As The Station Turns 6/22

 Before he left for NYC the Boss told me he wanted me to cover the Downtown station today. But then he realized that I had to work at the Truck Stop today so he said he would make up his mind, and then I never heard anything. Well, I went in to work at the Truck Stop and Mrs. Late Guy was across the street. I'm guessing the Random Woman ended up covering Downtown, oh well, she likes it and wants to work full time there.

The Manager was in her usual bad mood but was taking it out on a customer who got the wrong cup for a slushie, so I got to avoid that. Then the old Guitar Player showed up, he was No Trespassed from the Truck Stop after the new owners took over. The Manager told him to leave and not come back. Again, her bad Monday mood was channeled to someone else and I didn't have to deal with it.

A guy looked at everything in the store at least three times, and then bough the Kit Kat he had been carrying around. Meanwhile his friends were waiting outside, they probably wanted to get on the road. 

Someone was holding up a sign out in front of the station next door. I wanted to be nosey and go see what it was about but I was too busy to get out and take a closer look. And of course by the time the crowd cleared out they were gone. I hate not knowing the outcome.

The Coke delivery truck showed up. I got ready but I wasn't going to have time to put anything out, they could dump it in the cooler and it would be the Graveyard Shift's problem. However the driver went to the trailer, looked around, closed up the trailer and went across the street. He had the wrong place.

I looked across the street to see how busy Mrs. Late Guy was, and also having to deal with the delivery truck. Holy Crap, there were four vans loaded with Boy and Girl Scouts. One guy was even standing on the trailer dancing as hard as he could, but he didn't match the rhythm of the song playing on the radio. Meanwhile I had my own crowd to take care of, but at least they weren't Scouts.

A local guy came in, he's live here his whole life. He's come in a thousand times. He never realized there was a three chamber sink behind the counter. It's funny how people don't notice the obvious.

A guy called, he was looking for magnets. I said we had a few. He wanted to know what were they like and I said the tourist kind you put on your fridge. I guess he was looking for practical magnets. I don't know why he thought a gas station would have them.

I caught a break in the middle of the day so I ran out to check the trashes and discovered that all the squeegee buckets were either empty or nearly empty. So I quickly filled them up, all seven of them. And I cursed the Graveyard Shift the whole time since they had time to do it, plus there are two of them on shift. Oooo, I can't wait for the Crazy Lady to start bitching about how hard working she is and how nobody does anything.

The West Side Station Manager came by to drop her paperwork in the safe. Something else bad is going on across the interstate. I wonder how long until they shut that place down.

Yesterday everyone was asking for a gas can, no we don't keep them anymore because people were "borrowing" them and then never coming back. These days if you want a gas can you have to go to the parts store. Today people kept asking "Is this a dry county?" No, we don't sell beer here but you can get it, I send them to the nearest liquor store. Don't drink and drive btw.

I scanned the barcode on a can and it gave me a weird message, the computer thought it was a gift card and wanted to know how much I wanted to load on to it. I needed to grab a can so I could leave it behind the counter with a note for the manager but of course I got swarmed right then. Eventually the place cleared out long enough for me to grab a can, check to make sure it happened every time and put a note on it. I hope the Graveyard Shift leaves it alone, they have a habit of messing with stuff that doesn't concern them.

A woman came in and she had a two color eye, part green, part blue. I looked it up and it's called Sectoral Heterochomia and is a pretty rare condition. I wanted to make a comment about how cool it was but I don't think her husband would have appreciated it.

I caught a break in the traffic so I figured I would go check the restrooms but there was a car parked next to the building, were they in the restroom? Was I going to wait? But then I got busy so I didn't get the chance. The crowed thinned out and the car was still there. Did someone leave it there? Were they asleep in the back? I have no idea. About a half hour later I looked out and it was gone. What was that all about?

OK, a note, I don't really judge people, I just write about what I see. If you want to live your life outside of the imposed rules of society, go for it. Anyhow a family came in and the father was a blue collar, gun totin' probably a "true patriot" and Jr was wearing a cheerleader skirt with black stocking that had little ribbons on the front. I would have loved to be there when that conversation happened.

The crowd cleared out, I grabbed some trash bags and when I turned around there was a mob of people. I'm going to do my usual lottery ticket on Thursday and I'm going to be thinking about cleaning the place the whole time.

It was the classic problem, an amazing sunset, a comparison shopper. But I decided that since she was taking her time I could go ahead and shoot away. And here's what I'm talking about when I say spectacular sunsets.

Skippy came in, he had gotten a box of cherry keychains. They didn't have barcodes on them so he wanted to know what to do. I showed him the sheet of barcodes for various stuff and when we get something new and no long have the old stuff the Manager just transfers it. He was going to have to talk to her about it so he counted the amount of keychains and took them with him, so none accidentally walked out the door.

I've talked about this before but at the start and end of a shift we get a tank report. The night crew had pissed me off because even though there are two of them they expect me to get the report for them, so I've been getting them early and making sure they don't see it, so they don't get one at all. I bet the Boss isn't happy about that. Anyhow I was busy all day so when I got an early break I ran and got the tank report, good thing too because I didn't get another break. I probably did $300 in cash plus whatever in credit cards in the last hour.

Speaking of which, the Graveyard Shift Guy came in and slowly counted in his drawer. The Crazy Lady came in and just like bookmarks, the Manager had been in a bad mood in the morning and she was in a bad mood at night. However Mrs. Late Guy came over because the time clock facial recognization at the Haunted Station sucks. And Skippy showed up to ask her about the bar codes for the keychains. When the Crazy Lady saw Skippy she suddenly went full crazy and started grabbing rolls of toilet paper and paper towels to "stock the restrooms". I had just been back there on my last break, the trashes were dumped, the floors and fixtures were clean and it didn't need paper, but she was trying to show off for Skippy while implying that I'm the one who doesn't do anything. I don't think she realizes that they actually watch the security footage and see the Graveyard Shift sitting around or disappearing for an hour. There is a reason her and the Graveyard Shift Guy are at the top of the "next to be fired list".

The Crazy Lady's attitude pissed me off so I got out as fast as I could before I told her "Hey, in the future why don't you guys Fill The F-ing Squeegee Buckets! Mr. and Mrs. Late Guy were there so I said a quick "hi" and commented that I felt sorry for her when I saw the Boy Scout vans. She said all the kids were flat out rude. Yeah, they are also notorious for being shoplifters, which is kind of sad considering they are suppose to be learning to be "good citizens'. Then I bolted. I guess they didn't want to put up with the Crazy Lady either because I ended up behind them as I was leaving, Skippy in the front, Mrs. and then Mr. Late Guy in separate cars and then me on my Bad Hawg.

When I leave I don't want to drive down the highway so I cross the street and cut through the lower lot at the Haunted Station. As I was pulling up to my street an SUV was coming so I stopped and waited. However they turned off into the vacant lot. I still waited and sure enough they slowly turned around and went the other way. I should have given them a head start but I pulled out behind them and...they drove as slowly as they could get away with. The Bad Hawg tops out at 15 MPH but they were driving 8 MPH. I was coasting and catching up with them, what the heck? When they got halfway down the street and realized that I was hanging way back they tore out and nearly crashed when they went around the corner. It didn't help my mood. I had plans for my day off on Tuesday but it took me several hours to get over the Crazy Lady's attitude and the bad drivers so I didn't fall asleep until late and I didn't get up until late so I cancelled my plans and declared it a lazy day. And I'm avoiding going to the Haunted Station again.