As The Station Turns 8/8

 Hell Week Redux, Day One

The Part Time Woman works Saturday mornings at the Truck Stop. When I walked in she was taking a small bag of trash out to the dumpster, and was still in her drawer, as was Mrs. Late Guy. They know when I'm coming in and could close one so I can count in and go to work. But noooooo, they were still in both drawers. So I was stuck hanging around waiting for one of them to close their drawer. Finally Part Time Woman closed her drawer, and once again she was off in her count so I had to open my drawer for an odd amount. Oh well, I guess the Random Woman is going to be gone for the next two weekends and Part Time Woman will be covering across the street. So I got that good news.

I'm going to have to cover Wednesday morning but the only good part was that they weren't putting in an order so I wouldn't have to unload that. Except it turns out that last week the supply company didn't send any of the tobacco so they had to put in an order. And there are several boxes that have to go back. I'm going to have to take care of all that. My only hope is that they show up early and I'm not overrun with customers at the time.

My shift started off with a mob of cash paying customers. This would be fine but I didn't get a chance to switch in some marked bills into the drawer so nobody got any. Later when the crowd thinned out and I got the switch done everyone paid with credit cards. However by the end of the day I had sent out a lot of bills.

The Tow Truck Driver came in. I'm use to seeing him wearing his grubby work clothes so it was a bit of a shock to see him all dressed up. I asked him if he was going to court, he commented that it was Saturday so no. He didn't tell me what he was doing. Maybe he had a hot date with his wife.

The wind came up again today and I got to go out and chase trash cans again. Perhaps it will be calm tomorrow.

The Last Guy came by after his shift was over. I guess the timeline has shifted, he said big changes are coming to the Haunted Station starting in two weeks. Either the new company is coming in to start work or he found someone to replace the Random Woman and will start training. He also hinted around about the West Side Station, they might be closing it earlier than I thought. I'm glad I'm not in the middle of all that.

Today must have been "Hang out" day. People would show up, get gas, snacks and use the restroom, and then not leave. I swear I saw the same two people at least four separate times. I think they were sitting around back of the building eating lunch. I like to say if they didn't pay me I wouldn't show up at all.

The good thing about a day full of lingerers is time goes by. I looked at the clock and it was 3 PM. I looked a second time and it was 7:30 PM. I lost four hours somewhere. I didn't mind the crowd until I needed to get some stuff done. First I went to do the ice and I got a string of Tag Teamers. One couple unloaded and repacked their luggage until the next car rolled in. Finally I got the ice done and then tried to dump the trash, it turned into family hour, lots of families. I finally got the trash done and the whole place cleared out. btw, the ice hoppers on the soda machine were nearly empty. Yesterday was Friday and the Graveyard Shift Guy and the Part Time Woman were working the afternoon and then the Crazy Lady and Bigfoot were working the Graveyard. I know they do the minimum amount. I hate it when people think they'll just leave work for someone else. I have to cover a double on both Wednesday and Thursday, I may leave the ice machine the way I find it in the morning, both days.

The place cleared out again so I figured I would give the restroom floors another mopping. I was walking out the door when the next family crowd showed up and tracked it all up. However the place was busy until the Graveyard Shift showed up so it wasn't my problem anymore.

Oh, and usually when I come in the paper towel holder is empty. I will see it low when I'm walking out and when I come in the next day it's completely empty. I know it had to have run out on someone else's shift and they just ignored it. Today I came in and it was almost out so I put a new roll in and saved the very low roll. At the end of my shift I switched them back, just to see. The roll was going to last two or three customers at best.

A guy drifted in. He looked at all the coolers. He then went to the health section and looked around. Then he left without buying anything. I know what he was doing, he was looking for liquor, which we don't sell, then he was looking for mouthwash with an alcohol base and didn't find that either. He was heading down the road to the next station, on foot by the way. Too bad dude, the nearest open place is a mile and a half away.

The guy who's Cheese is just barley holding on to his Cracker came in. Normally he pays by card but today he paid in coins. I wonder what is going on there. He also gave himself a buzz cut. I hope he's OK, mentally. Again, I'm always nice to him in case he snaps one day and goes to a place where they treated him poorly.

It was shift change time and nobody from the Graveyard was there yet, and then the phone started ringing. Nope, I'm doing Hell Week this week and I'm not going to add another shift into all that. It turned out to be the Boss, he wanted to make sure the fuel truck showed up on time. Dude, don't scare me like that.

The Graveyard Shift Guy came in and as usual couldn't get the time clock to work. Meanwhile a woman came in and couldn't find the ladies room. She asked me where the restroom was and I pointed to the hall. She asked if it was just the one restroom and it was unisex. Ummm, no, there is a big red sign that says "Women" with a big red arrow pointing at the door. What do you know, she managed to see it. btw, I put the sign up a long time ago when I got tired of people not being able to figure out which restroom was which and yes they do have signs on the doors. 

A guy came up to the counter with several items, and a pair of sunglasses hanging on his shirt. I rang up his stuff and asked if he wanted the sunglasses too, he swore he bought them somewhere else, so did the people he was with. They still had all the tags on them, but it was the end of my shift and I wasn't going to challenge him. If you buy a pair of sunglasses, take the tags off before you go into another store.

The Graveyard Shift Guy got in his drawer, I closed mine, Bigfoot showed up and I went home. Day one of Hell Week is in the books.

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