It’s a Saturday. I’m in a fairly busy grocery store. I’m waiting in line to check out behind a guy with a relatively small amount of items, so I am hoping it will be quick.

Cashier: “Oh, wow. Looks like someone is planning a special evening!”

At that, I look down and take notice of what the guy in front of me is actually purchasing. It’s a nice bottle of wine, candles, and fresh flowers, as well rack of lamb and all the fixings for what looks to be a very nice and expensive night in.

Man: “Yeah, hoping to surprise my wife tonight with a nice date night.”

Cashier: “Surprise her? This looks like an anniversary- or birthday-level dinner. She probably knows something’s coming.”

Man: “Oh, no, nothing like that. She just had to work on a Saturday, and I was off, so I figured I would just do something out of the blue.”

Cashier: “Oh, so you cheated.”

This is totally out of nowhere, and the whole tone shifts. It goes from light conversation as she scans items to an accusatory tone, and she has slowed down to a near crawl.

Man: “Excuse me?”

Cashier: “You must have cheated or at least done something f***ed up. No man does something like this just because. Give me a break. Men do stuff like this when they feel guilty for cheating. She’ll know — you know that, right? She’ll know some big ‘out of the blue’ gesture is just you feeling bad for something you won’t fess up to yet. Do you know what your wife would actually want instead of your ‘I feel guilty’ dinner? You to actually fess up to what you did so she can move on with her life without your sorry a**!”

The cashier’s volume is escalating through the course of her rant, and the man is just kind of in shock as to how quickly everything has shifted, as is everyone else in line. But the raised voices bring over another employee I presume to be the manager.

Manager: “Hey, guys. Everything going okay over here?”

Man: “Well, not exactly. I’m just trying to check out, and instead of scanning my items so I can pay, we’ve come to halt so I can be yelled at and accused of some pretty serious things.”

Cashier: “Look. I was just telling it how I see it. If he doesn’t want to get called a piece of s***, he shouldn’t act like a piece of s*** cheater.”

Manager: “Okay, that’s about enough. [Cashier], you are on break effective immediately. Go to the back and take your break, and as soon as I am done with this customer, I will be coming to have a long discussion with you.”

The cashier said, “Okay,” and casually walked to the back with this weird attitude as if it was a completely normal interaction and she hadn’t just gone off on a customer. The manager finished up the transaction, apologizing the whole time. I think he gave the man a small discount, and the rest of the transaction went off without a hitch.

I never saw that particular cashier again, though I only go there about twice a month, so that might not mean anything. That was just the most sudden tone shift I had ever seen in a checkout line.

I was out doing my fortnightly grocery shopping. In this shop, they had small tills for less than ten items and main ones with belts. Both types had cashiers. Usually, I go to the small ones, but they were unusually busy today, so I went to a normal one. 

There was a father and his two young children — probably around four to six years old — ahead of me, chatting away with the cashier about holiday plans. It was honestly pretty cute; a lot of the retail employees seemed to be in good cheer today.

As the cashier started to scan my stuff, the dad was busy packing his groceries and the kids were still talking with the cashier.

The daughter cheerfully piped up:

Daughter: “Our mum is gone!”

The cashier and I shared a startled look.

With an exhausted sigh that only a tired dad could muster, the kids’ father helpfully clarified:

Dad: “She is at work.”

The trio left, leaving the cashier and me. We shared another look and then burst into laughter. I couldn’t help but giggle about it for the rest of the transaction. Kids are so funny sometimes.

It’s the lunch rush at the cafeteria within the local grocery store. Being a small, senior town with only one grocery store, it gets quite busy during mealtimes. What can I say? Old people love a $5 soup and sandwich deal!

I’m nineteen and working the cash register near the area where the condiments, napkins, cutlery, etc., are. I’ve just rung through [Customer #1] and passed him his soup and sandwich. I move on to [Customer #2], and then [Customer #1] stomps up, interrupting.

Customer #1: “THERE ARE NO SOUP SPOONS!”

Me: “Oh, I’m sure more spoons will be out momentarily; I know the dishwashers just put a load of cutlery in.”

Customer #1: “Not acceptable! My soup is getting cold!”

I look over his shoulder and see the soup at his table, still steaming.

Me: “I assure you that we keep our soup as hot as possible, so it’ll stay hot for a bit. However, if you can’t wait, I see plenty of smaller coffee spoons available.”

He is outraged; I may as well have insulted his mother.

Customer #1: “I. DO. NOT. WANT. TO. EAT. WITH. A. SMALL. SPOON. BRING ME A SOUP SPOON!”

Me: “As I said, they are being washed, and I’m sure by now they’ll be out any second.” *Turning back to [Customer #2]* “So sorry for the interruption. You had the BLT, correct?”

Customer #1: *Interrupting [Customer #2] again* “I’m not leaving until you personally hand me a soup spoon.”

Customer #2: *Fed up* “Well, where do you expect her to get it from, her a**?!”

Just that moment, the dishwasher brought out a tray of sparkling clean cutlery, including a heap of soup spoons. [Customer #1] looked between me, [Customer #2], and the spoons. I could tell he wanted to be angry, but perhaps by some miracle he realized he was being unreasonable, and he sulked away.

I gave [Customer #2] my staff discount on her meal.

It’s still mandatory to wear a mask in every public place during the time of this story. I am waiting in line at the register with only a woman and a little boy in front of me.

The cashier is a young Muslim woman wearing a hijab. The boy is staring at the cashier with the biggest eyes possible.

Boy: “Are you a ninja?”

I realise that the cashier is wearing a hijab the same colour as her face mask, making her look indeed like a ninja in movies.

We can hear giggles from everyone around, and the cashier looks at the little boy and simply winks at him before resuming her grocery scanning.

The little boy is ecstatic, smiling back and just being the most joyful child around. The mother pays and thanks her, and they go on their way.

It’s my turn.

Me: “Don’t worry; your secret is safe with me.”

It was just magical, especially in the middle of that stressful moment.

I am training a new coworker on how to use our checkout.

Me: “This is the POS. It’s where the customers have the most interaction, so naturally, it’s also what breaks down the most.”

Coworker: “Hah. I get it.”

Manager: *Walking up* “Getting up to speed on the Point Of Sale system? Careful, it’s temperamental.”

Coworker: “POS means Point Of Sale? I always thought you called it a POS because it never works?”

Manager: “I don’t understand.”

Me: “Piece of s***.”

Manager: “Oh… to be fair, it is that, too.”