Friday, August 27th, 2004

The opening of the donut/coffee shop (in the supermarket where I work) will be delayed for a few days. In the meantime, I work as a cashier and bagger.

Today was my first day as a cashier. At first I was nervous but I am gaining confidence. Of all the jobs in a supermarket, being a cashier was my last choice.

My trainer is a nice lady from Portugal. She takes pride in her work and does everything exactly as it should be done. For example, the proper way to scan an item is to pass the item over the scanner with your right hand, then use your left hand to retrieve the item.

I have a habit of resting my left hand on the counter. She reminds me and I am sure that I will break this habit. Since I am also a teacher (English as a Second Language) I appreciate her concern as she teaches me. She takes her job very seriously and I will be a better employee through her efforts.

Each job has its unique characteristics. When you scan soft, fragile items (bread, pastries, eggs, etc.) they are placed to the right; heavy items and bulk items (cartons of soda, containers of milk, etc.) are placed on the left. This makes it easier for the bagger to place the heavier items on the bottom and the fragile items on top.

I am learning a lot about identifying food. Before today, peaches, pears, vidalia onions, zucchini, and eggplant were strangers to my vision.

The best part of any job is the people you work with and the people you interact with. I talk and joke with the customers.

Greeting customers is revealing. The generic "How are you?" tells you if the customer is friendly or not. If the customer smiles, I may ask them "How is life treating you?" Of course asking the previous question first surprises the customer usually making them smile.

I have fun with this job. I am a philosopher at heart, enjoy working with people and find it interesting how they react to somebody who is very sociable. Too many people are into themselves. I bring a sense of community to my job.

My coworkers vary in age. Many are high school or college students. Others are middle-aged and some are of retirement age. Some of my older coworkers are there to enhance their retirement; others are there to make ends meet.

The media reports that the economy is improving and that people are going back to work. This is misleading. People are working but there is a big difference between earning a salary and earning minimum wage or even seven, eight, or nine dollars per hour.

The real factor is the economic quality of life. Is your new job allowing you to live close to or the same quality of life as your previous job? Does your new job allow you to feed your family? Pay the rent? Pay for the basic necessities of life?

That is the economic factor that counts. That is something that is impossible to do when you are minimumWaged.