Not So Closed Minded, Part 42

I’ve been hired to help set up and then work in a new grocery store. The building doesn’t have a back door so the front doors are open but there’s caution tape set around the entrance and a big sign saying “OPENING (date several days away)”. The shelves are mostly empty, some are still being installed, the fridges aren’t on, there are boxes and cables all over the floor and everyone inside is either wearing casual clothes or overalls, including a few people in hi-vis vests.

My job on this particular day is to test the checkout system by scanning a bunch of items and checking them off a list, with shop fitters regularly bringing me stock to test. It’s repetitive and loud and the store radio isn’t working yet, so I have music playing through my headphones, with permission. There’s also no cash in the building yet and no one has a login, I’m using administrator mode.

When two guys in scruffy clothes and yellow jackets hand me some drinks, I don’t even register; I just scan them and add them to the pile I’ve already done. The men don’t move so I look up, realise I don’t recognise them and they’re staring at me weirdly.

Turns out, they’re workers from a nearby construction site who’ve walked past the signs advertising our opening, ducked under the tape and went around the entire store, stepping over cables and around boxes, past multiple people installing and filling shelves, then approached someone behind the counter who wasn’t in uniform and was humming and dancing to music without at any point noticing something was off. And they had the nerve to demand we serve them anyway because we “weren’t clear enough about not being open”.

Related:
Not So Closed Minded, Part 41
Not So Closed Minded, Part 40
Not So Closed Minded, Part 39
Not So Closed Minded, Part 38
Not So Closed Minded, Part 37