As The Station Turns 5/31

 I walked into a mob scene. Mrs. Late Guy was trying to dump the trashes so as soon as I clocked in I was running her drawer until she was finished, then I was able to count in mine. I almost wish the West Side Station had been down so the Weekend Guy had been there and could have taken care of it. They seriously need to hire more people for the summer. 

At the start of the shift we have to count the number of individual cigarette packs, and then count out at the end of the day, the total has to match the register tape to prove people aren't stealing. Anyhow I was trying to count and people kept interrupting me. Some guy came in and wanted to know if I personally had jumper cables, no. He wanted to know if we had any for sale and I told him yes, over in the tools section. He then asked how much they were and I told him I would have to check it on the register. He then asked if there was a price on them, no, I would have to check the price on the register, he finally came over to the register and decided to buy them, which he was going to do anyhow. Meanwhile I counted the same pack of cigarettes three times. I told him I my cables were in my car but I brought my Bad Hawg today.

Today was everyone selecting Debit on the card reader and then saying they don't have a PIN. If you don't have the number, hit Credit. This stuff has been around for 30 years, people should know how it works by now.

I've been trying to watch across the street to see what time the Random Woman has been showing up but it seems every day at the same time someone pulls up in a large moving truck and blocks my view. Also the Late Guy was there for an extra hour and a half. Things are really getting interesting and I expect it to explode any day now.

Some woman came in and I rang up her stuff, she did the math and then asked for an odd amount on the pump. I think she was trying to round it off but gave me the wrong numbers so her total was odd too. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to have to redo everything, plus I don't think she looked at the total, she was too busy looking at something on her phone.

An older guy pulled in to the diesel pump the wrong way. I tired to explain to him how he needed to pull in but as usual he didn't understand, the meter on the diesel pumps are all on the building side and the non meter pumps are for semis with duel tanks, you have to have both sides on for the extra pump to work, and I knew the guy wouldn't understand that, so again I explained, turn around, just turn around pull in so he was facing the street. So he went outside, drove around the building and then tried to pull in the wrong way, again. He finally figured out that he needed to turn around and instead of pulling in to one of the three unoccupied pumps he pulled up to the one someone was using and had to wait. He finally pulled into the pump right, and ran his card wrong. When he came back in I just did a prepay because I figured if I asked him to leave his card he would fill up and drive off. So that finally ended.

Another guy came in to a diesel pump and couldn't get it on. Sigh, I went out, hit the start button and then went back inside. The pumps have instructions on them, they have blinking lights that basically indicate "push here" and so forth. 

After a busy first half of the day the place cleared out so I figured I would go check the trashes. As soon as I put a bag in my pocket a crowd showed up, but today I didn't get upset about it, despite people still insisting on stuffing the one full trash can. 

Some Century Kid came in and his chip wasn't working so I told him to run the magnetic strip. He said he had never done that before. I hate you you 21st Century punk!

A guy was parked next to the only mostly empty trash can, he pulled forward to the full trash can and started trying to stuff more garbage in there. Seriously, why?

I had finished the trash, business had slowed down, and then I saw something sitting out by the street. I figured I would run out and see what it was, and that's when I was swarmed. It was probably an hour later when I finally got out there and it was a plastic bag wrapped around one of the bushes in the landscaping. The shadows made it look solid.

The mobile tire repair guy from a local tire shop came in and we were chatting. I mentioned how someone was shocked to see a tow truck driver wearing a pistol and said everyone I ever knew was armed. He told me about the armory he has hidden in his truck including three guns, a dozen knives and two machetes. In other words, don't mess with tow truck drivers.

The Boss showed up, did the safe and left right away. That's the way I prefer it.

A semi truck driver pulled into the auto diesel pump and wanted $600 in fuel. I tried to explain that it was the pump with the smaller nozzle and only had a pump on one side but he didn't care. He was going to be there a long time and he had to pull out and turn around to fill up the other side.

It got dark and the canopy lights didn't go on across the street. I wondered if they were closed but I could see someone moving around behind the counter. It was about a half hour later when they finally went on. That place is really a mess and I'm enjoying it since I basically got demoted and kicked out. I hope the Late Guy is enjoying his new position.

It was almost the end of the shift, a guy came in and his total was $XX.04, and he handed me a twenty. I didn't have any loose quarters so I busted open the roll, which I was hoping I didn't have to do before I closed my drawer. That's when he remembered he had four cents in his pocket. And yes, at the end of my shift I had to count all the loose quarters which came to $10 since most everyone after that paid with a card. I figure he thought I would let him slide on the pennies, nope. btw, at the end of the night my drawer balanced to the penny.

I had about 15 minutes left and the usual 9 PM crowd and a big moth flew into the building. It kept circling around, diving at people and then heading to the lights or the windows. i was too busy to catch it so it just kept going. And then suddenly it was gone. I figured it flew at the door just as someone opened it. So that worked out. 

I know I shouldn't be mean and some people have a condition that is out of their control but my last customer had a terrible case of B.O. And of course they were having trouble getting their card to come up on their phone. And Stinky showed up to count in his drawer. Suddenly I was trapped between dueling horrible smells. I was glad when the customer finally paid and I could close my drawer and go home.

Also I discovered that I left my key in my Bad Hawg but thankfully nobody noticed. I have to be more careful because even though I have the bike locked to the rail someone could unlock the battery and steal that. I need to come up with a check list when I park the thing.