As The Station Turns 6/18-19

 Since I'm tired of hearing the Late Guy tell me how much better everything is after he took over I decided to buy my weekly lottery ticket a day early, while the Weekend Guy was there. He told me that the place has been a mess and now one of the toilets was loose. I said he could contact the Boss to get the handy man to fix it but he said he's just going to pretend he never saw it. Sounds like a plan. I also noticed the Late Guy had ordered a lot of crackers, which don't sell. I tossed a bunch of stale ones when I worked there. And there's an inch of dust on top of the coffee maker. I considered writing the date in it but I didn't want the Weekend Guy to catch me. Oh well, I'm not in charge anymore.

Also while I was hanging out the phone rang and it was the Manager of the Truck Stop. She wanted me to come in early. How did she know I was there? Also when I got home there was no call on my phone. It was her first try. 

It turns out the Manager had a dental appointment but they moved it up a couple of hours so she had to leave early. No problem, plus the crowd that normally shows up at shift change weren't there so I got everything done before they came to bug me. I bet they were disappointed they couldn't keep me from doing my work. Ha ha on them.

So yesterday I found some coins in the free brochure rack so I cleaned it searching for more. When I finished I dropped a fake $5 in that you'd really have to be looking to see. Well today I went in and the rack had been straightened, the brochures dusted and organized and the $5 was gone. Someone was really pissed when they found out they did all that work for nothing.

A guy was standing under the restroom sign and asked me where the restroom was. I pointed, he looked up at the sign, then over his shoulder at the big red arrow that says "Mens" and figured it out.

About an hour into my shift the Manager showed up. She wanted to know if I knew which breaker switch shut off the ice maker at the West Side Station. The thing hasn't worked for months but it's still on for some reason and leaked water all over the back room. Her and the West Side Manager were having to clean up the mess and were trying to permanently turn off the machine. I told her I hadn't worked there for several years and I don't remember. Later I remembered that the machine has an off switch but it's behind a panel you have to unscrew. Oh well, not my problem.

The rep from the supply company showed up and wanted to know where the Manager was. She went around and looked at everything. She complained about the placement of stuff. She complained about stuff that didn't have dates on them. She complained. No wonder the Manager doesn't like her. Also I'm not in charge so I didn't care.

The Random Woman was across the street. The Part Time Woman is suppose to work on Thursday afternoon so I wonder what's going on there.

Today was Hyper Kid Day. Several groups showed up with kids who were very loud, running around grabbing things from one place and dropping them somewhere else and generally being a nuisance. One mother had enough and tweaked the kid's ear, he learned a valuable lesson about "don't poke the bear". I would have been extra pissed at the one family that turned a blind eye on their kids but they have a long road trip ahead of them, and have to live with them. 

The families finally left and I had a moment of peace and could take a restroom break, except for one woman. She wandered around looking at everything. She went through the milk looking for a fresher date but they all came in at the same time and all have the same dates on them. She finally came up to the register and then wondered what method she should pay with. She was just about to leave when she suddenly became interested in the various beef sticks by the register. I understand why the indecisive guy went to The Good Place. She also sat out at the pump for 15 minutes.

Restroom break and then the next crowd showed up. After they left I figured I would run out and do the outside trash, which had been packed full. Except some trucker came in and headed straight to the restroom, where he spent an extra long time. When he came out he threw a tantrum because we didn't have any Baby Ruth bars, why they are the most popular candy in the world! (no, they aren't) Anyhow he left and I got to two of the cans emptied before the next wave showed up. After they left I got the rest done.

A guy told me the toilet was clogged, I have to wonder if it was the complaining trucker. Anyhow as he was leaving three cars pulled up on the lot so I bolted, plunged the toilet as fast as I could and the next crowd showed up as I was washing my hands. Ha, beat you.

It was a cloudy day and the Random Woman turned the canopy lights on early across the street. I left mine off in hopes people would go over there and I could get some stuff done. Yeah, that didn't work, I was still busy and she didn't have any customers. I figured if being dark wasn't working perhaps if I turned on the lights, no difference. 

One of my favorite questions is "are you the owner?" Yeah, it's 8 PM on a Thursday and I'm working a register instead of some peon because I'm the owner. I figure they want to complain about something but the got the wrong guy. 

A woman walked up the register and said "I have a lollypop". I have no idea what she was talking about. Perhaps that means something to someone. And no, she didn't buy a sucker.

I needed to sneeze but a customer came in so I was suppressing it. All the guy wanted was lottery tickets so I told him to go across the street. After he left I let it rip.

Skippy came in a half hour before shift change. He wanted to get the fuel sales off the register. He asked if the Graveyard Shift had come in yet but I told him not for at least another half hour. I got worried because the last time he asked me nobody showed up, he had to call people in and after all was said and done they fired Stinky. When 10 rolled around I started to wonder if I was going to be stuck there late, or worse all night. The Crazy Lady finally showed up. Oh well, it makes up for yesterday when she came in early.

6/19

It was a cool rainy night and I slept in. I decided to go out for a walk but I didn't want to see the Late Guy, I don't want to hear him boast about what a great job he's doing or his complaints about the other people who work there, so I took an alternate route. I still stopped by to see the Weekend Guy because I wanted to know why the Random Woman had shown up and about the flood. He told me he had turned off the ice machine but didn't know where the main water valve was. I figure it's behind the machine but you'd have to pull it out and it's really heavy. He also told me that the Part Time Woman had called in at the last minute to say she wound't be there. She's rapidly moving up the Next To Be Fired list. Then we talked about what a mess things are and have aliens ever visited the Earth. Then I came home but once again I took the alternate route. Next week is the pre 4th weekend and I'll probably avoid the place again.