New job, new thread.
From 1st July, all Aussies who get the dole will have to do some sort of volunteer work every week. I've been through this before, and as I refuse to plant copper logs in national parks or pick up rubbish in car parks, I thought I'd take the opportunity to keep my customer service and retail skills up-to-date, as well as get some new experience in working in a clothing / small goods and grocery store. Never worked in them before, so this is new for me, and I can add it to the resume.
First day in, I arrive slightly early to find a deliveryman with a van of discarded bread. I had wondered where they got the free bread they gave away from, and it comes from the Woolies across the highway, where they have a regional bakery. They bake fresh every day, we get what hasn't been sold. A very sensible arrangement for all concerned, and it means we occasionally even have sweet stuff like donuts or (gasp) cakes!
I established my bonafides with the breadman and helped him stack and count it, then asked the boss where she wanted me to start. She pointed towards the storeroom and said "do you think you can do something with that?"
It was slightly full. Bags full. Shelves full. Cannot find the large table in the middle of the room kind of full. There are two industrial floor freezers in this room. Somewhere. Probably near the mountain of milkcrates.
"I suppose suggesting a bottle of metho and a lit match is out of the question?"
The boss grinned and agreed and left me to it while she got on with opening the shop. I pulled out the headphones and the ipod, pointed myself in the direction of the table, and started emptying and sorting bags of clothes, toys, junk, bags of rags, and quite a lot of . . . . other (shudder) stuff.
By midday I had cleared a path to the important areas of the room (fridge, one freezer, found the back wall, and stumbled over the table), and was taking a stack of towels into the shop, when the boss told me that my nice, tidy piles would probably be destroyed by the end of the day. And that they've had one lady who'd taken to coming in and asking the most inane questions, pawing through everything, and then leaving with a 50cent trinket.
I remembered it was my first day. I tried to be gentle.
Apparently my eyes lit up like sun flares. However, I managed to restrain myself from drooling and toddled back to my sorting and folding. Towards the end of the day, I wandered out with a load of doonas, to find my carefully folded stacks and baskets being disembowled and scattered. I'm sure my growl as I placed the pile I was carrying on top of the stepladder was audible on the moon.
Lady dropped the sheet she was holding and stepped backwards, then gathered her courage and asked "Do you have any pillowcases this colour?"
My time on this website has allowed me to learn that shaking her by the scruff of the neck is NOT a good tactical manouvere, especially on the first day, so I held her gaze, dropped my voice by half an octave, and gestured towards a basket -- clearly marked 'pillowcases'. "All available stock is there, madam. Nothing in the stock-room is ready for consumption yet."
"Oh." And with that, she wandered off to look at food, leaving me with armfuls of differing stuff to re-sort and re-fold, which took another hour and a half. I was a most displeased camper.
The only other slightly exciting thing was as we were about to close and three of the usual suspects came in on a recon mission. Having worked in selling booze, petrol, and smokes, I recognised them as locals and began industriously fronting up the grocery shelves (closest to the front of house and the till). At this point, only the boss and I were still at work. I was interested to see how she would deal with these guys, and also as backup in case she needed it.
The trio acted true to form. They came in and split up, and it's very hard to keep an eye on 3 people when there's only two of you there. I tried to move around and keep them off balence and in view, but we probably lost some stuff, just because it's so hard to do. It was as they were buying it got interesting. Two were ok, but the oldest started to bitch about prices (dirt cheap) and how she could get it cheaper somewhere else (ok, go there then!), and since she is Aboriginal, it's our fault she's poor and we should feel so guilty we give her unlimited food and anything else she wants for the rest of eternity.
I may have laughed at loud when she said this.
The boss is new to the area (the shop is new), she hasn't worked retail before, and she made a classic fatal mistake -- she engaged in the argument. The trio tried to argue the boss into giving them what they wanted, but she stood firm. However, the only mistake she made was to try and hand over the change in a pile, rather than carefully place it in the ladies hand, as it allowed the woman to tip her hand so the change fell onto the counter, which started another rant.
At this point, I accidently dropped two bottles of water, making a loud clatter. When I looked up, the trio were out the door and the boss was locking it behind them. She made the comment that she probably shouldn't have engaged, but I pointed out that there was no way to know what they were about to try. I did get thanked for being visible and dropping the bottles, which broke the moment and allowed the boss to hustle them out.
All considered, not a bad first day.
I think I shall be enjoying my time here.
From 1st July, all Aussies who get the dole will have to do some sort of volunteer work every week. I've been through this before, and as I refuse to plant copper logs in national parks or pick up rubbish in car parks, I thought I'd take the opportunity to keep my customer service and retail skills up-to-date, as well as get some new experience in working in a clothing / small goods and grocery store. Never worked in them before, so this is new for me, and I can add it to the resume.
First day in, I arrive slightly early to find a deliveryman with a van of discarded bread. I had wondered where they got the free bread they gave away from, and it comes from the Woolies across the highway, where they have a regional bakery. They bake fresh every day, we get what hasn't been sold. A very sensible arrangement for all concerned, and it means we occasionally even have sweet stuff like donuts or (gasp) cakes!
I established my bonafides with the breadman and helped him stack and count it, then asked the boss where she wanted me to start. She pointed towards the storeroom and said "do you think you can do something with that?"
It was slightly full. Bags full. Shelves full. Cannot find the large table in the middle of the room kind of full. There are two industrial floor freezers in this room. Somewhere. Probably near the mountain of milkcrates.
"I suppose suggesting a bottle of metho and a lit match is out of the question?"
The boss grinned and agreed and left me to it while she got on with opening the shop. I pulled out the headphones and the ipod, pointed myself in the direction of the table, and started emptying and sorting bags of clothes, toys, junk, bags of rags, and quite a lot of . . . . other (shudder) stuff.
By midday I had cleared a path to the important areas of the room (fridge, one freezer, found the back wall, and stumbled over the table), and was taking a stack of towels into the shop, when the boss told me that my nice, tidy piles would probably be destroyed by the end of the day. And that they've had one lady who'd taken to coming in and asking the most inane questions, pawing through everything, and then leaving with a 50cent trinket.
I remembered it was my first day. I tried to be gentle.
Apparently my eyes lit up like sun flares. However, I managed to restrain myself from drooling and toddled back to my sorting and folding. Towards the end of the day, I wandered out with a load of doonas, to find my carefully folded stacks and baskets being disembowled and scattered. I'm sure my growl as I placed the pile I was carrying on top of the stepladder was audible on the moon.
Lady dropped the sheet she was holding and stepped backwards, then gathered her courage and asked "Do you have any pillowcases this colour?"
My time on this website has allowed me to learn that shaking her by the scruff of the neck is NOT a good tactical manouvere, especially on the first day, so I held her gaze, dropped my voice by half an octave, and gestured towards a basket -- clearly marked 'pillowcases'. "All available stock is there, madam. Nothing in the stock-room is ready for consumption yet."
"Oh." And with that, she wandered off to look at food, leaving me with armfuls of differing stuff to re-sort and re-fold, which took another hour and a half. I was a most displeased camper.
The only other slightly exciting thing was as we were about to close and three of the usual suspects came in on a recon mission. Having worked in selling booze, petrol, and smokes, I recognised them as locals and began industriously fronting up the grocery shelves (closest to the front of house and the till). At this point, only the boss and I were still at work. I was interested to see how she would deal with these guys, and also as backup in case she needed it.
The trio acted true to form. They came in and split up, and it's very hard to keep an eye on 3 people when there's only two of you there. I tried to move around and keep them off balence and in view, but we probably lost some stuff, just because it's so hard to do. It was as they were buying it got interesting. Two were ok, but the oldest started to bitch about prices (dirt cheap) and how she could get it cheaper somewhere else (ok, go there then!), and since she is Aboriginal, it's our fault she's poor and we should feel so guilty we give her unlimited food and anything else she wants for the rest of eternity.
I may have laughed at loud when she said this.
The boss is new to the area (the shop is new), she hasn't worked retail before, and she made a classic fatal mistake -- she engaged in the argument. The trio tried to argue the boss into giving them what they wanted, but she stood firm. However, the only mistake she made was to try and hand over the change in a pile, rather than carefully place it in the ladies hand, as it allowed the woman to tip her hand so the change fell onto the counter, which started another rant.
At this point, I accidently dropped two bottles of water, making a loud clatter. When I looked up, the trio were out the door and the boss was locking it behind them. She made the comment that she probably shouldn't have engaged, but I pointed out that there was no way to know what they were about to try. I did get thanked for being visible and dropping the bottles, which broke the moment and allowed the boss to hustle them out.
All considered, not a bad first day.
I think I shall be enjoying my time here.
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