Transcription
Okay, Sarah, breathe. It is just a supermarket. It is not prison. Day one. I can do this. I need to pay rent. Rent is important.
Oh no. Shift starts in five minutes. Shift means my work time, the hours I have to be here. Okay. Goodbye, fashion blogger Sarah. And hello, supermarket Sarah. See this smile? It's fake. F A K E. Not real. But in customer service, you smile all day. Every single day. Time to be nice to everyone, even when they're well, you'll see.
First customer of the day. Let's see how this goes.
"I want to return this."
"Okay, no problem. Do you have the receipt?"
"The receipt is the paper that shows you bought this here."
"No, I don't need a receipt. I bought this yesterday."
"I understand, but I need the receipt to process a refund. A refund means I give your money back."
"Why? I bought it yesterday from this store."
"Because that's the rule. Without a receipt, I can only give you store credit. Store credit means you get a card with the money, but you can only use it here in this store."
"That's ridiculous. I want my money back."
"I'm sorry, but store credit is the best I can do without a receipt."
"Is there a problem here?"
"She won't give me a refund."
"Just give the store credit."
"Okay, your store credit is $15.47."
"This is terrible service."
"Day one, customer one. Great start."
"Hey, Sarah. Sarah, I need to return this."
"Hey, Tom. What's wrong?"
"This water is broken. It burns my tongue."
"Burns? Let me see. Tom, this is sparkling water."
"So, what does sparkling mean?"
"Sparkling means it has bubbles. Little bubbles of gas. It's supposed to feel fizzy."
"Fizzy?"
"Like soda, like Coca-Cola, but no sugar. Just water with bubbles."
"Oh, I thought sparkling means shiny. Like shiny water. Special expensive water."
"Shiny water, Tom. Really?"
"Well, I've never tried it before. Can I return it?"
"See this? You opened it. The seal is broken. Once you open something, I can't take it back. No refund for opened items."
"But I only took one sip."
"Sorry, Tom. That's the rule. But now you know. Sparkling water has bubbles. Still water has no bubbles."
"Fine. I'll drink the spicy water."
"It's not spicy. It's fizzy."
At least he made me laugh.
"Just this please."
"Let me scan this. Best before 01/12/25."
"So is that January 12th or December 1st?"
"Good question. In America, we write month first, then day. So 01/12/25 means January 12th, 2025."
"Ah, so month then day then year."
"Exactly. 01 is the month January, 12 is the day, 25 is the year 2025."
"That's confusing. In my country, we write day first. So, I thought 01/12 means December 1st."
"I know it's different in different countries, but here in America, always month. So, this yogurt expires on January 12th."
"Okay. So, I have almost 2 weeks to eat it."
"Yes. And if you want even fresher yogurt, grab from the back of the shelf. Stores put new items in the back, old ones in the front. Smart tip."
"Thanks."
Date formats. Month 1st in America. So 01/12 is January 12th, not December 1st. Always check. Okay, that customer was easy. Too easy. Something bad is definitely coming.
Oh no, I know this guy. That's Greg, my neighbor from 401. And that cart, that's a lot of groceries.
"Hey Sarah, didn't know you worked here."
"Hey, Greg. Yeah, part-time. Wow, that's a lot of food."
"Yeah, big shopping trip. And guess what? I have coupons."
"Great."
"So many coupons."
"Okay, let's see. This one is expired."
"What? No, it says valid until December."
"Valid means it works. It's good. But look at the small print, the tiny words at the bottom."
"December 25th, Greg."
"December 25th was 6 days ago. Today is December 31st. So, this coupon is expired. Expired means it's too old. It doesn't work anymore."
"But it's still December."
"Greg. It says December 25th, not December 31st. The specific date matters."
"Fine. What about these?"
"This one expired last week. This one is for pasta, but you're buying rice. This one says limit one per customer."
"Limit one per customer. What does that mean?"
"It means you can only use one of these coupons. Not five. Just one."
"But I have five of the same coupon."
"I know, but the rules say limit one per customer. One customer can only use one."
"Wait, what if I buy things separately? Multiple transactions. Then each transaction I'm a new customer, right?"
"That's not how it works."
"Why not? Separate transactions, separate purchases."
"Greg, you have 47 items."
"So, I can do 47 transactions."
"Hey, Greg, what's going on?"
"Sarah says I can't use my coupons."
"Come on, Sarah. Can't you just make an exception? An exception means like bending the rules a little."
"I know what exception means, Tom. And no, I can't. These coupons are expired or they don't match the products or they say limit one. But we're friends. We live in the same building. Come on. Some of us have places to be. This is taking forever."
"I want to do separate transactions. That's my right."
"Greg. That will take an hour. Look at the line."
"I don't care. I have valid coupons."
"Only three of your coupons are actually valid. The rest are expired or wrong. Then I'll use those three. Three separate transactions."
"Are you kidding me? What's going on here? Greg has a pile of coupons. Most are expired or don't match his items. Only three are valid, but they say limit one per customer. He wants to do three separate transactions. How much would he save total?"
"About $20."
"Just give him a $20 discount. Manual discount. Let's move the line."
"But that's against Sarah."
"The line is backing up. Just do it."
"Fine. There you go. $20 off manual discount."
"Thanks, Sarah. See, that wasn't so hard."
"This is why I hate this job. You know what? I'm done. I don't get paid enough for this. Expired coupons, angry customers, managers who don't care. Why am I even here? Maybe I should just quit. Find a real job. Something that matters."
"Hello, dear."
"Hi. How are you today?"
"Sarah. That's a beautiful name."
"Oh, thank you."
"Just these two things today. One dozen eggs and one loaf of bread. That'll be $6.50."
"Here you go. $6.50 exactly."
"Oh, exact change. That means the perfect amount. You counted it already."
"I always do. I know it's easier for you."
"That's really thoughtful. Thoughtful means you think about other people's feelings. My daughter used to work at a supermarket. She worked at a place like this."
"Really?"
"Yes. For 3 years. She told me how hard it is. The angry customers, the long hours, standing all day."
"Yeah, it is hard."
"But she also told me about the good days when someone says thank you, when someone is kind."
"There aren't many good days."
"Then I'll try to be one. You're doing a great job, Sarah. Don't let the difficult people make you forget that."
I I wasn't expecting that. Maybe maybe this job isn't all bad.
"Hey, Sarah."
"Hey, Ashley. What are you doing here?"
"Grocery shopping. I didn't know you worked here."
"Yeah, part-time for rent money. You know, rent is the money we pay every month for the apartment."
"No shame in that. We all need money. Wow, you're buying a lot of organic food. Organic means no chemicals, grown naturally. And look, I have a coupon. Let me see. 20% off organic vegetables valid until January 15th. This one is good. It's still valid."
"Really? How much do I save?"
"You save $22. Nice. Thanks to you."
"Me?"
"Yeah. Remember last week you taught me to always check expiration dates. You said look at the date before you buy anything. So now I check everything. Coupons, milk, everything."
"You remembered that?"
"Of course. You're always teaching us stuff. Like when you explained what sparkling water means to Tom."
"Oh god. Tom and his shiny water."
"Okay. Total is $73.50."
"What's this?"
"This is for you. A thank you."
"Hey Ashley, I can't take tips. Tips are extra money for good service."
"But it's not a tip. It's a thank you from all of us. Me, Tom, Greg. We appreciate you."
"You guys, see you at home. Roomie."
[Sighs and gasps] End of shift. Finally back to normal. Sarah, you know what? Today was weird. Started terrible, ended not terrible. I learned something today. This job, it's not just about money. Sure, some customers are nightmares, like Greg and his 47 items, but then there's people like that grandmother who prepares exact change because she knows it helps. And Ashley, who actually listens when I teach her things. Maybe I'm making a difference. Even if it's just explaining what sparkling water means.
[Music] Oh, paycheck deposited. $487.50. Okay, rent is paid. I even got a $10 thank you from Ashley. Not bad. Supermarket Sarah. See you next week.