My biggest pet peeve

[Purple Monkey Dishwasher]

I don't mind TOO much if they just set the money on the counter. What gets me mad is when I HAVE MY HAND OUT, and they just ignore it and set it RIGHT BELOW my hand. I just wanna smack 'em...

Joe

[seeress_83]

I blame it on me being a Libra. It's the same part of me that considers crooked pictures as being like most people react to nails down a chalk board.

I'm a double Virgo...things like crooked pictures make my head want to explode. I also have to have my DVD's alphabetical by title, CD's alphabetical by artist, and books alphabetical by author. (More than one CD or book by the same person, they go in release order.) Oh, and my closet's arranged by color. But I'm in no way a neat freak, because my desk looks like a hurricane hit it.

[justZu]

My peeve is this. I work outside, on the upper deck of the ballpark. It is always breezy. Yet, I still get idiots putting their money on the counter while I pour their beer. I just watch as it blows away, then they have to retrieve it before I hand over their drinks. Sorry, I'm not gonna pour beer and chase wayward money at the same time.

Funny thing is, they always seem surprised when the money goes flying. I mean, come on, it's paper! Of course it's going to blow away in the wind.

[aurelemsrealm]

I'm one of those people who likes to hand the money (or card) directly to the clerk. That way, I always know where it is.

On the topic of clerks and money, what happened to cashiers counting out change? These days, they just count the amount that the change is rather than counting from the total up to the amount that you paid. When did this change, and why?

And what about facing the bills? I've been doing that since forever. I was going to say since before I worked as a cashier, but I've been doing cashier work since I was 9. (I got free donuts for working in the snack room for junior high break and working in the lunchroom at lunch got me a free lunch, but since I already got a free lunch, I got paid the cost of a lunch) My ex used to have the multiple wads of bills in different pockets, and it would drive me to distraction.

^-.-^

I wanted to respond to the question about counting out change rather than relying on what the register says.... In my case, I've always had this problem with keeping the numbers straight in my head if I have to add or subtract multi-digit numbers. I can calculate simple single and most double digit numbers just fine, and I can figure anything more complicated on paper just fine. The problem is that I have trouble visualizing the numbers properly so that I can count from the top of my head. I generally try to set the customer's payment on top of my open drawer, and just keep their total in mind. That way, I can count up from their total to the amount they handed me. I don't know if what I'm explaining makes any sense, but it's almost like someone with dyslexia struggling to read. Being a cashier has helped to reinforce my math skills so that it's not noticeable unless I get flustered for some reason (which rarely happens anymore). I've learned how to concentrate even harder on the task at hand when the stress level rises rather than reverting to panic mode. Anyway, I quickly practice counting it out to myself, then glance at the change total on the register screen once I have the change ready to hand back to make sure I have it right. I admit that I no longer count it back to the customer like I once did because it seems most customers get impatient, but I hand it back to them "$XX.XX is your change. Thank you!"

[Andara Bledin]

aurelemsrealm: I actually understand precicely what you're saying about being unable to visualize the way the numbers all go together.

I'm a math nut, myself, and I love numbers, but there are other areas where I just get a disconnect when I try to get from concept to execution.

^-.-^

[TwoScoopsSciath]

My roommate and I went to this mall in a part of town we don't usually shop in, just to check it out. It was pretty hoity-toity, a two-story outdoor mall with shops like Crate and Barrel and Soak!, things like that.

Oh my god! I think I know the mall. Beautiful. Expensive. Makes me feel like crap when I go there in sweats and a t-shirt that says "Technicon 19" with a bunch of anime steampunk babes on it.

And, at my old store, our tip jar was one of those big old creamer jugs with a wide bottom and a narrow mouth. If you were gonna steal our tips, we'd hear it rattle because you'd have to pick it up to get it.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I never counted their change up from what they gave me, unless something went wonky and I had to figure it out. Otherwise I'd just look at the screen and say "your change is $X.xx and count it out to them. I just never got the hang of the counting up thing; I always had to think too much. When it's busy, sorry...

I always, always face my bills. They all have to be in order by denomination, and they all have to be oriented the same way.

I blame it on me being a Libra. It's the same part of me that considers crooked pictures as being like most people react to nails down a chalk board.

^-.-^

I try to keep all the faces up but not necessarily all in the same direction (for my own money). Though in the store I used to do the deposit and the bank wanted them all faced the same way so I would just do it in my drawer to make it easier the next morning. Not that most other cashiers thought of that.

Hey, I'm a Libra too...October 1, when's your birthday?

[Andara Bledin]

My first "real" job was working ticket sales at Medieval Times. I had a good enough touch that I could pull $25 in ones from my drawer for counting to within $2 every time. Which I thought was pretty impressive since you'd get bills that were new and sticky to ones that were stiff and crumpled to ones that were limp and had obviously gone through the wash a few times.

We had to face all of our bills before we handed the balance sheets in to the head cashier. I did it automatically, and I've noticed it's easier to face bills as you're receiving and counting them the first time, than to have to face then when you're counting them at the end of the night.

Hey, I'm a Libra too...October 1, when's your birthday?

You're a couple of days ahead of me. Mine is October 3.

^-.-^

[MystyGlyttyr]

Several of my friends have mentioned that it's easy to tell I used to work as a cashier, since in my wallet, all the bills are faced and in order of denomination. A couple of cashiers have chuckled because I will always face and order my money before I give it to them. "You used to do this for a living, huh?"

[MrSunshineState]

Since I work in a call center I have not delt with money for years. However I have always made it a point to hand things directly to the cashier. And yes, all the money needs to be in the right order in my wallet. Smallest to largest. All bills facing the same direction.


My biggest pet peeve at the call center? 1)People who call in while eating. 2)People who call in on a speakerphone.


Bonus points if they are doing both!

[aurelemsrealm]

You know, I've noticed that very few cashiers really know how to count change. Like I mentioned, I do get my numbers twisted sometimes, but I can think my way through it if I don't get flustered. Sometimes it just takes me longer because I may need to write the numbers out on scrap paper so I can remember them. Anyway, I've been training a lot of new employees lately, and I've started to notice how a lot of "experienced" cashiers really can't count money so well. At the risk of sounding superior, all I can say is that such cashiers make me feel better about my math skills.

[Andara Bledin]

Any cashier who can't count change should be forced to play one of the Big Brain Academy games.

The basic point of the game is to pick which side of the screen is more valuable. Each side has a collection of coins, from pennies to quarters, and you just have to pick one.

That'd be a great way to get people used to counting change quickly and easily.

^-.-^