Don’t Cheap Out On Safety

I worked at a dollar store for about three years. They didn’t have anything that cost more than $1. I was working the register one night on a closing shift. My store only ran three people during closing shifts: one cashier, one manager, and one person on recovery. The manager and the recovery person were on break, leaving me as the only person on the sales floor.

As I was ringing up one customer, a man in a wheelchair entered the building. From my register, I gave him the standard halfhearted, “Welcome to [Store],” I’m required to give to every customer who walks in. It was at this moment that the man in the wheelchair yelled out of what I now guess was excitement, as loud as he could.

Customer: “Do you guys sell condoms?!”

Taken aback by the sudden outburst, I simply replied:

Me: “No, I’m sorry.”

The man left seemingly to do his other shopping. The customer I was ringing up commented:

Customer #2: “People really should be willing to pay more than $1 for condoms!”

I shared a laugh with him and he left.

At this point, my coworkers were returning from their breaks and clocking in on the spare register behind me. I told them of the excitement and we agreed with the other customer; condoms are the one thing you shouldn’t cheap out on. The three of us talked for a few moments, but the mood took a sudden shift when the wheelchair man came to my register and started putting his items on the belt. You could hear a pin drop when we saw what his items were.

A pack of rubber dish gloves, a container of Vaseline, and some rubber bands.

No one said anything. The man paid for his items and left.

Behind me, my manager said:

Manager: “Is he doing what I think he’s doing?”

The three of us all but hit the ground laughing, and all I could say was:

Me: “At least he’s being safe?”