Cashier Tales
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
Eugene, Oregon
December 12, 2017 11:06am CST
I have not spent so much time on a cash register since I was in the grocery business as a high school kid back in the 1950s.I worked four hours a day for the last four and am off for three now.
The strangest thing that has happened so far is that this little lady was buying a nice little calendar for someone and asked in a barley audible voice if I minded that she needed to pay in coins. The price was $13.50.
There was a line of about twenty people and five or six cashiers at the time.
Well, money is money, so I said that would be fine. She got out a plastic bag full of nickels, dimes and quarters. She counted them out in dollar piles; I counted each one too, finished the transaction and loaded up the cash drawer with coins. I was shut down for about twenty minutes doing this.
Standing in one spot for so long can get tiring and I really enjoy that 15 minute break. I am scheduled for some eight hour days next week, so we'll see how that goes.
18 people like this
21 responses
@thislittlepennyearns (68172)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
12 Dec 17
They are supposed to be rolled in order for me to take them. I make exceptions sometimes. But someone paid in unrolled dimes for a $22 purchase a couple weeks ago.
3 people like this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
12 Dec 17
That must have been fun. I have unloaded change in the past but a pre-calculated reasonable amount certainly never $22 in dimes. I don't want to hold up a line as I don't like waiting myself.
2 people like this
@thislittlepennyearns (68172)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
12 Dec 17
@JohnRoberts it was hard to not be annoyed..
2 people like this
@andriaperry (118793)
• Anniston, Alabama
12 Dec 17
That was a wonderful thing you did. I do not miss my days as a cashier.
3 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
12 Dec 17
This is probably a one time thing for me. It's kinda fun, but not that much.
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (169406)
• United States
13 Dec 17
Agreed, money is money and we all need to be able to chill long enough for all those little old ladies. That may actually be us one day.
2 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
13 Dec 17
I can say with assurance that I will never be a "little old lady." Maybe a crazy old man, however.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
13 Dec 17
It is through January 13th (you lucky woman). I am working at a big bookstore for the season only.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (381760)
• Rockingham, Australia
12 Dec 17
That was good of you to take her coins. She was probably expecting a knock-back. I get annoyed with our supermarket as the girls aren't allowed a stool to perch on while they are on the checkout. I think that is a bit tough really.
2 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
13 Dec 17
I have never been in a market that allowed a stool. At age 15 or 16, I worked ten hour shifts as a grocery checker with an hour for lunch and break or two for maybe 65 cents an hour.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (381760)
• Rockingham, Australia
13 Dec 17
@JamesHxstatic That is a very long time to be on your feet. The pay wasn't too crash-hot either was it?
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
14 Dec 17
@Hannihar I can imagine how sometimes difficult that could be.
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
13 Dec 17
I am enjoying three days off now and this job will be an experience not to be repeated.
@Hannihar (130150)
• Israel
14 Dec 17
@JamesHxstatic
Enjoy your three days off and I know what it is like working in a bookstore and meeting different kinds of people. I used to work in a bookstore at Yad Vashem, that is the Holocaust meuseum here in Jersalem. We had post cards outside of the survivors of the camps and I met some of them in person. It was really something.
1 person likes this
@allen0187 (59648)
• Philippines
13 Dec 17
True money is money but sometimes, I am not patient enough to wait in line for someone to finish paying with coins. Good thing, I am able to hold my tongue.
Good for you for assisting the lady.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
13 Dec 17
Fortunately, we had about eight cashiers working, so the line kept moving.
1 person likes this
@much2say (57760)
• Los Angeles, California
12 Dec 17
This reminds me of a time when we visited a very slow town . . . and ate at a fast food place (assuming the time there would be fast). There was a long line, and the indecisive guy in the very front was holding up the entire line. When he finally figured out what he wanted, he pulled out a bunch of change from his pocket, counted them, and then decided he couldn't afford what he picked 
.1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (502154)
• Italy
13 Dec 17
@JamesHxstatic This is surely the reason, there are no more many places where you can convert your coins to paper money.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
13 Dec 17
Well, she looked like someone who had been putting coins aside for some time. It would have been better for her to have them converted to paper money at her bank, but, she may not even have an account.
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (54714)
• United States
13 Dec 17
I only cashiered for a month at Kmart. I was 19 at the time and it made me a nervous wreck
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
13 Dec 17
It is so busy that there is no time to be nervous right now.
@sallypup (69157)
• Centralia, Washington
12 Dec 17
@JamesHxstatic I wait in the dratted Safeway pharmacy line for ten minutes and have to stretch my back. You are still in your mid 50s in health, it sounds like.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
12 Dec 17
It has not bothered my back really. My legs get tired, but rejuvenate with rest.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43567)
• Denver, Colorado
12 Dec 17
Do you have to count your own drawer? That would suck with all that change!
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
12 Dec 17
No, thank goodness, I don't. That would be a real pain.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
12 Dec 17
@teamfreak16 What a silly thing for her to do.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43567)
• Denver, Colorado
12 Dec 17
@JamesHxstatic - I used to work in the cash office at a commissary in Denver. This one lady would always open all her change into the drawer. I hated counting her drawer at night.
1 person likes this
@acrogodess (992)
• Aberdeen, North Carolina
13 Dec 17
I once had a customer come in with over $30 in change for her groceries.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
13 Dec 17
Ohh that must have taken forever!
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
13 Dec 17
@acrogodess Pennies too? At least mine did not include pennies.
1 person likes this
@acrogodess (992)
• Aberdeen, North Carolina
13 Dec 17
@JamesHxstatic yes! It did especially as a lot of it was in nickels and pennies
1 person likes this
@LovingMyBabies (85923)
• Valdosta, Georgia
12 Dec 17
It was nice of you to allow her to do that. I pay in change for something that might be at most $5, but I usually only pay with quarters.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
12 Dec 17
Well, you can't really turn someone away as long as they can pay in some way. I hope it does not happen again though.
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
12 Dec 17
I was trained quickly with a manual and then shadowing someone, then they shadowed me and I am next to someone who can answer questions too.
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
12 Dec 17
I bought a handheld GPS two years ago. I asked in advance if I could pay with coins. I had them rolled, but their store policy was....they needed to unroll. I had $200. In $1 and $2 coins.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
12 Dec 17
Yes, most places don't take rolled coins.
1 person likes this
@Scrapper88 (5980)
• United States
12 Dec 17
I have paid for something in change before, but it was only 3 or 4 dollars in change.
1 person likes this
