As The Station Turns 8/31

 Just before I had to leave for work my phone started ringing, now what? It turns out it was the Late Guy and he was having trouble changing out the syrup box on the soda machine. It's a tricky one, most are just a screw on cap but this one has a plunger that you have to pull out of the bag and then slide the clip to the side of the bag nipple. The thing is I've shown him this before. I was almost going to have to go over there and show him, again, how to do it but I explained it over the phone and he figured it out. 

I forgot it was Monday because the Manager was being chatty and friendly. She had to take her car to the mechanic and was waiting for her husband to show up. Normally this would be an uncomfortable situation since she is always in a bad mood on Mondays. I guess she got to tell off the Graveyard Shift Guy, he was complaining about having to fill up the ice in the soda machine and she reminded him that he gets paid to do a job. I guess he also told someone that cleaning the restroom was "women's work", damn dude, 21st century here, and again, you get paid to do it.

The place has been so dead that I got all my start of the shift stuff done right away, This is not a typical Monday and I'm worried.

Mrs Late Guy had something sticking out of her tire so she needed to go to the shop, and someone gave her a plant but the pot had been broken so she had to take it home right away, and a package had arrived at the house but it was about to rain, so she needed to take off for a while. Suits me, on Monday's when she's there the miscreant can't switch out the marked bills so they go out with people's change. Plus she's not a talker so on slow days it's really awkward. btw, the thing in her tire was just in the tread and hadn't gone all the way through, the tire shop guy told her it wasn't any danger and would probably fall out in a couple of days.

The Cheese Slippage Guy came in early today, he got his cigarettes, paid and left. He wasn't in a very chatty mood. I'm still polite to him just in case. 

The radio was playing Walk The Line and some guy made a comment about how great it is to hear Jerry Jeff Walker. The internet socials has taught me that if someone makes an error that isn't life threatening or rudely political I let it slide. He came back in after a few minutes to correct himself and point out that it was Johnny Cash. Yeah, I know, it's one of his biggest hits and the name of his biographical movie.

Did someone have a real flag draped across their hood and hooked underneath to keep it in place or is it just a wrap? I didn't get a chance to take a closer look so I couldn't say. I wondered who would do that but when they came in they were wearing a Tucker Carlson shirt which explains a lot. It's sad that we live in a country where if someone displays a flag you immediately assume the worse about them.

The Stuffed Dog Guy came in and went straight to the restroom, this might be bad. (thankfully it wasn't) He got some stuff and left. He was very quiet today too, is there something going on in the mental health community today?

I got an opportunity to run out and check the trash but someone pulled in so I went back inside. They sat at the pump until someone else pulled in, they never got any gas or came inside. Why do people pull up to the pump instead of parking off on the side? It's so annoying.

When I did get outside to check the trash I saw that someone had left a throw pillow on the picnic table. Should I toss it? I decided to leave it. Later when I did another trash check I saw someone had decided to throw it away. I wasn't going to touch it in case it had bed bugs.

Mrs. Late Guy decided to clean the restroom, after all the place was empty. And sure enough we were swarmed. I'm glad it doesn't just happen to me. Someone wanted to sit on the toilet that she had just sprayed with Clorox cleaner and hadn't wiped off yet. We both thought that perhaps we would be evil and let them but no, she warned them to wait. She got the restrooms cleaned, everyone left and I didn't have to do it a second time, so score one for me.

A woman came in, her and her husband run a car hauling service so they had to stop at the port of entry at the state line to have their paperwork checked out. When she looked out the window a bear was sitting off to the side in the tree line. It was a very exciting thing for her, around here it's just another day. She also told me she was hoping to get home before Dolly hit, not because she wanted to be in the middle of a hurricane but because she had left her dog with someone and it freaked out during storms. Basically in 5 minutes she told m her life story.

The Boss came in and he seemed to be in a better mood today. I figured it was a good time so I asked him to buy the rolled coins out of the drawer, $30 worth of quarters. He didn't mind because the next time he needed to fill up the drop slot in the safe he wouldn't have to go to the bank. I had considered leaving them to bug the graveyard shift but I may not get a second chance and be stuck with them for another week.

A regular came in and told me a guy was towing a car and it was idling, while he was towing it. That seems like a recipe for a disaster.

I sold a Wolfman potato chips. Wasn't the full moon yesterday? No, his hair wasn't perfect.

We haven't been getting a lot of fleet cards these days but today I got two. And both times I got a swarm of people who immediately jumped in line as soon as I started the process of running the card. And both times the place completely cleared out after I had run the guy's card and did all the supplemental paperwork.

For some reason the High School crowd wandered through tonight. Thankfully none of them asked for smokes so I didn't have to check IDs. One guy was fascinated by the condom machine in the restroom, I guess it's a rare item in the modern world. I wonder if the one guy bought one.

The Graveyard Shift Guy rushed in to work, clocked in right away and then slow counted his drawer. I wondered what was up with that but then I realized he didn't want to get the drawer full of rolled coins. Jokes on you pal, I sold them to the Boss and they're in the safe. 

At the first of the day I forgot it was Monday but I was reminded that it is the first of the week for some people when the Crazy Lady came in and started slamming thing around. She decided to prove that they are the only ones who do anything so she got two buckets of ice to dump in the soda machines but there wasn't enough room. When I left she was trying to crush it down but it wasn't working. There's a reason why I filled it up to the point where I had, and I was laughing. And then I went home.