As The Station Turn 7/08

 When I was leaving for work it was pouring rain so I took the Jeep instead of the Bad Hawg. Later the Unbalanced Guy came in and once again saw it, perhaps he's confused since it isn't always there. Anyhow I walked in to chaos, a group of bikers were taking shelter from the storm, a construction company was passing through and a trucker wanted to use a fleet card but he wasn't authorized for the station, in the end he paid off his own card. Anyhow it was a fun start to the day.

On my first customer the credit card printer ran out of paper, whoever was working the register last (The Graveyard Shift Guy) knew it was almost empty and left it, it takes three seconds to put in a new roll and is a curtsey to the person who is coming in after you. So I had to get a roll, reload it and print out a duplicate for them. Honestly.

Two, two people came in with their wet dogs. I enjoyed cleaning up those stinky puddles. You know you don't have to bring your dog into someone else's place. You can leave them in your car for 10 minutes. And remember, it was pouring rain and cool, the dog wasn't going to suffer from the heat. 

A busload of Boy Scouts showed up, I wasn't looking forward to that. However they must have just come from McDonalds because they didn't get out and come inside. Caught a break there.

A guy tried to use his card three times at the pump, then came inside, he tried it twice and the PIN was rejected. You can select credit and it normally works however I wasn't going to say anything because it seemed a bit suspicious. He paid with a different card.

I have two new favorite things, people who put their credit card chip on the reader and then snap it back as quickly as possible like the reader is about to bite them. You have to hold it there until it chirps at you. The second is the people who hold the chip under their thumb and wave the other side over the reader. It has to read the chip, you have to put the chip over the reader. If you're holding the chip under your thumb it won't read. It is fun to watch.

I looked out to see how the trash cans were doing and I noticed two people across the street. They were having a very animated discussing with a lot of arm waving. I couldn't hear what they were saying but I figured if I went outside I could hear every word. They went their separate way so the cops didn't get involved.

A guy came in and ran his debit card, he selected debit on the reader. He then tried to hit the enter button without entering his PIN. He said it didn't have one....I let him run it as credit. All debit cards come with PINs. btw, it was a kid so I'm pretty sure it was his mom's card.

I got the chance to run out and do the trash, except for that one guy. Sure enough when he finally paid for the first thing he had grabbed a crowd showed up. An hour later I got to check the trash.

A guy pulling a flatbed trailer stopped in the middle of the exit to check his straps, instead of doing it at the pumps. However just then a semi wanted to pull in and the guy was blocking the road. The guy ran back to his truck to get out of the way while the truck driver laid down on his horn. I was laughing at that because I hate people who block exits and doorways.

A guy wanted to know where he was. I considered asking him "Geographically or Existentially?" Instead I told him he was in my stinky little town. I don't think he knows where that is. 

I got the mop bucket out to clean up the post rain tracks. And thats when the people walked in to drift around and slowly pick stuff off the shelf. I figured they had just got off the Mexican Bus and were waiting for their ride. Eventually they left, I got the floor mopped and beat the next crowd.

A guy came in to use the restroom and then was looking around. He eventually asked if we had pretzels. I pointed out where they were, he walked over, saw them and then walked out. He thought we didn't have any and it was his excuse for not buying anything.

A guy came in to get some stuff and prepay. He then got on the phone with his wife to see if she wanted anything else. Man, is she loud, as are the other people who were in the car. I felt sorry for the guy because he seemed on the quiet side. 

The Crazy Lady came in and the place was busy so she got in her drawer and had to start waiting on customers right away, and of course Bigfoot wasn't there. So I got to get out of my drawer, finish my paperwork and clocked out without having to deal with her complaining. So that worked out great.