So the past few days we've been getting extremely bad weather here - remnants of Hurricane Sandy. Or Superstorm Sandy, as they called it here.
Normally most people would stay in and ride out the storm, but not our customers.
It was extremely important for our old customers to come out in their huge cars that they can't see out of just to get the newspaper. They risked their lives and other people's lives just for a 75 cent newspaper. But that's no surprise I guess since they come out in snowstorms to read the freaking paper.
We also had people calling us - our phones worked but our power was out - and asking us if our lottery machines were working. Seriously? These people were concerned about playing their lottery numbers than worrying about whether or not the roof was going to rip off of their house!
The one thing that shocked me, though, was that we sold out of batteries. And condoms. Batteries and condoms! I get the batteries for flash lights and stuff (or maybe vibrators), but condoms?
I guess when the power is out there really is nothing else do to.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
A Plethera of Thieves
No one believes me here at work when I say this area is getting worse.
Yet another thief the other day. It makes me wonder how much people DO steal and we only catch the idiots that aren't smart enough to hide it.
This one walked in and went over to the energy drinks right away. He was standing there for awhile and doing the usual glancing-up-at-the-counter-to-see-if-anyone-is-watching stare. Naturally I was watching on the monitor. Sometimes the monitor doesn't show things clearly, though. I thought I saw him shove something down his pants but I wasn't sure.
While I was debating on what to do, he walked out of the store.
Lucky for me he was in a car with three other guys and lucky for me the reason they had pulled into the parking lot in the first place was because they saw a cute girl pumping gas and probably wanted to harass her. While she was inside paying, they were all waiting for her to come back out which gave me time to look up the video and see that yes, indeed, he had shoved a Monster energy drink down his pants. Asshole.
So I go outside and walk up to their car. These four guys looked like complete trash. I needed to take a shower just from looking at them. The one that stole was sitting in the back seat.
I knocked on his window. "You owe me $4."
"For what?" he yelled through the closed window.
"The drink you stole. Either that or I can call the cops."
He started shuffling around inside his pants. It honestly looked like he was masturbating. I wouldn't have been surprised if he was, with the kind of people we've been getting around here.
After a few seconds he produced the Monster energy drink and passed it to the driver to hand to me.
I backed away. "I don't want it, that's been in your pants. Who knows what kind of diseases are on it now." His friends started snickering.
"Well I don't have any money for it," he yelled.
"That's fine, I'll call the cops," I said as I started to walk away.
"Wait!" he yelled. I walked back over and the four guys all started ruffling around in their pants, on the floor, in the glove compartment and in the middle console. Group orgy.
After about a minute they all pooled their various bills and change together and dumped all of it into my outstretched hand.
"Don't ever come in here anymore or I'll call the police and post your pictures at the register," I said as I walked away.
Chasing after $4 energy drinks, come on. At least steal milk and bread. I won't come after you then.
Yet another thief the other day. It makes me wonder how much people DO steal and we only catch the idiots that aren't smart enough to hide it.
This one walked in and went over to the energy drinks right away. He was standing there for awhile and doing the usual glancing-up-at-the-counter-to-see-if-anyone-is-watching stare. Naturally I was watching on the monitor. Sometimes the monitor doesn't show things clearly, though. I thought I saw him shove something down his pants but I wasn't sure.
While I was debating on what to do, he walked out of the store.
Lucky for me he was in a car with three other guys and lucky for me the reason they had pulled into the parking lot in the first place was because they saw a cute girl pumping gas and probably wanted to harass her. While she was inside paying, they were all waiting for her to come back out which gave me time to look up the video and see that yes, indeed, he had shoved a Monster energy drink down his pants. Asshole.
So I go outside and walk up to their car. These four guys looked like complete trash. I needed to take a shower just from looking at them. The one that stole was sitting in the back seat.
I knocked on his window. "You owe me $4."
"For what?" he yelled through the closed window.
"The drink you stole. Either that or I can call the cops."
He started shuffling around inside his pants. It honestly looked like he was masturbating. I wouldn't have been surprised if he was, with the kind of people we've been getting around here.
After a few seconds he produced the Monster energy drink and passed it to the driver to hand to me.
I backed away. "I don't want it, that's been in your pants. Who knows what kind of diseases are on it now." His friends started snickering.
"Well I don't have any money for it," he yelled.
"That's fine, I'll call the cops," I said as I started to walk away.
"Wait!" he yelled. I walked back over and the four guys all started ruffling around in their pants, on the floor, in the glove compartment and in the middle console. Group orgy.
After about a minute they all pooled their various bills and change together and dumped all of it into my outstretched hand.
"Don't ever come in here anymore or I'll call the police and post your pictures at the register," I said as I walked away.
Chasing after $4 energy drinks, come on. At least steal milk and bread. I won't come after you then.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Quitting Employees
My coworkers seem to be dropping like flies lately.
We just had two people quit and another one has walking pneumonia. As for the two that quit, neither of them gave their two weeks notice. I understand that it's a gas station and we see a lot of turnover, but still. Act like a fucking adult and give us time to find someone else to replace your lazy ass. One of them, who is about 45 years old, said she couldn't live off of what she was making at our store. Yet, that didn't seem to bother her when she was told what she was going to start at. Maybe it's the fact that she buys two cases of beer every night as well as a carton of cigarettes every two days. Could that be why she can't afford to live off of what she makes?
We figure that she's a job hopper, and just goes from job to job because she gets bored. Nice example to set for her kids.
The other one that quit was the one that had her car stolen in our parking lot about a month ago. She said that she had a family emergency and couldn't work for us anymore. This one was about to get fired anyways because she had been doing absolutely nothing for the past few weeks.
I think she was wanting us to fire her so she didn't have to quit.
I'll never understand why people do this. I have seen it so many times over the years. People will just stop working once they show up for their shifts. It's always obvious that they are about to quit. Why not just quit and get it over with? It's not like these assholes give two weeks notice, they just stop doing anything for two weeks and finally call a few minutes before their shift and quit.
All I hear all the time are people bitching about how they need more hours because they need the money. The ones that complain the loudest about this are the ones that are always the first to go once we give them the hours they want.
I don't know, I'm just sick of people again I guess.
And now that the holidays are coming up, customers are going to be shitfaces to us too. Happy holidays to me!
We just had two people quit and another one has walking pneumonia. As for the two that quit, neither of them gave their two weeks notice. I understand that it's a gas station and we see a lot of turnover, but still. Act like a fucking adult and give us time to find someone else to replace your lazy ass. One of them, who is about 45 years old, said she couldn't live off of what she was making at our store. Yet, that didn't seem to bother her when she was told what she was going to start at. Maybe it's the fact that she buys two cases of beer every night as well as a carton of cigarettes every two days. Could that be why she can't afford to live off of what she makes?
We figure that she's a job hopper, and just goes from job to job because she gets bored. Nice example to set for her kids.
The other one that quit was the one that had her car stolen in our parking lot about a month ago. She said that she had a family emergency and couldn't work for us anymore. This one was about to get fired anyways because she had been doing absolutely nothing for the past few weeks.
I think she was wanting us to fire her so she didn't have to quit.
I'll never understand why people do this. I have seen it so many times over the years. People will just stop working once they show up for their shifts. It's always obvious that they are about to quit. Why not just quit and get it over with? It's not like these assholes give two weeks notice, they just stop doing anything for two weeks and finally call a few minutes before their shift and quit.
All I hear all the time are people bitching about how they need more hours because they need the money. The ones that complain the loudest about this are the ones that are always the first to go once we give them the hours they want.
I don't know, I'm just sick of people again I guess.
And now that the holidays are coming up, customers are going to be shitfaces to us too. Happy holidays to me!
Thursday, September 27, 2012
First Time for Everything
Well, it finally happened.
One of my co-workers got her car stolen while at work.
There's a church next door to our store and we mostly park in their parking lot during work. We've never had a problem with anyone messing with our cars. Until now.
I was working the other day with my co-worker Sarah. She's a young college student working at our store part-time while going to school full-time.
She worked with me until noon on our last shift together. After we did shift change, she left for the day. Shortly after, she came back in with a funny look on her face.
"What's wrong?" I asked. I figured a customer had pissed her off or something.
"My car's gone," she said quietly.
"What? Your car is gone?" I said while peering out into the parking lot to look for her car.
"I parked it next to your car this morning when I came into work. It's not there now," she said, slowly starting to panic. "I already called the police. Is it okay if I wait here for them to arrive?"
"Yeah," I said while heading outside. I guess I had to see for myself that her car was gone. I walked to the parking lot and stood next to my car. Yep, sure enough, big empty parking spot next to my car.
So naturally I came inside to look it up on camera to see if I could find anything.
After much searching, the person who stole her car was a customer that I had rung up. I had never seen him before, but I did mention after he left our store that he looked kind of shady. I must have sensed that he was up to no good. He bought a lighter but kept talking to himself while I was ringing him up. While that's the normal around here, I still found him to be strange.
After he left our store, he walked right next door to the parking lot and got right into her car like it was his. No hesitation, nothing. Which caused me to ask Sarah if she had locked her car doors. And of course she hadn't. But he somehow hotwired the car to get it to start and then drove away with it.
All of this had happened at 8:30am. She didn't notice her car was gone until after her shift at 12 noon. I figured he was on his way to Mexico by now with her car.
Much much later, the police finally showed up. First thing he asked Sarah was if she was caught up on payments for her car. (Thinking it had been repo'd I guess.)
I ended up going home that day a few hours later, but I called up to the store to see if they had found her car.
Apparently this guy stole her car and drove it across the street to a strip of stores. He parked it behind the building and ended up stealing her car stereo and all the clothes she had in her car. Other than that, no other damage was done.
Still, this asshole had taken her car from a church parking lot. Is nothing sacred any more???
I wish there was a device that would automatically pepper spray someone once they started messing with wires or something inside of a car. But then a lot of mechanics would run around with burning eyes.
I always lock my car doors. I don't trust anyone. But now I'm extra sure I keep my car parked in a spot that is visible to me at all times. Fuck these assholes with no jobs that go around stealing other people's stuff.
One of my co-workers got her car stolen while at work.
There's a church next door to our store and we mostly park in their parking lot during work. We've never had a problem with anyone messing with our cars. Until now.
I was working the other day with my co-worker Sarah. She's a young college student working at our store part-time while going to school full-time.
She worked with me until noon on our last shift together. After we did shift change, she left for the day. Shortly after, she came back in with a funny look on her face.
"What's wrong?" I asked. I figured a customer had pissed her off or something.
"My car's gone," she said quietly.
"What? Your car is gone?" I said while peering out into the parking lot to look for her car.
"I parked it next to your car this morning when I came into work. It's not there now," she said, slowly starting to panic. "I already called the police. Is it okay if I wait here for them to arrive?"
"Yeah," I said while heading outside. I guess I had to see for myself that her car was gone. I walked to the parking lot and stood next to my car. Yep, sure enough, big empty parking spot next to my car.
So naturally I came inside to look it up on camera to see if I could find anything.
After much searching, the person who stole her car was a customer that I had rung up. I had never seen him before, but I did mention after he left our store that he looked kind of shady. I must have sensed that he was up to no good. He bought a lighter but kept talking to himself while I was ringing him up. While that's the normal around here, I still found him to be strange.
After he left our store, he walked right next door to the parking lot and got right into her car like it was his. No hesitation, nothing. Which caused me to ask Sarah if she had locked her car doors. And of course she hadn't. But he somehow hotwired the car to get it to start and then drove away with it.
All of this had happened at 8:30am. She didn't notice her car was gone until after her shift at 12 noon. I figured he was on his way to Mexico by now with her car.
Much much later, the police finally showed up. First thing he asked Sarah was if she was caught up on payments for her car. (Thinking it had been repo'd I guess.)
I ended up going home that day a few hours later, but I called up to the store to see if they had found her car.
Apparently this guy stole her car and drove it across the street to a strip of stores. He parked it behind the building and ended up stealing her car stereo and all the clothes she had in her car. Other than that, no other damage was done.
Still, this asshole had taken her car from a church parking lot. Is nothing sacred any more???
I wish there was a device that would automatically pepper spray someone once they started messing with wires or something inside of a car. But then a lot of mechanics would run around with burning eyes.
I always lock my car doors. I don't trust anyone. But now I'm extra sure I keep my car parked in a spot that is visible to me at all times. Fuck these assholes with no jobs that go around stealing other people's stuff.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
I'm Not Alone...
As you can see, I am not the only cashier that does little things to get my revenge. Here is a recent comment by Anonymous:
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Little Things I Do To Get My Revenge":
I work at a supermarket. I get terribly rude customers all the time. I once had a lady literally snatch her receipt out of my hand, I was polite and I had done nothing wrong. I have had a customer say "Oh I forgot something, I'll quickly go get it." She came back 15 minutes later. I have customers who are on the phone and don't say anything to me and get annoyed when I have to tell them the total of their purchase, extremely rude. I have customers say to me "I'm in a hurry, please be fast". or "I have a doctors appointment in 5 minutes, can you hurry?" No! It's your own fault for not a)shopping fast enough, or b) being late! So when I get pissed off at work (which is a lot of the time) I tend to do things.
1) I squish their bread as I 'gently' place it in their bag.
2) If they are buying tofu, it gets squished.
3) The cap of the milk is slightly opened.
4) I overpack bags (Our bags keep getting thinner).
5) I don't ask if they would like the beef or other meat separate from the rest of their food (We have to ask, I've had a lady yell at me for not asking when I did, she wasn't listening)
6) I take as long as possible to put through their payment.
7) if you give me a large note (say a $100 note) and you only spend $45.15, I will give you back 3 $10 notes, 2 $5notes, 2 $2 coins, 1 $1 coin, a 20cent coin, 6 10cent coins and a 5cent piece. And then i will say, in a sickly sweet voice, "Sorry about the small change" and smile.
So really, don't be rude to us. We are nice people and we have done nothing wrong to you, yet, so if you are polite to us, we will be polite to you.
Stuff not to do:
1) Instructing us how to pack bags is not nice. We know how to pack bags, we work at a supermarket.
2)Don't give me your green bags after I have packed half your stuff in plastic (Plastic bags are free in our store). I will not repack what I have already packed.
3)If you have two small items and the person behind you has many items, DO NOT hold your two items, because I will assume you are both together and start on the large transaction (because I don't see your items). So don't get mad at me for that.
4)You can start unpacking your load when there is a metre gap between your items and the person in front of you, I can see where theirs stops, I'm not an idiot. And unpacking all your stuff once i have put through their payment, are you trying to hold up the whole store?
5) Shove your Flybuys (or other rewards card) under my nose throughout the whole transaction, as you can probably see I am busy, half the time both hands are literally full. I will put it through at the end, calm down.
6) If you swipe your own Flybuys (or rewards card) and LITERALLY SMACK MY HAND OUT OF THE WAY, I will be pissed off, and that is putting it lightly. Can you be any ruder? I mean really? Are you that impatient? Do you like hitting 18 year old girls? Don't be a dickhead, you think it saves time, but it just gets us mad.
I get mad, yes, but is it warranted? Yes.
Be nice to cashiers and we will be nice to you.
I'm polite and courteous to everyone who comes through my checkout. But if you are rude or treat me badly, things will happen to your food..
At least I know I'm not the only one out there! I think I should start a Cashiers Anonymous group so we can all vent our frustrations. I could pass out packages of Little Debbie snack cakes so we can all practice squeezing them.
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Little Things I Do To Get My Revenge":
I work at a supermarket. I get terribly rude customers all the time. I once had a lady literally snatch her receipt out of my hand, I was polite and I had done nothing wrong. I have had a customer say "Oh I forgot something, I'll quickly go get it." She came back 15 minutes later. I have customers who are on the phone and don't say anything to me and get annoyed when I have to tell them the total of their purchase, extremely rude. I have customers say to me "I'm in a hurry, please be fast". or "I have a doctors appointment in 5 minutes, can you hurry?" No! It's your own fault for not a)shopping fast enough, or b) being late! So when I get pissed off at work (which is a lot of the time) I tend to do things.
1) I squish their bread as I 'gently' place it in their bag.
2) If they are buying tofu, it gets squished.
3) The cap of the milk is slightly opened.
4) I overpack bags (Our bags keep getting thinner).
5) I don't ask if they would like the beef or other meat separate from the rest of their food (We have to ask, I've had a lady yell at me for not asking when I did, she wasn't listening)
6) I take as long as possible to put through their payment.
7) if you give me a large note (say a $100 note) and you only spend $45.15, I will give you back 3 $10 notes, 2 $5notes, 2 $2 coins, 1 $1 coin, a 20cent coin, 6 10cent coins and a 5cent piece. And then i will say, in a sickly sweet voice, "Sorry about the small change" and smile.
So really, don't be rude to us. We are nice people and we have done nothing wrong to you, yet, so if you are polite to us, we will be polite to you.
Stuff not to do:
1) Instructing us how to pack bags is not nice. We know how to pack bags, we work at a supermarket.
2)Don't give me your green bags after I have packed half your stuff in plastic (Plastic bags are free in our store). I will not repack what I have already packed.
3)If you have two small items and the person behind you has many items, DO NOT hold your two items, because I will assume you are both together and start on the large transaction (because I don't see your items). So don't get mad at me for that.
4)You can start unpacking your load when there is a metre gap between your items and the person in front of you, I can see where theirs stops, I'm not an idiot. And unpacking all your stuff once i have put through their payment, are you trying to hold up the whole store?
5) Shove your Flybuys (or other rewards card) under my nose throughout the whole transaction, as you can probably see I am busy, half the time both hands are literally full. I will put it through at the end, calm down.
6) If you swipe your own Flybuys (or rewards card) and LITERALLY SMACK MY HAND OUT OF THE WAY, I will be pissed off, and that is putting it lightly. Can you be any ruder? I mean really? Are you that impatient? Do you like hitting 18 year old girls? Don't be a dickhead, you think it saves time, but it just gets us mad.
I get mad, yes, but is it warranted? Yes.
Be nice to cashiers and we will be nice to you.
I'm polite and courteous to everyone who comes through my checkout. But if you are rude or treat me badly, things will happen to your food..
At least I know I'm not the only one out there! I think I should start a Cashiers Anonymous group so we can all vent our frustrations. I could pass out packages of Little Debbie snack cakes so we can all practice squeezing them.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Tell Me What You REALLY Think...
I received this comment the other day on my "Little Things I Do to Get My Revenge" post.
Anonymous said...
I am sure you enjoy little acts of revenge, but at the end of the day the real issue is that you are working in a convenience store. Maybe you should get some more education and seek more satisfying employment elsewhere.
Why does everyone assume that someone working in a convenience store has little to no education? Times are tough out there and not many people are hiring for any type of job. When we DO hire, we get applications where there are WAY too many people with years and years of professional experience in their field, yet they just can't seem to make ends meet and are looking for a second job to help out with some of the bills.
Also, wouldn't working in a convenience store be better than some of these assholes that don't have a job at all? There are people that live off the government or scam them, yet it's okay because at least they aren't working in a convenience store? So it would be okay if I sat on the side of the road scratching my crotch all day instead of working in a *gasp* convenience store?
Don't assume anything about anyone, Anonymous. Where a person works should not matter who they are or what you may think of them. But it seems that you like to judge people on what type of job they have.
I graduated from college 10 years ago. (jesus, has it been that long?)
I am a published author with my second book coming out next month.
I happen to work where I do because it is my family's business. Sure, some customers suck, but I like working with my family. And not all customers are bad. Like I said, they've been behaving themselves lately so I've been extremely bored at work.
Why do I write this blog? Because there are a lot of people that can relate to what I go through with customers and they like to read about it.
So Anonymous, don't assume someone needs more education or that they need to find more life fulfilling work just because they work at a convenience store. Everyone has to work and not everyone likes their jobs but they do it anyways. It's called "Work" for a reason. That's why people say they hate getting up for "Work" and not that they hate getting up for "Fun"!
Anonymous said...
I am sure you enjoy little acts of revenge, but at the end of the day the real issue is that you are working in a convenience store. Maybe you should get some more education and seek more satisfying employment elsewhere.
Why does everyone assume that someone working in a convenience store has little to no education? Times are tough out there and not many people are hiring for any type of job. When we DO hire, we get applications where there are WAY too many people with years and years of professional experience in their field, yet they just can't seem to make ends meet and are looking for a second job to help out with some of the bills.
Also, wouldn't working in a convenience store be better than some of these assholes that don't have a job at all? There are people that live off the government or scam them, yet it's okay because at least they aren't working in a convenience store? So it would be okay if I sat on the side of the road scratching my crotch all day instead of working in a *gasp* convenience store?
Don't assume anything about anyone, Anonymous. Where a person works should not matter who they are or what you may think of them. But it seems that you like to judge people on what type of job they have.
I graduated from college 10 years ago. (jesus, has it been that long?)
I am a published author with my second book coming out next month.
I happen to work where I do because it is my family's business. Sure, some customers suck, but I like working with my family. And not all customers are bad. Like I said, they've been behaving themselves lately so I've been extremely bored at work.
Why do I write this blog? Because there are a lot of people that can relate to what I go through with customers and they like to read about it.
So Anonymous, don't assume someone needs more education or that they need to find more life fulfilling work just because they work at a convenience store. Everyone has to work and not everyone likes their jobs but they do it anyways. It's called "Work" for a reason. That's why people say they hate getting up for "Work" and not that they hate getting up for "Fun"!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Lying Scumbag Thieves...Is There Any Other Kind?
Sorry I've been MIA, been real busy and customers haven't actually been too bad lately.
I was just saying that to someone the other day, which of course means I jinxed myself.
I was working the other day when I had to go up front to help get rid of the line that had formed. My coworker was ringing up a guy's purchase and his card kept declining.
I wasn't too sure what was going on but I saw the customer grab his bag and walk to the back of the store.
"Did he pay for that?" I asked my coworker.
"No, his card declined. He said he'd put the items back himself."
Now, I hate when customers do this. Usually when they don't want their purchase I will tell them I'll put the items back. Why? Because some of them steal the items that they can't afford to pay for.
So my coworker started watching him put the items back on the little monitor we have up front. The customer put whatever he bought back in the cooler and leaves the store. Shortly after that, my coworker walks from behind the register saying "He didn't put the nail clippers back," and she follows him out the door.
So I figured she'd go confront him, that's what I usually do unless they scare the hell out of me. This was a guy about 25 years old. I would have went out and said something to him.
My coworker is gone for about ten seconds when she comes back in and yells out a license plate to me. Now, we train them to get the license plate of people that steal or drive off with gas, but I'm thinking "Really? I'm not calling the cops to chase after a guy for $1.49."
So I go outside instead. In my hand I had a piece of paper where I had written down his license plate when she yelled it out to me.
I stop him while he's pulling out of his parking spot. He rolls down his window.
"Where are the nail clippers?" I ask.
"I put them back."
"I don't see them. Where did you put them?"
"I put them where they belong," he says, slightly agitated.
"No you didn't, you just put back the Red Bull. You didn't go anywhere near the other shelves. Did you put them in your pocket?"
"No!" he yells. "I put them somewhere, I just threw them on a shelf!" He was getting really pissed.
"Fine," I said. "If I can't find them I'm giving your license plate number to the police," I said and stormed inside.
I hadn't wanted to press the issue too far because
A) They were just nail clippers and
B) I hadn't yet checked out the security video and was just going on the word of my coworker, which can sometimes be wrong.
But, I don't care that he had just stolen something that was only $1.49, it's the point that I don't want this fuckface in my store because if he steals something small the first time and gets away with it, he'll steal more each time he comes in.
So I went back inside and about an hour later looked up the security video. Sure enough, he put back his Red Bulls in the cooler and you could see him stick something in his pocket, which could only have been the nail clippers.
Naturally, I wasn't going to call the cops for $1.49 so I just decided we had to let it go.
I was doing paperwork in the back room about an hour later when my coworker called me up front. There she was, ringing up the thief that had stolen the nail clippers. She was ringing him up for a pair of NAIL CLIPPERS!
"He said he forgot that they were in his pocket," my coworker said.
I looked at him and he smiled at me sheepishly. "You forgot that you put them in your pocket? Even after I asked you about them in your car?"
"Yeah," he said. "I'm embarrassed. I forgot they were in there." Then he smiled at me while his face turned red.
So I told him that he wasn't allowed in the store anymore and that I didn't want any thieves around here. He agreed, paid for the nail clippers and left.
That's probably a first that someone has come back to pay for something they stole after being confronted about it. It probably scared him that I had his license plate number.
Does this mean that there's more to come? The Dreaded Church Carnival is less than a month away!
I was just saying that to someone the other day, which of course means I jinxed myself.
I was working the other day when I had to go up front to help get rid of the line that had formed. My coworker was ringing up a guy's purchase and his card kept declining.
I wasn't too sure what was going on but I saw the customer grab his bag and walk to the back of the store.
"Did he pay for that?" I asked my coworker.
"No, his card declined. He said he'd put the items back himself."
Now, I hate when customers do this. Usually when they don't want their purchase I will tell them I'll put the items back. Why? Because some of them steal the items that they can't afford to pay for.
So my coworker started watching him put the items back on the little monitor we have up front. The customer put whatever he bought back in the cooler and leaves the store. Shortly after that, my coworker walks from behind the register saying "He didn't put the nail clippers back," and she follows him out the door.
So I figured she'd go confront him, that's what I usually do unless they scare the hell out of me. This was a guy about 25 years old. I would have went out and said something to him.
My coworker is gone for about ten seconds when she comes back in and yells out a license plate to me. Now, we train them to get the license plate of people that steal or drive off with gas, but I'm thinking "Really? I'm not calling the cops to chase after a guy for $1.49."
So I go outside instead. In my hand I had a piece of paper where I had written down his license plate when she yelled it out to me.
I stop him while he's pulling out of his parking spot. He rolls down his window.
"Where are the nail clippers?" I ask.
"I put them back."
"I don't see them. Where did you put them?"
"I put them where they belong," he says, slightly agitated.
"No you didn't, you just put back the Red Bull. You didn't go anywhere near the other shelves. Did you put them in your pocket?"
"No!" he yells. "I put them somewhere, I just threw them on a shelf!" He was getting really pissed.
"Fine," I said. "If I can't find them I'm giving your license plate number to the police," I said and stormed inside.
I hadn't wanted to press the issue too far because
A) They were just nail clippers and
B) I hadn't yet checked out the security video and was just going on the word of my coworker, which can sometimes be wrong.
But, I don't care that he had just stolen something that was only $1.49, it's the point that I don't want this fuckface in my store because if he steals something small the first time and gets away with it, he'll steal more each time he comes in.
So I went back inside and about an hour later looked up the security video. Sure enough, he put back his Red Bulls in the cooler and you could see him stick something in his pocket, which could only have been the nail clippers.
Naturally, I wasn't going to call the cops for $1.49 so I just decided we had to let it go.
I was doing paperwork in the back room about an hour later when my coworker called me up front. There she was, ringing up the thief that had stolen the nail clippers. She was ringing him up for a pair of NAIL CLIPPERS!
"He said he forgot that they were in his pocket," my coworker said.
I looked at him and he smiled at me sheepishly. "You forgot that you put them in your pocket? Even after I asked you about them in your car?"
"Yeah," he said. "I'm embarrassed. I forgot they were in there." Then he smiled at me while his face turned red.
So I told him that he wasn't allowed in the store anymore and that I didn't want any thieves around here. He agreed, paid for the nail clippers and left.
That's probably a first that someone has come back to pay for something they stole after being confronted about it. It probably scared him that I had his license plate number.
Does this mean that there's more to come? The Dreaded Church Carnival is less than a month away!
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