Aren't You Afraid of Working?

I work a lot of night shifts and people always ask me the same question: "Aren't you scared working by yourself at night?"

I used to be. Not so much anymore though.

Of course I'll always be afraid that I'll get robbed or shot, but luckily the police frequent our area often, so that lowers the chances of would-be robbers coming in.

As for everything else though, I don't let shit bother me anymore.

I used to be paranoid when a group of punks or drunks would walk in. But now I just put on my 'night shift face' and handle any problems they throw at me. I also don't hesitate to call the cops if someone tries starting shit in the store. When people see your hand reaching down for the phone, they tend to get nervous and just leave.

The area my store is in is slowly becoming worse, and in about 10-15 years I probably won't want to work there anymore. All the old people in the community are dying or getting thrown in nursing homes, and the losers moving in are what this city is going to become. Our biggest seller will most likely be Swisher Cigarillos.

Ask me in 10-15 years if I'm afraid of working alone at night, and I'll say hell yes. But by then I'll probably be carrying a shotgun to work.

Night Shift Woes

Worked night shift last night. Must have been a full-moon again, I had all the drunks and crack smokers in.

And, last night was the night of people sneezing into their hands and then handing me their money with it. Please, use your shirt to sneeze into!! I don't want your booger germs!

I did have one guy come in trying to 'talk me down' on the price of energy drinks. He wanted me to give him a deal because it was nighttime. Yeah right, we don't haggle on beverages here.

Other than that, there wasn't really any drama. I guess most of the freaks need a night off too?

It was kind of lonely without them.

Off to get some sleep.

Live From Night Shift

So here I am, working the graveyard shift and it's been pretty busy for a Monday night, which can only mean that I will get all the freaks and weirdos in throughout the night.

9pm: Just as I figured. My first customer irritated me by taking forever to hand me her money. This created a long line of customers behind her who then gave me dirty looks because they had to wait so long.

10pm: The parade of weirdos continues. Some guy came in buying beer. As he was walking up to the register, I thought it had snot hanging out of his nose, but it was just a green nose ring. I have also noticed a lot of people lingering around in the parking lot.

11pm: Still more of the same. Once I shut beer down for the night, it usually gets pretty quiet.

12am: If you walk around in my store with your hands in your pockets while staring at me to see if I'm going to watch you steal, then yes, I am watching you while you attempt to steal.

Ahh, the joys of working night shift. Please go to bed, people. You don't need to buy cigarillos or Black & Milds at midnight. Get a job and be in bed like most people.

12:47am - Yay, almost time to shut beer down! Finally, some peace around here.

2am: Just had a customer stand here and talk to me for an hour. That's the only bad part about night shift. People think you have nothing to do but sit and bullshit with them. Although, I don't really have anything to do but blog I guess.

I haven't had a customer walk in for about an hour. Maybe the freaks aren't going to be out all night. Or maybe I just jinxed myself....

2:14am - Reading the newspaper. Nothing interesting. I'm bored.

2:31am - Still bored. Maybe I should go do some work? Still debating it.

3:10am - Geez, people sure do scramble in here when the fresh doughnuts come in!

4:08am - Okay, someone just walked in and tripped onto the floor. Then they got up and left the store. That reminds me of the time I was at the movies and a kid was walking down the steps to go get snacks and tripped on the ground where everyone saw him fall. He never came back to watch the rest of the movie. Probably the most embarrassing $9.00 he ever spent.

4:55am - The night is over, thank God! Until next time.

Calling the Cops

I don't usually hesitate to call the cops on people. Most of the time, when you say you're going to call the cops, they just look at you and stand there. But once you pick up the phone, dial, and start speaking to a dispatcher, that's when a majority of them run. And why are they running? Probably because they did something bad, or were about to.

But I don't know why you guys run, the cops always catch up to you. For instance, I came in one morning, only to have this weirdo kid standing up at the register talking to the night shift girl. He kept asking to use the phone or something like that. When he walked away I asked her what that was about, and she said he's been in and out of the store all night for hours, wanting to use the phone. Normally I would chalk this up to him not having a phone and needing a ride, but moments before I had seen him talking on his cell phone.

So he makes the mistake of coming back in when I'm there. He's going on about how he needs to use the phone, so I tell him he has to leave or I will call the cops. He's like 'Go ahead, I need to make a phone call.” So I did.

I got on the phone, called the police, and started describing him to them. As soon as I mentioned that I thought he was on drugs, he bolted out the front door. We watched as he ran past our windows heading towards the church next door.

Soon after, the night shift girl prepared to walk home. She called me when she got home and said they arrested the kid down the block a little. Apparently he was on methamphetamines or something.

So yeah, while some think I was hard on him for calling the cops just because he wanted to use the phone, it wasn't just that. I could tell he was on something, and who knows, he could have pulled a knife or gun on me in his drug-induced state.

A few hours later, we watched the video surveillance of when he came in, and he was there for about four hours at the store. Three of it was spend on the ground, in the grass outside, talking on his cell phone and swinging his legs around. No wonder he needed to use the phone, his was out of juice!

While these types of freaks aren't all that scary, the ones that ARE scary are really scary. As in, what are they going to do to me scary. Those types of people usually stumble in around 2 or 3 in the morning and look at you like they want to kill you. They bring up their purchase, and then don't say a word to you. While most of the time I would consider this rude of a customer to do, it's actually fine by me even though it scares the hell out of me. I don't want to make them angry in any way, but if they do try to start some shit, I will be on the phone with the police in a second.

It's normal for a convenience store to have some type of protection, namely a gun or some sort of pepper spray. And don't be surprised if a cashier uses it. We're here to work and get paid our daily wages, not to be robbed or beaten.

I sometimes think its a requirement to be a freak before entering a convenience store at night. I mean, we get our share of weirdos during the day too, but almost all of the ones are night are strange. I guess there really is something to be said about needing the sunshine to be happy.

Night Shift Weirdos

Many of our customers at night are regulars, on their way to work or coming home from it. But every so often we will get a weirdo or two, which makes me wonder what asylum let them out in the middle of the night.

Whenever I work night shift, I will not hesitate to call the cops if someone looks suspicious. Even if you are constantly pestering me asking stupid questions in the middle of the night just to be funny, I will call the cops on you to get you out of my face.

Some people think that may be too extreme, but most of the time these people are doped up on drugs and could at any time pull a knife or gun on me. So I'd rather be considered 'too harsh' than standing there being robbed or hurt.

It's funny how on night shift people think they can try and convince me to sell them beer after hours.

Hmm...I'll have to continue that thought. Just got called in to work. :-/