No sign =/= Open

[fireheart]

Had a brilliant little gem today.

So my manager was showing a new guy around. Pretty standard fare. Anyway, he goes to introduce newbie to his partner for the night and while he's clearing off the register behind me, proceeds to knock down the sign that says this register is closed. Next thing I know, I go to put baskets away and there's a gentleman standing at the empty register with some cat food. Two things wrong with this picture:

1) There's an abandoned register, which is mine.
2) The express lanes were dead. Why oh why do people ignore the express lanes and go everywhere else but those lanes?

I get back and continue serving the customer on my register, when the gentleman pipes up "hey, isn't this register open?"

Me: No sir, it's not.
Man: There's no sign.
Me: *grabs the sign and shows him it was knocked down*
Man: *storms off*

OK, there are three or four things required for an open register:

1) Light on.
2) Sign down.
3) Person actually present.

And we also actually take people to the registers...

[Gibbo]

If there's no sign saying that something is closed then in their minds it is open. I've found that a lot of customers cannot function without signs everywhere telling them what they can or cannot do.

[mikoyan29]

Hell, they can't function even if there is a sign telling them what to do.....

[Pagan]

Because that would involve them actually reading said signs....

[Can I Help Your A$$?]

I can't seem to manage to close down my lane without feeling like I'm being a bad Girl. The manager always goes up and turns off my light, but that doesn't stop "guests" in the least. I'm only cashiering because the lanes are full, and my department is footing the bill for my hours. But who gives a crap, right? Not the other cashiers, of course, and why should they? All I can do is find some debris to put at the end of the conveyor, an upside-down basket, a case of gum, but I end up having to say it and risk the CBF. I hate the CBF. I'm a nice person. So I end up staying until I can sneak away.

[fireheart]

I hate closing on weeknights. Because nobody else relieves me at that time, I don't have to freak out and wonder "Am I closing off or is someone relieving me?" but what I do have to freak out about is people screaming at me because of it. One of my more recent shifts has been an 8-hour shift (with a 1-hour break) which finishes at night. THey cannot seem to wait their turn...there will be maybe four registers open total at night, with an express lane open as well, bringing the total to five. But what REALLY pisses me off is when we have one person paying, one person with most (if not all) of their groceries on the belt and another person waiting to place their groceries up yet THEY're the ones who scream that they're not getting any service!!!