Please stop doing that, you're messing me up

[Retail Associate]

argh; i hate that too. i'm not real comfortable with working tills (money handling makes me uneasy...something i've never managed to overcome). . .

Me, too. That's the reason I only cashiered for 4 months then transferred. Handling money makes me jittery! I never had any overages/shortages except once. My drawer was 3¢ short one day.

I remember once when I was trying to bag a woman's groceries and her kid kept spinning the carousel as fast as he could. The thing-a-ma-bobs that hold the bags in place were hitting me in the hip. His mother wasn't paying any attention so I politely asked him to please stop. She seemed embarrassed and told him to stop but I worried that she would complain anyway. She didn't but I've had others complain (lie) to management.

It's unbelievable how SCs complain then embellish their stories with lies about the employees. One woman told the manager that I growled at her. I laughed and said I had a cold and I may have snorted but I certainly didn't growl!

[ThePhoneGoddess]

They wrote you up for it?

I would have quit on the spot.

I have thrown a fit in the middle of the office, a loud one, complete with phrases like 'Well obviously, if you don't trust me enough to believe me when I say I didn't say that, then you obviously shouldn't trust me enough to work with your money' and 'I cannot believe that you would treat me like this. Do you treat all your employess like this? No wonder you have such a bad reputation in town!'

I'm serious. They do things like that because they can get away with it. It's easier to discipline an employee who won't fight back than deal with an angry customer. I would have gotten very offended and let them know in no uncertain terms that I would never put up with that type of treatment, not in a million years. I would have walked out on them right then and there.

And then I would have written a letter to the local newspaper, explaining exactly what happened and how badly they treat their employees and advisign people not to apply there or they will be subject the same kind of injustice.

but that's just me. I'm a vindictive bitch like that.

[BookstoreEscapee]

It's easier to discipline an employee who won't fight back than deal with an angry customer. :

It's even easier to smile&nod(tm) to placate the customer, and then laugh it off with the employee who you know would never do something like that, and actually let the employee know they are more important that a baseless customer complaint. :sigh:

[Noelegy]

All this talk about money counting made me think of the shortest, and most bizarre, job I've ever had. I was 21 or so, going through a bad dry spell in terms of job-hunting, made worse by the fact that I lived in a small town about half an hour's drive away from the good jobs. I could have gotten work closer to home, if I wanted to work at a nursing home or in fast food. If I wanted a better job in a larger city, I was competing against all the people who lived closer than me.

Anyway, I got hired as the hostess/cashier at a Sizzlin' steakhouse/buffet. The man who hired me seemed like a nice enough guy, and they put me right to work on the lunch hour. My training was minimal, but I'd been a cashier at several jobs before and was fairly confident with handling cash.

I was there for three hours. When the lunch rush was over, they took me back to the manager's office and told me I was fired.

Naturally, I was stunned. I asked why, and I was told that it was because one of the assistant manager dudes came up behind me while I had the drawer open, and he took some cash out of the till. I had not been told that I should not allow this. I had known he was there, of course, and he even said something like, "I need to get in here just for a moment."

It got worse from there. I tried to explain that my "training" had only been about 30 minutes of cash register basics and that had not included being told not to let anyone else in the till, but--and I'll never forget this--the assistant manager looked at me and said, "You look nice, you dress nice, but you don't have much going on up here," and tapped his head.

Somehow, I don't think these guys would have cared that I was a dean's list honor student. The manager said, "I don't think we have anything else to say here," and I was escorted out with my three hours' pay.

I managed to make it home before I burst into tears. I told my mom what had happened, and she later told me that she'd found out this particular restaurant had a nasty reputation for hiring part-time help and then letting them go on trumped-up charges like that. Kind of like going through a temp agency, but without the dignity.

I'm pleased to say they went out of business not long after that.

[CurlyLocks]

I feel for you Noelegy. At my first legal secretary job (I was 19 years old) I got in trouble once because I buzzed one of the attorneys and told him that Jane Doe was on the phone. Apparently this was one of his succession of mistresses and I was supposed to be more discreet about it, but of course no one had told me that disgusting bit of information. I didn't get fired though but as things progressed on that job maybe it would have been better if it happened then instead of over a year later (that's a whole 'nother story).

[Imogene]

Yup, count out loud, nice and slow, and sort of obnoxiously nice like with the cheerful voice. If you have to stop, take a second and look at the offender, then say "I'm sorry, I'll have to start over" with the brightest smile you can muster for those asshats. Rinse and repeat until you get it all counted out.

And make sure you get the count right twice in a row.

[zzapp the witch]

Me, I'd be the long term vindictive bitch. I'd follow your manager's orders TO THE LETTER.

"Hello."
"Hey how about them Mets?"
"I'm sorry but I'm under orders from my manager to not talk to any customers past hello and a couple of other phrases."
"WTF man!"
"Thank you and have a good day."

[CrazedClerk]

I would've stopped counting and very politely said I would not resume until the girl stays quiet so I can do it right. If a manager came over, I'd explain exactly what was going on.