Failed The First Sweep

(I’m the manager of a clothing store, and we we’re having a group training session for our seasonal new hires. Out of the four hires there is one who just doesn’t seem to be catching on. At the end of the night they divide up the closing cleaning checklist, and one girl chooses to sweep. The checklist states to sweep the sales floor, fitting rooms, and windows – meaning the area around the window displays. I’m counting down the registers when she approaches me.)

New Hire: “I’m sorry to bother you, but I have a question about the sweeping.”

Me: “Sure, what’s up?”

New Hire: “When it says to sweep the windows… Do I just like, run the swiffer across the windows or…?”

(She trailed off and I just stared at her for a second in disbelief.)

Me: “Um, no, you just sweep the floor around the windows. The windows themselves get cleaned with glass cleaner.”

New Hire: “Oh, that makes sense!”

(When we were leaving the store at the end of the night, I told them we had to do a bag check, and everyone else immediately opened their purses and bags for inspection. She stood there motionless until I explained to her what was going on… I figured she’d understand what that meant, or at least pick up on what everyone else was doing! She didn’t last long.)