Minor error that turned into a major waste of time

[Dreamstalker]

I admit I did something taboo: trying to manually enter a credit card.

(Backstory: I signed on to the register at noon and I swear it's been functioning through prayer alone, it's now 5:50 PM and I'm off at 7, wasn't supposed to be here this long. I was never able to sneak away and get a drink. I'm tired and my shoulder still hurts from the last customer who made me lift a watermelon out of her cart from across the belt.)

As soon as I realized I did something wrong, it could have been salvaged as the only register error I got was "String too long, press Clear to continue". Doing that would have just thrown things back to the Subtotal screen, and I would have had to explain to the customer why it can't be done (and offered to hold the transaction until they came back with the card). At that point it wouldn't have been a problem.

Enter A. She flies in, and hits something that causes the register to ask for a manager key. Then basically berates me in front of the customer, also monologuing to B about "I ain't gonna get fired for her mistake, who gonna feed my kids? You? [gesturing to me] Can't believe you did this". (Manager P and a handful of CWs are staring at her, I keep my mouth shut as trying to explain anything would probably make her more irate)

I have a system for voiding items that are already bagged up; I remove them from bags after they've been voided so I know what I did and didn't scan. She starts voiding items at random, tossing them across the scanner so it scans in again, etc. One of the 'slow' CWs is returning items that I don't think I've voided yet, of course this is my fault. Only after everything is fixed to A's satisfaction am I allowed to go on break (6 PM, only an hour before I'm supposed to leave).

All SM wants to know is what happened and why; I tell him the truth, I was a bit fried after having been on a barely-working register for five hours during a rush--of course getting all the braindead/argumentative SCs that day--without a break (having A breathing down my neck did NOT help matters).

I did apologize to A but I don't think she seemed too interested in hearing it. I didn't get written up that I know of; SM knows that I know what I did wrong and what led to the mistake (under normal circumstances I would never do something that dumb).

[rose_metal_nz]

Grr. I personally cannot WAIT until A really DOES get fired. She is most definitely asking for it.
And if not fired, then at least promoted to a store far, far away from yours....

[Lovecats]

Quoth rose_metal_nz

Grr. I personally cannot WAIT until A really DOES get fired. She is most definitely asking for it.
And if not fired, then at least promoted to a store far, far away from yours....

But think of those poor people at that other store!

[Dreamstalker]

Mom thinks that A is in over her head; the woman can't effectively deal with anything that's not routine. I learned quickly to ask for one of the other managers if there's an issue, but A was the only one on last night She's very condescending and her idea of fixing a problem is to butt in and do it herself rather than actually show me what to do.

(SM was interested to learn that I wasn't getting breaks on time)

[50 mission cap]

Quoth Dreamstalker

She's very condescending and her idea of fixing a problem is to butt in and do it herself rather than actually show me what to do.
)

Give someone a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach someone to fish and you feed them for a lifetime.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Quoth 50 mission cap

Give someone a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach someone to fish and you feed them for a lifetime.

From A's viewpoint: Give someone a fish and they become dependent upon you. Teach them to fish and they become independent of you.

[dalesys]

Give 'em a light and they'll smoke until it's gone. Set 'em on fire and they'll be warm for the rest of their life.

[Dreamstalker]

I think she likes to be needed by all the cashiers, and can't fathom anyone being able to think for themselves. Maybe that's a twisted sort of job security, maybe it is a bit of desperation (I'm proactive in asking what needs to be done rather than waiting to be ordered around, SM sees me as an asset), who knows?