Protesting Too Much, We Thinks

I work as a self-checkout clerk. It’s my job to stand near the registers, make sure people don’t steal stuff, and make sure any issues they have with our system get smoothed over. Because of the health crisis, I also sanitize these registers.

Late last night, I was doing just that when two women came up to the register I was trying to clean. I moved off a bit until I noticed that the receipt wasn’t printing after one woman put in her money, and I went over to investigate.

Customer #1: “Why isn’t my receipt printing?”

Me: “Ma’am, it says you still have a dollar and fourteen cents left to pay.”

Then, I moved away, but I stayed nearby because I still needed to clean the register.

Customer #1: “Are you staying here to make sure I don’t steal a dollar and fourteen cents?”

Me: “No, I just wanted to sanitize the register because sometimes people are gross. Since it’s what I have to do next, I just want to stick around.”

Customer #1: “You know, we come through self-checkout to avoid people.”

I internally rolled my eyes, she paid, and she left without her friend. Her friend had grabbed some food from the deli and decided she didn’t want it, so I handed it off to another associate to return and went back to monitoring the area.

Another customer needed help scanning produce because it can be a pain on our system. I went back to the register that the friend was now using to get back my cleaner and paper towels, and I noticed that there were still two items on the belt that hadn’t been scanned.

Me: “Oh, are you going to pay for those in a separate transaction, or do you not want them?”

Customer #2: “Well, I was going to pay for them in a separate transaction, but since you’ve been harassing me all night, I don’t want them anymore!”

Me: “Ma’am, I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention. I was just trying to clean—”

Customer #2: “You’ve been acting like I was planning on stealing these! I’m going to call and make sure your manager hears about this tomorrow.”

She picked up the two things that were still on the belt and threw them at me. She didn’t throw very hard, and they were light, but it surprised me.

Me: “Ma’am, I’m so sorry. If you want to talk with—”

Customer #2: “Now you’re trying to embarrass me in front of everyone to keep me from telling him what you did.”

Me: “I’m just trying to understand what I did so that I don’t do it again.”

She grabbed the things she did pay for and left me with the superglue and electrical tape.