I’ve recently started a job working part-time at a retail establishment in the suburbs thanks to a very lovely friend I’ve known for a long time. It’s minimum wage and I’m driving an hour each way (when there is no traffic) to get there, but it’s better than nothing.
I’ve learned that there are people who just choose to be angry and annoyed. But the ones who are quietly annoyed are worse than the ones openly angry. It’s like they’re silently judging you. They chose to attempt to train me on the register last night. I’ve worked a register before, but that was like 20+ years ago. It’s only the technology that is different so I did pick up on it pretty quickly. This girl was so pissy standing in my line as I scanned her item and gave her the total. It was like she was thinking, “ugh, this stupid old woman has to be MY cashier? She’s going to do this all wrong and she is so slow. She’s obviously stupid if she has to work here.” So I responded with my own thoughts, “look girlie, I’m college educated and I’ve got more professional experience than you’ve got years on this planet. Get over your damned self and be happy you’ve got money to buy shit you don’t really need.”
Yeah I’m sure she was most likely thinking, “I’ve got places to go and things to do hurry this up so I can get out of here.” But that’s not quite how it felt to me. Her sighs of impatience hit where it hurts. However, the next customer in line started with, “I’ll be much friendlier than her.” So I know it wasn’t just me being over sensitive.
It’s been a very long time since I’ve worked retail. Standing for 5+ hours non-stop is NOT cool. My legs, ankles and back ache after about the first 3 hours of working. At the end of the night when I sit down in my car I can feel every muscle/joint in my body screaming. How do you re-train your body to handle this kind of thing? Does anyone have tips on soothing these aching parts? I’ve put insoles into my gym shoes (yes I get to wear my gym shoes to work), I’ve gotten some compression socks. What else can I do? The past few days I’ve worked I haven’t taken my 10 min break because I’m afraid if I do sit down it will be even more difficult to get up and stand for the rest of my shift. Any help with this kind of thing would be deeply appreciated.
I’m always uncomfortable when I start a new job, you sound braver about it than I normally am. I hadn’t worked in retail until college and I felt like my first customers treated me with the same scorn that Silent Judger did. I stretched before work, at breaks, and little stretches during slow times.
I think taking your 10s are important. So make sure you do that and sit down. Also if they let you drink water at the register do that. You can always take like a tylenol or whatever before your shift that may help. The customers only get worse around holiday. And hopefully you never have to deal with the computers going down because people are mad at you for it as if you had the gall to crash the system. And make sure to eat.