Racing Carts

There’s very limited counter space at the checkout of the dollar store where I work, yet, without fail, semi-weekly there’s customers that decide they can pile all of their shopping cart onto it and I’ll manage to pick through it. Sometimes the people making the mountain are quite especially idiotic, and here is one such story.

I worked in fast food before the dollar store, so my speed is bizarrely quick. A middle-aged woman piles her mountain high carts — yes, two full shopping carts — onto the counter, almost appearing to attempt to race my flying hands. While continuing to empty her cart, at times not looking at the counter, and perhaps being blind to it entirely, the customer starts dropping items onto the floor. Eventually, she breaks a bottle of juice on the floor. The woman glares at me instead of accepting responsibly.

I say simply, “Perhaps you can take a rest on emptying your cart, as I now have to mop up the juice before you or another customer is injured.” I then take my sweet time putting up signage and cleaning up the spill. After this passes, it seems her mood has, as well, and she apologizes for her earlier behavior.

Patience is priceless.