Pros and Cons Of Cashiering

To start off this blog, I just want to say that I love cashiering. For me, it is super fun and very interesting. I have only been a cashier for approximately 8 months. Every day is a different adventure. However, there are many challenges as well that every cashier goes through on a daily basis. Here is a list of the pros and the cons of cashiering, through my point of view.

PROS

1) Helping people: As a cashier, I love to help people whether it is telling them the price of a product or telling them what isle is their product in. Somehow I am taking out some of their stress, making their lives easier.

2) Working with the best coworkers: Right now, I am working with the best people. They are nice and caring. They really help me out whenever I need help, or whether I am running late they are there to cover for me.

3) Specials: Every job has their own perks to it. A person that works in a place has certain advantages. For example, the people that work in a hair salon, they get their hair done for free. Our advantages, at least in the supermarket I work for, we get lower prices in the deli. For example, a regular salad is 6.49 dollars for a customer. For us the employees it ranges from 1.00-3.00 dollars. For me, this is really great because I love salads. We also get the sodas for 50 cents :) Another special that we have is that we do not need to apply for a clubs card, we get it automatically. This is great because weekly specials are amazing. Many people do not get those specials because they do not have the card, but us, employees do not have to worry about it.

4) Tips: Who doesn’t love tips? This is one of my favorite parts of the job because we can make extra cash through tips. Tips are amazing because I do not have to worry about having money for lunch because my lunch comes from the tips I make.

5) Meeting amazing people: Everyday I meet great people. I love when people go with their cool vibes, all smiling. This makes me so happy because then I am also in a good mood. Don’t get me wrong. I am always in a good mood at work.

6) Babies: There are so many babies that go to the supermarket I work at. I love babies. They are always smiling, and having a blast in their strollers.

7) Payday: Like any other job, one of the best things about working is getting paid.

8) No taxes: One of the benefits of being a cashier, is that we do not pay the product's taxes. #lit.

CONS

1) Constant judgment: As a cashier, we are the ones that get blamed for everything. The reason for this is because we are the only ones they look at first. People do not understand the fact that all we do is cashier. We do not know about the prices, and if they are marked wrong it is not our fault.

2) We can’t say no: At least in my case, I feel like I cannot say no, because that is just rude. When my manager or my boss sends me to clean the offices or the bathroom, I have to do it, obligao. I can’t be like, “No. Sorry. I am not feeling it.” If I do this I bet I will get fired. So with a smile on my face, I say, “Sure.”

3) Cashiers are not stupid!: There have been two cases where people come to me and try to pay me with fake dollar bills, like? Every bill $10, $20, $50, and $100 I check them to see if they are real. It is funny how people think we don’t know about those things or the simple fact that we look dumb to the customer.

4) Too many coins: I understand that money is money, but paying $5 dollars in dimes is too much! As cashiers, we cannot turn the money down, but accept it with a smile. Like ughhhh.

5) Too cold: The supermarket I work in is always freezing. Like you know what freezing is? People every day complain about it being too cold. But you know, we need to keep the products cool.

6) Paying people that change bottles: I am a germaphobe. When people come with their ticket to cash out the money, I always try to use hand sanitizer, because all those bottles and cans have a lot of bacteria. In my job, I cannot use gloves so that is like, very frustrating.

7) Too much trust: One of the things I do not like about cashiering is when people take your kindness for weakness. When people are like missing a few changes I give it to them. But when it is consistently, is like, come on. They are taking advantage of me, and I don’t like that. Or when they take your tips to pay for their groceries without permission.

8) Take your things: One of the things that really irks me is when people leave their things in the cashier, and then they say “Can I leave these here? I just have to get a few more things.” Like? The purpose of the carts is for you to use them and put your groceries there, not at the cashier.

9) Constant catcalls: I am one of those girls that hate piropos, or getting hit on. I find it very disrespectful. As a cashier, you are always interacting with people. There are always those customers that love to hit on cashiers. For me, this is very disgusting.

10) Baggers: This is the thing. People might see this as selfish, but I just don’t like it. I dislike when people bag for me. Yes, they are not getting paid, so the money they make is from the tips. But I hate feeling useless and just standing there watching them pack. I am not lazy, I need to stay active, doing something. I like to bag. Some cashiers might be like, “Are you crazy?” I just do.

Now, you might be thinking, why would someone cashier with all these cons instead of pros? In my case, I love going to work. Ever since I was really young, I wanted to be a cashier, because, through my little eyes, I used to believe their jobs were fun. Every day I go to work with a smile because I love what I am doing. Every day I work, I come home with a smile because I am just happy.

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Storytime!!!!!

I was in my Senior year of high school, and I needed a job. My sister was working in Chipotle. She had a lot of benefits, like getting paid when she was sick, or when she was on vacation. I was like, “But who doesn’t want to work in Chipotle?” So I applied to 3 and waited for their email for the job interview. I got one. I went to the Chipotle near my school. In my eyes, the interview went well. Days went by, and I didn’t get the email, with my destiny. So I called. The girl in charge was like, “I am so sorry for not getting to you back. I will send you an email.” Minutes later I got the email. I didn’t get the job. I was sad. I kept applying. I kept getting interviews. I kept getting denied. It got to a point where I questioned myself, “What is wrong with me?”

I told my friend what kept happening. She was a cashier at the time. She told me, “Girl, why don’t you just apply to work in a supermarket?” I thought about it. I was like, facts! At the time I had 3 friends that worked as cashiers in the supermarket. So I went to the office and got 3 supermarkets near where I lived. I wrote down their numbers and gave them a call asking them if they were hiring. Two of them said no, and the other one said to go for an application. So after school, I went and got the application. I filled it home and took it the next day. I gave them a week to get back to me. They didn’t. So I called and talked to the boss and asked him if he reviewed my application. He said he hadn’t that he was going to. I gave him 3 days. I called again, they said that he was on it. I called in 3 more days. He said to come into the store. I was super nervous because I thought he was going to be like, “Stop calling me.” I got to the store, he was like when can you start training I was like, “As soon as possible.” He said that he was going to hire me because he saw how much I wanted to work, and how dedicated I was to get the position. I trained for one week. Then I officially started working.

I’ve been a cashier for about 8 months. My bosses love me :) I am super happy. However, I will be leaving on January 15, 2019, because I am off to college. This makes me really sad because I really got attached to my managers and coworkers. I am going to miss them, but you know Babson waiting ;)

Thank you for giving me the time of your day to read this piece. If you have any questions regarding high school do not hesitate to ask me. If you have any suggestions please let me know. Remember I am not the best writer. If you do happen to find a grammar mistake on this piece, please email me.

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Stay tuned for my next blog -> Childhood Memoirs Part Uno ;)

XOXO Yerika