Confessions of a checkout girl at Sainsbury's

[AirHostess]

Interesting article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/ar...-the-till.html

Some of the comments are shocking though!

[Amina516]

That was actually a very interesting article.

Theres nothing in there that a regular on this board wouldnt know, but Im glad something like that is in mainstream news, for others to truly see what a retail worker (or any worker, really) has to endure on a daily basis.

Thanks.

[ditchdj]

I'm surprised that she actually came out with her picture and name. I take the union will be there to make sure she isn't terminated for doing this???

BTW That starting wage there is currently equal to about $10.50 here. That's actually not bad and a couple both making that amount could make a decent living here. Not an upper-class living but enough to live comfortably.

[gremcint]

I'm surprised that she actually came out with her picture and name. I take the union will be there to make sure she isn't terminated for doing this???

I'm an investigative journalist who's worked for the BBC and Channel 4, and decided to take this job undercover to find out what it will teach me about modern British life.

and she also wrote in there that she's already left the job.

[draggar]

I've never been a cashier at a grocery store (I've been a bagger, deli clerk, and ast deli mgr) but I can feel the pain.

Great story.

I'm surprised that she actually came out with her picture and name. I take the union will be there to make sure she isn't terminated for doing this???

You missed two things:

I'm an investigative journalist who's worked for the BBC and Channel 4, and decided to take this job undercover to find out what it will teach me about modern British life.

and

My final day comes in early May, and my last customer is the 230th person I've served that day.

' Congratulations, you are my last customer in this job. Ever,' I tell the pretty blonde standing in front of me. 'I'm honoured,' she replies.

Behind her are a mass of customers. 'I'm sorry, but I really have to close,' I say, not once, not twice but eight times. Everyone grunts. Everyone rolls their eyes.

I close my till, do my last cash-up. The next shift are gathered together, huddled over the schedules. I hand over my keys and the till captain takes them distractedly. I say good-bye. Nobody hears me.

As I walk out the big double doors I turn one last time to look at the checkouts. There is already another COG sitting in my chair - ready to begin her own remarkable lesson in life.

[Sliceanddice]

she was a reporter and a writer who took the job for 6 monthes to see how the economy was going to affect the shopping habits of her countrymen but after a short time discovered that the job had its own horrors and stress, in fact she said at one point it was worst the war time correspondence.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I used to work on a checkout and I feel her pain. Especially when you read down the comments and read the opinions of a few smeg for brains who are bleating, "Wah wah all checkout girls are thick, so they should just be happy to be our servants!"

[fireheart]

Some of the comments towards the end are lovely. I like the one about how stores should be looking after their workers better

I love Dee of Sussex's comment though....(about 1/2 way down....ammy and Barry are of the "checkout people are stupid"mindset)

Barry from Woking, Ammy from Singapore, and others of the same mindset - I hope for your sake, but more especially for mine and that of all other potential customers of yours, that you will never find yourselves in a position where you have to demean yourselves to such a level that you are forced to take a job sweeping streets, cleaning toilets or (shock, horror!) working on the checkout at Sainsbury's. If the unthinkable should happen, I pray that it's not my local Sainsbury's where you end up.

Although again, I can't blame them. In some cases, there is dead wood, but flat-out insulting the staff is not going to make things better. I don't talk to customers too often at work so I can keep my speed up, not to mention that some people seem to tell you their life story. But they're a minority. having beef thrown at someone though, now that's just wrong. There is a time and place to rant about a bad employee. at the checkouts, to the staff, is not one of them. Most of the time I do the right thing, but more because I'm not ready to be cut due to my age (work runs on a junior pay scale, so your pay increases with your birthday. Unfortunately, because of the budget, less hours as a result.).

[Calud]

I'm surprised that she actually came out with her picture and name. I take the union will be there to make sure she isn't terminated for doing this???

BTW That starting wage there is currently equal to about $10.50 here. That's actually not bad and a couple both making that amount could make a decent living here. Not an upper-class living but enough to live comfortably.

It is decent true. But you forget one thing. England is very expensive. An apartment in a london suburb at about 30 square meter would be 300-500€. (that is what I pay in Paris.)

[Lace Neil Singer]

Although again, I can't blame them. In some cases, there is dead wood, but flat-out insulting the staff is not going to make things better. I don't talk to customers too often at work so I can keep my speed up, not to mention that some people seem to tell you their life story. But they're a minority. having beef thrown at someone though, now that's just wrong. There is a time and place to rant about a bad employee. at the checkouts, to the staff, is not one of them.

When I worked on a checkout, there were all sorts. Never had beef thrown at me, but had people yelling and screaming abuse, including one guy who swore at me in front of his wife and child over nothing more than me asking him if he wanted help packing. Plus there were a few creepy guys who hit on me, one of whom touched my shoulder; some underage kids who got nasty after being refused the sale of alcohol, and some really rude, obnoxious people who just assumed I was braindead and had dropped out of school at age eight.

[fireheart]

The worst I've had has been people screaming at me for either a) bag checking or b) lack of funds in my drawer.

[AirHostess]

I've just read her book and it's very good.

[Wenchie]

It doesn't look like this is available in the US yet, so I guess I'll have to either wait or else order it from the U.K. Does anyone know what shipping would probably run? It's been years since I ordered any books from overseas.