odd to witness and I was confused on what the woman was doing. After a few minutes she finally calmed down and the cahier was able to finish ringing up the rest of her order. We even ended up giving the woman the item for free.

The scary and odd part about this story is that as the woman went to leave she turned to us and told all of us to watch out and be prepared for the curse that she had put on the store. I was a bit confused, but then realized that she really must have been doing a chant when I thought she was. I dismissed the fact that there was any curse on the store and finished up the rest of my shift shaking my head every time I thought of what had happened.

The Lady With MANY Coins

                If you ever worked at a grocery store, or even any kind of retail store, you can probably sympathize with the store I am about to tell. The one thing that any cashier does not want to hear is “can I pay with some coins?” Although it sounds harmful, which sometimes it can be, most of the time it is horrible.

            One day I was ringing up this woman, she had a good amount of food. Her total came to $87.92. When I told her the total she looked at me and asked if it was okay to pay with some change. I figured she was going to give me a few quarters or something instead of dollar bills. Well I was wrong. She pulled out a freezer size plastic bag and preceded to hand me rolls of coins. The nickels were first. Each roll is worth $2 and she had given me 5 rolls. Her total was now down to $77.92. The next thing she pulled out of the bag was rolls of dimes. She gave me 7 of those, and each was worth $10. So now her total is at $17.92, and she still continues to pull out even more change out of the bag. 7 rolls of pennies was next, each a dollar a piece. Her total was now at $10.92. She reached into her purse and handed me 92 cents. With $10 left on her bill she hands me a 20 dollar bill. I looked at her a bit confusingly, and then gave her the $10 dollars I owed her for change and she left.

I was then stuck with 19 rolls of coins. There was no room in my draw, so I tried the best I could to make it fit. I was putting rolls under the bills and everywhere else I could fit them. I went onto the next customer, but when I went to open my draw to insert their money, guess what? My draw was jammed. I called the manager over to my register and showed her what had happened and I explained what I had received from the wonderful woman. She found a screwdriver and finally was able to pop open the draw and take a look at my nice coin collection. She laughed and was able to take a few rolls from me and gave me bills so my draw could then close

Ever since that happened I always ask the customer how much change they are planning on using to pay with. I find the story fun, but definitely a lesson learned.