As The Station Turns 9/17 - 18

 When I got to work there was an old guy trying to get in the back door, however the wind had been blowing and slammed it shut. It meant you had to pull hard on it to get it open. I was almost there when he gave up and walked around, meanwhile I pulled it open and went in. He didn't say anything when he just saw me outside and now I was behind the counter. Some people are in too big of a hurry in this world.

The Manager was pissed because the Pepsi shipment had just shown up. It was a new driver so she was telling him where things were suppose to go. Good, if she was in a bad mood she could take it out on him. 

The mystery box Fedex delivered yesterday turned out to be souvenirs. Since the Haunted Station is closed the Manager put them out at the Truck Stop and the West Side Station. I guess more is suppose to be coming in but it's odd that they didn't send the shipment all at once.

A couple of weeks ago I put a notice on the pumps that they cut off at a $100 and you can only use your credit card once. A guy came in to complain so I told him the pumps were clearly marked. So he decided that he was going to complain to me about it. I told him I didn't have any say over how the pumps worked. People always want to take their problems out on the person working behind the counter. 

I saw a guy get out his travel mug and set it on the back of his truck. Then he came inside. Then he went back out to his truck to get his cup. I was entertained for a few minutes.

Did you ever have one of those times where your eye suddenly started to itch? Like little needles being jammed into it? Did you ever have that feeling when you had a line of customers and couldn't rub your eye? It was about 10 minutes of pure torture.

When I worked at the Haunted Station there was a truck driver that came in several times of the week. Since the place is closed they've all been coming in and she was surprised to see me behind the counter. I explained the whole story.

Every week when the shipment comes in the result is a mess of cardboard bits and little pieces of plastic like the punchouts on the hanging bags of candy and sunflower seeds all over behind the counter. Since business was slow I figured I would give it a quick sweep. And of course a swarm showed up. It's some kind of connection between the broom handle and customers.

A guy came in and said he's been coming to the station ever 6 months for decades. Then he couldn't find the candy, which is in front of the first register, the same spot since they opened the place.

Some guy wanted three candy bars so I rang it up and it was around $9, yes prices are too high. Anyhow he pulled out his change and dropped it on the counter and it came to $1.85. I told him he was a bit short so he said to take one of the bars off, which dropped the price to $6 and change. Even at one it was going to be over $3 and he didn't have the money. So he decided he would run out and get more cash. He never came back. And I got a $1.85 tip for not selling him anything.

Business slowed down again and the ice hoppers were half empty so I figured I would fill them up. I went to the back and, the buckets were gone. I figured the Manager had hauled ice to the Wes Side Station and either left them at the station or in her car, either way I wasn't going to worry about it. I figure that they could get the buckets back in the morning and the Late Guy can come over and fill up the soda machines. Bwa ha ha ha ha.

I decided to go check the trashes outside, there was enough garbage to dump one bag. And sure enough a pisser showed up followed by Tag Teamers. Brooms, trash bags, rolls of toilet paper, they all trigger customers. 

The Manager of the West Side Station came by because she couldn't clock out on her facial recognition screen. Whoops, I forgot to ask her about the ice buckets. Then the Manager came by because her friend had gone somewhere and bought cigarettes but they had given her regulars instead of 100's so she was changing them out, whoops I forgot to ask about the ice buckets again. The Late Guy came by to get some sodas and darn it, I forgot to mention the buckets to him too. Oh well, I guess they will all find out tomorrow.

A woman came in and asked me if I wore glasses, while I was wearing glasses. She then asked if I ever get eye floaters, this was getting odd. She then told me that eye floaters are parasites. I told her if they just float they are dust but if they swim around, parasites. btw, you get the eye parasites from drinking out of untreated water.

A guy came in because pump 4 is still getting ready to crash. I told him to move to another pump. Then his card wouldn't work so he came back in. He went out then came back in for a receipt. Left, came back for ice cream. Left, came back in for water. Then he came in for a tire repair kit. He finally left and I finally got the broom put away. Seriously, the broom handle is linked to something in the universe.

Skippy came in and was on the phone the whole time. He wandered around, went out the back door, went around the building and came back in the front door. Continued to wander around and talk on the phone, then left. Another good encounter with management.

Towards the end of the night a guy came in to prepay and said he was on the first pump, so I set pump #1. He was on pump #3. Thankfully it wasn't busy. Seriously, look at the pump number before you come in.

All night long I got truck drivers who change out trailer across the street. They all said the same thing, the Truck Stop is a lot nicer than the Haunted Station and they wished they had been coming over here. That doesn't say much about how the Late Guy is running the place.

It must be Thursday because the Graveyard Shift is late, again. However I knew the Crazy Lady was going to flip out when she found out about the missing ice buckets so I got everything ready in advance. I counted the bills in my drawer and paper clipped them into bundles. I did my closing paperwork and when she came in I speed counted out my drawer and got off the clock. Oh, and to add to the thing, a biker broke down so I was charging his phone behind the counter, she hates it when you do something nice for the general public. I ran out the door, hopped in my car and sped home. I can just imagine what Friday morning is going to be like.

9/18

I went by the West Side Station and said hi to the Weekend Guy. He said that although he was missing two days at the Haunted Station the Boss said he'd get a full 40 hours on his paycheck. He didn't know that it will be two to three weeks before they get the place back up and running. He also didn't know that they've been shut down for a week. I thought they kept me out of the information loop. I said I was surprised he wasn't working at the Truck Stop on Thursday, he was too. 

Meanwhile the lights at the West Side Station are all burning out, the soda machine is down, the ice machine is dead and the pumps have gone to crap. I get the feeling they are going to shut the place down and the Weekend Guy is going to end up working the Random Woman's shift. Also they haven't hired anyone to take over for her and started training them so when the place reopens the new employee is ready to go, so again, I think the West Side Station's days are numbered. Then I came home.

Now it's time to piss off the boss by mentioning I don't have to work across the street on Friday and he can find someone else to do downtown.