anyone else on checkouts?

[Kevin Hodge]

...yep, it's much easier than the last job, but one of the things that is kind of awkward is that i have to try to look normal ALL THE TIME...instead of letting my face hang in a miserable mask of defeat like it does when i'm alone.

in my last job, i was alone quite a lot, so i could settle into my misery quite comfortably, whereas in this one i have to deal with customers all the time.

this isn't that big a deal for me, i'll find some way to deal with it, just wondered if anyone else has any tips or experiences to share

maybe i could tumble into a vat of chemicals like jack nicholson did in batman.

oh, also, are supermarkets who insist you must smile all the time to customers discriminating against the depressed? any lawyers out there wanna get into some class action with me?

[Medea]

Do they make you stand up? It really pisses me off when I see managers going round making the cashiers stand up. What's the point?! They have a seat and should use it!

I might write a letter to Tony Blair

ren

[Rick Sanchez]

I've been at Sainsbury's for nearly two years, and I've never actually been on checkouts. I've always managed to escape till training. Though I know it's inevitable, and the day I get till trained will be the day I leave Sainsbury's. Honestly, the thought of it makes me feel sick.

The thought of patronising wankers that have a look on their face which just screams 'incompetent, silly teenager on checkouts - pah!' whenever you're not working at inhuman speeds to process their ****ing shopping, or the till ****s up. Some even do that look to the person behind them who returns the look.

Honestly, put them wankers behind the till and see how many times they **** up. Tossers.

[Macavity]

Before uni I had a weekend job that involved till work, and though I'll always be shy, I think it helped my confidence by being thrown in at the deep end and having to talk to so many strangers, and it's something I would never have done of my own initiative.

You're never going to see them again, just treat them as practise dummies for improving your small talk and general dealing with people. If you make a mistake, say something stupid, come across a bit miserable or strange (that pretty much sums me up :embarass: ), just think that they'll be gone in 2 minutes and you can put it behind you and start again with someone new.

At uni I don't have a job or regular exposure to lots of people, and I really feel like I've gone backwards from where I was 2 years ago. If you do get asked to go on tills Godfather, I'd say you should think twice before leaving. It might not seem like much, but it could help you get more confident (or at least be able to fake it ) and you've probably made more progress than you think by getting a job and working with the people you do now. Just my thoughts.

Oh and Sullenskink - in my purse I have £3.86, some dust and an old bus ticket, shall we pool together for a lawyer? I think I can claim damages for cheek muscle strain from all those fake smiles I had to plaster on!

[alisoncampbell]

i used to work in Asda but i could not handle it. It wasnt a nice place to work. a lot of my colleages (sp?) saw me as boring as i was quiet and not into the same music and interests as they were.

[Kevin Hodge]

ta for the replies

i don't have to stand up, what's that all about? on my first day i stood up because i couldn't adjust the seat and it aws oo high, and at the end of standing for for hours my knees felt all weird and swollen-skink.

godfather, i'm glad it never occured to me to think that way, i would have shat myself :embarass: the way i see it, i am just mega beaming and mega polite to everyone. noone has mentioned anything about scan speed, but in actual fact i think that i scan way too fast because i am still nervous, i sort of fire the items across the scanner and the customers get kind of frantic trying to keep up someone said "there's two of us packing and only one of you, how come we keep falling behind?"

\m/ \m/

i agree with macavity that the sort of constant pressure forces me to develop very useful skills and coping mechanisms, i'm sure i will. luckily in my last job i had time to work on this in a less demanding way so i am not overwhelmed by this challenge of being with people ALL THE TIME

as for that lawyer...i think i'll have to dip into the till before i can help you there

@ allisoncampbell, yeah, i am worried about how things will pan out with the staff. the truoble is that there are SO MANY staff and it's going to be impossible to sort of have a rapport with each of them so that i don't feel nervous. i'll have to just see how i go with that one.

Maxie, are you female? i'm sure women have it worse with this - 'your job is to stand there and grin and be a girl'... and then those 'give us a smile' comments. 'would you like some beer nuts, or perhaps a kick in the nuts?' lecherous old farts

frogmella, i don't have to do intercom things, i just buzz a 'runner' to go look for me. thk fuk.

marwood, it's interesting what you say about the zoned out feeling - i had anticipated this sort of like 'this job is really dumb and all i have to do is show up and wait for the shift to be over'...looking forward to getting that perspective, but i'm still quite nervous about a few thnigs, ilke tea breaks and stuff.

i haven't noticed any sa people yet, but i HAVE noticed plenty of people with much worse people skills than myself, staff included! this helps to put things in perspective. plus i've had some really graet feedback from my bosses so far, so i feel good about that, especially after the terrible time i had in my old job, that really bust me up and made me feel like shit.