Plumbing The Depths Of The Cashier’s Knowledge

I’m a cashier where I work, so you can imagine all the crap I deal with on a daily basis. It’s not a physically demanding job, but it is extremely taxing mentally. One thing I deal with on a pretty regular basis is customers expecting more of me than I’m able to provide — not so much because I don’t know certain things but because I’ll be reprimanded if I do.

The other day at work, I had just rung up a customer when I greeted another one who came in. He immediately came up to me holding something. He didn’t greet me back.

Customer: “Where can I find another one of these?”

Me: “I don’t recognize that; what is it?”

The man’s head jerked back and he looked at me like I had asked him a stupid question.

Customer: “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

I blinked.

Me: “Um, because I’ve never seen that before? But if you tell me what it is, I can get someone—”

Customer: *Interrupting* “I’m asking you. It’s your job to know this stuff to help customers.”

I raised my eyebrows (a natural reaction, I can’t help it) and slowly corrected him.

Me: “No, sir. It’s not my job to know. My job is to ring up customers at my register and occasionally look up items missing barcodes. Now, if you tell me what that is—” *points to the thing in his hand* “—I can get someone whose job it is to know and where to find it.”

At first, the customer looked like he was about to give a half-baked rebuttal but thought better of it. He apologized and told me what the thing was: part of a toilet that he needed to replace. I called a plumbing specialist on the work phone and she told me exactly where it was. I told the customer the aisle she said it was down, and he walked off without another word, not even a thank-you.