have any idea what they want to give. It is up to the sales assistants to spend two hours looking for them (and they’d better find something good!). There are also those who arrive three minutes before closing and who still haven’t made their mind up, when the lights go out (darkness isn’t great for choosing what colour plates to buy).
And of course at the tills you find the same cordiality and politeness as normal but worse … Today truly there are only bad offers to be had. All the prices have gone up for the event. And it’s obviously your fault. So you can read in their furious glances: ‘You expect me to pay an arm and a leg, you don’t want a thank you as well surely!’ and/or ‘You’re not the one who has to cook this turkey so hurry up, you stupid bird.’
But don’t forget to keep smiling sincerely even when they shout at you for the fiftieth time that day because you can’t wrap presents or because you haven’t provided a nice piece of ribbon to hide the horrible colour of the packaging, which – what bad taste – includes the store’s logo! ‘It’s not very Christmassy, your hideous packaging!’
And you must wish them Merry Christmas and Happy New Year as you give them your nicest smile. And you will have to repeat at least 350 times, about five times more than normal, ‘Yes, I check each time that you have received the reduction.’
Actually, the comparison between Christmas and the sales is not accurate. The decorations (multicoloured tinsel and plastic Christmas trees vs special-offer posters screaming ‘50% off’) are quite different. You might be wearing a Father Christmas hat on 24 December. For the sales you will be wearing a goblin hat. In both cases though youwill look ridiculous (and the glamorous or grandma outfit won’t help …)
Another important difference to bear in mind is that on Christmas Eve your store will close at 7 p.m. instead of 10 p.m. (as it does on the first day of the sales). Yes, but you can be sure that you will be just as tired and at the end of your tether.
And when the doors finally close and you think that you can breathe again, don’t be surprised to see a frustrated consumer getting heated and yelling, ‘Let me in! I have to buy a present!’
‘We’re closed, madam,’ the security guard replies.
‘What? But that’s not possible, I can’t go home without a present!’
‘We’re closed, madam,’ he will repeat several times.
You are allowed to laugh (inside). If necessary, you can defend yourself by saying it was nervous laughter …
And don’t forget that most of the presents chosen with care, or not, by your customers will end up on websites at half price on Boxing Day … OK then, Christmas is a bit like the first day of the sales after all.
Happy Christmas, enjoy your supermarket dash and be sure to be up at the crack of dawn on Boxing Day to be first online for the best bargains …
COUNTDOWN
Saturday, 3 January: my last day. No, it’s not a dream!
All the familiar gestures and words I’ve repeated tens of thousands of times … today will be the last time. I can’t believe it! I’d like to sit down to think about it but … I have to work. (‘Just because it’s your last day doesn’t mean you’re being paid to do nothing!’)
I arrive at the Office and say hello, as I do every day (they actually answer this morning). It’s the last time I will look at the board to find out my hours and which tills I’ll be working on: Till 12 until 3 p.m., Till 13 until 9 p.m. – oh joy, next to the freezers all day! And I forgot my scarf!
As usual I glance at my cash box and check whether I have enough coin rolls for the day. Yet again, I ask for£1 and £2 coins. I take a few sheets of paper towel (just in case a packet of crisps breaks, a bogey gets stuck to my fingers, a customer needs to blow his nose after sneezing on me or another of life’s pleasures) and leave the Office.
I only have a few hours left
And of course at the tills you find the same cordiality and politeness as normal but worse … Today truly there are only bad offers to be had. All the prices have gone up for the event. And it’s obviously your fault. So you can read in their furious glances: ‘You expect me to pay an arm and a leg, you don’t want a thank you as well surely!’ and/or ‘You’re not the one who has to cook this turkey so hurry up, you stupid bird.’
But don’t forget to keep smiling sincerely even when they shout at you for the fiftieth time that day because you can’t wrap presents or because you haven’t provided a nice piece of ribbon to hide the horrible colour of the packaging, which – what bad taste – includes the store’s logo! ‘It’s not very Christmassy, your hideous packaging!’
And you must wish them Merry Christmas and Happy New Year as you give them your nicest smile. And you will have to repeat at least 350 times, about five times more than normal, ‘Yes, I check each time that you have received the reduction.’
Actually, the comparison between Christmas and the sales is not accurate. The decorations (multicoloured tinsel and plastic Christmas trees vs special-offer posters screaming ‘50% off’) are quite different. You might be wearing a Father Christmas hat on 24 December. For the sales you will be wearing a goblin hat. In both cases though youwill look ridiculous (and the glamorous or grandma outfit won’t help …)
Another important difference to bear in mind is that on Christmas Eve your store will close at 7 p.m. instead of 10 p.m. (as it does on the first day of the sales). Yes, but you can be sure that you will be just as tired and at the end of your tether.
And when the doors finally close and you think that you can breathe again, don’t be surprised to see a frustrated consumer getting heated and yelling, ‘Let me in! I have to buy a present!’
‘We’re closed, madam,’ the security guard replies.
‘What? But that’s not possible, I can’t go home without a present!’
‘We’re closed, madam,’ he will repeat several times.
You are allowed to laugh (inside). If necessary, you can defend yourself by saying it was nervous laughter …
And don’t forget that most of the presents chosen with care, or not, by your customers will end up on websites at half price on Boxing Day … OK then, Christmas is a bit like the first day of the sales after all.
Happy Christmas, enjoy your supermarket dash and be sure to be up at the crack of dawn on Boxing Day to be first online for the best bargains …
COUNTDOWN
Saturday, 3 January: my last day. No, it’s not a dream!
All the familiar gestures and words I’ve repeated tens of thousands of times … today will be the last time. I can’t believe it! I’d like to sit down to think about it but … I have to work. (‘Just because it’s your last day doesn’t mean you’re being paid to do nothing!’)
I arrive at the Office and say hello, as I do every day (they actually answer this morning). It’s the last time I will look at the board to find out my hours and which tills I’ll be working on: Till 12 until 3 p.m., Till 13 until 9 p.m. – oh joy, next to the freezers all day! And I forgot my scarf!
As usual I glance at my cash box and check whether I have enough coin rolls for the day. Yet again, I ask for£1 and £2 coins. I take a few sheets of paper towel (just in case a packet of crisps breaks, a bogey gets stuck to my fingers, a customer needs to blow his nose after sneezing on me or another of life’s pleasures) and leave the Office.
I only have a few hours left
Similar Books
