As The Station Turns 10/28

 The day started off fun! There was a woman hanging out around the side of the building, because the Manager won't run people off, she wasn't doing anything at the time so I let her be. Then she came in and asked if we had a bus schedule....ummmm...we're not a bus stop, why would we have a schedule, you have to go on line for that kind of thing in the modern world. "Someone told her" that we had a schedule but there isn't anyone around who would have done that, step one of "here comes trouble" by the way. Then she started bugging the customers for money or a ride so I had to go tell her to not do that. She told me that I couldn't tell her to stop bugging people so I did the "this is private property and you have to leave" speech, if you say that and they refuse you can call the cops. She told me she was "federal" and I couldn't tell her what to do, she was something alright. So she went and gathered up her stuff, and came to the corner of the building. At this point I picked up the phone and started to dial the police when she came back in. She started telling me again how she was "federal" and I couldn't tell her what to do, I pointed at the phone and told her the police were on their way. She then said she was going to cut off all federal funding for the area but she was leaving so I hung up the phone. Every year when it starts to get cold in Denver we get the wack jobs for about a month. By the way I have three basic rules, don't make a mess, don't cause trouble and don't bug the customers. She did two out of three.

A woman came in and didn't know her pump number, again, pumps have been numbered since 1974, people should know this by now. Anyhow I had to go look to see what pump she was on and she started giving me the stinky eye. She went and got her gas, came in to use the restroom and then as she was leaving she gave me the stink eye again. I should have told her that I can't set the pump until I knew the number and made her go out and get it. Oh, what a fun day, and it had only been 20 minutes. I guess the Crazy Lady didn't show up for work last night, for whatever reason, and the Graveyard Shift Guy was complaining that he couldn't do the walk in cooler or the trash because he was "too busy". His shift was slower than the day shifts and they got everything done despite working by themselves. He's full of it alright.

The walk in cooler has developed a drip. I don't think anything major is leaking, perhaps it's just condensation, but it's also not my problem. The thing is the Manager didn't do anything about it. I got an old bucket out of the back and put it under the drip so the floor wasn't wet, a disaster waiting to happen. Why is common sense solutions the last thing people think of?

I'm trying to count in my cigarettes and I had a comparison shopper. And I know, as soon as I get in the middle of a long count he's going to come running up to the register, so I had to wait. I didn't get a 10 minute job done for 40 minutes. He finally paid for the soda he picked out when he first came in by the way.

Early in the shift I got a $100 bill and that's when I discovered I left my bill checking pen at the Haunted Station. It will be long gone by the time I get back there. The good news is I have a box of them, they were cheaper than buying just one.

I guess the Dyslexic Woman has been complaining. She works at the Haunted Station on Wednesday morning and the Weekend Guy works the afternoon. The problem is that he shows up at 2 PM even though he's scheduled to come on at 3. So she either has to work with him for an hour or lose an hour on her check. Perhaps the Late Guy, the manger, should solve the problem. A ha ha ha ha ha, he doesn't solve problems.

A young guy was wearing a Mac Tonight shirt. I was temped to say "so you're a fan? Name three of the Fry Kids". I doubt he would understand the joke.

It was getting dark and I could see someone on the edge of the lot. Did the Federal Homeless woman come back? Was I going to have to call the cops? Turned out to be the local who pushes an old baby carriage around town, she keeps all her stuff in there. She comes in to get a cup of ice and I let her because she follows the rules.

The Boss came by, did his paperwork and left, I like that. He said he's leaving on Saturday for two weeks, so Skippy will be back. He asked me if I needed him to hang around for a half hour, I told him everything was fine and he might as well go home and be comfortable. He may have wanted to hang around because he doesn't have anything to do but I hate having a boss hovering.

I went to check the restrooms and there is a new crack in the toilet seat. That thing is going to split apart and hopefully not during my shift. Seriously, they could buy a decent one, might as well get a steel one.

The day was slow and the floor was messy so I started mopping, and someone showed up. I waited but they never came in, just repacked their car. I started moping again and someone pulled up to the pump, so I waited and they drove off. I could have finished sooner and it would have dried before people came in if neither of those people had pulled up to a pump. And sure enough, as soon as I was done some guy came in and headed right to the one still wet spot.

Someone came in and asked if our restroom was open, I know the place next door will tell everyone their restroom is closed but I figured the Weekend Guy was telling people his restroom is closed too, even though I know the plumber came and unplugged the mens room toilet. Oh well, I get more customers because of restroom access.

I got a fleet card that ran with zero problems so I was happy. When I was writing it into the log I saw that the guys I had sent across the street the night before had spent $200 at the station. Good for us.

Some guy came in and bought all the small single serve cans of bean dip, 8 cans. I'm glad I'm not on that road trip. He didn't buy chips by the way, just the bean dip.

As I got near the end of the night I started to wonder if the Crazy Lady would show up and if not would Bigfoot be late. The Crazy Lady showed up, late, and Bigfoot didn't come in while I was there. The Crazy Lady was sniffing and coughing and kind of limping along. She gets sick at least once a month but she use to do it on Monday, however she has to work the afternoon shift now so she saved it for Tuesday. She should have done it on Friday, some people never think in advance. This means that the Graveyard Shift Guy is going to come down sick, I hope he saves it for Friday, and I'll accidentally put my phone on airplane mode while I charge it. Here's hoping the Federal Homeless Woman got a ride to somewhere south and I don't have to deal with her again.