As The Station Turns 11/07

 Today was the day I had to work at the Downtown Station, and that place is a mess. I didn't want to go there but at least I got a day off from the Truck Stop drama, and it turns out that I was being too optimistic. 

I had to wait for the woman who normally works the morning to show up but she was on time so that was a positive. My number is still in the register so I didn't have to work off someone else's code, so that was a positive too. And most of the crack heads are still passed out on Saturday morning, maybe today would be good.

The place is a mess by the way, both in management and cleaning. At the start of every shift you have to count in the cigarettes, the rack is over the register and the manager is short so she has them organized according to the popular ones she can reach instead of a specific brand all together, they are all over the road, Marlboro at the top, and somewhere in the middle and then over here to the bottom left, and everything else mixed in. First I had to figure out how they fell on the log sheet and then spent the whole day visually searching the rack every time someone asked for something. I hate that. I also wrote down the start numbers for all the lottery tickets so I could balance out at the end of the night. I was ready to go.

Since I was working alone and didn't have a key to the building I had to take my chance on potty breaks, and even if the whole area was empty the minute I got in there someone showed up. I could spend an hour with zero customers but the minute I started here they came. Proof that it wasn't just at the Truck Stop but everywhere I go.

The day got into a rhythm and I couldn't help but notice that all the window sills were dirty, not just dusty but dirty with dead bugs and all. I found a duster and started cleaning, clouds were coming off everything. And the door frames were covered in cobwebs, it was disgusting. I noticed that inside the front door is a small wasp nest, I left that because I wasn't going to have some angry insect come flying out and attack me. Honestly, the entire place could use a good once over scrub.

All day long every time someone came in to check their lottery tickets I would suddenly get a swarm of customers. So I was trying to keep track on the amount I was paying out, the new tickets they wanted, printing out the receipts from both the lottery machine and the register so I could have a record, and then taking care of everyone else who showed up, and then they would all just be gone. Every time. I probably paid out $300 in lottery winnings and sold another $1000 worth.

The safe at the Downtown Station doesn't drop money anymore so they keep a little extra in the drawer. Skippy came by and traded all my $20's for $10's and $5's, most of which I dropped back into the safe at the end of the night. He could have saved me some time and not done that. Working at the Downtown Station is a pain. On a side note, all the bills the Miscreant secretly marked went out into the universe. So that's a good thing.

The fuel truck pulled up but he parked on the street, he had never delivered to the station and wanted to know the best way to pull in. I told him most drivers went to the next street and came around the alley on the back and pulled around to the side of the building so they were facing towards the street exit and would be easier to get out. I also moved my car, which was parked off on the side and "whoopsy" I parked at the pump that wasn't working right. The owners don't like it when you bag out a pump but I wouldn't have to do it. I left my car there for most of the day.

An RV pulled through but two of the pumps on the front of the building aren't working, there are four pumps on the front and four on the back, and it was the side they pulled in on. They looked, pulled out and headed down the road. Bad news, we are the last station on Main Street and unless they want to go searching they are out of luck unless they turn around and head in the other direction.

A woman came in drenched in patchouli oil. I was glad when that trend had run it's course, personally I think it stinks like a fresh dug hole in an orchard, a combination of wet soil and rotting leaves. And it floods the entire space it's in. 

the Minstrel showed up and wanted to use the restroom. I told him no, I told him he was banned from all the stations. He said he never heard that before, I've personally told him at least 5 times. He went outside bitching and complaining. Two guys were in the building giving him the stink eye, they said they hated that guy. It's a good think he wandered off because I got the feeling they wanted to go outside and instigate something. How was I going to pretend I didn't see anything when the place has such large windows?

Quitting time rolled around. I got ready by precounting all the cigarettes and getting the outgoing numbers for the lottery, and then waited, and waited, and waited. An hour later I texted the Boss and asked if I was going to be working a double? I then got a call from the Dyslexic Woman saying she was running a "little late", I also got swarmed on by another wave of people buying lottery tickets and cigarettes. I had written my ending numbers in pencil but they didn't have a decent eraser and if I tried to change the numbers it just smeared all over the page. I finally had to copy my incoming numbers on a new sheet and throw the old one away. The crackheads had all crawled out of their holes and were now showing up to buy junk food and ask stupid questions. Two kids showed up with a dog and when it started barking and snarling at people I had to order them to leave. And so it went, for the Next Three Hours!

The Dyslexic Woman finally showed up and I was angry because I hadn't eaten since 6 AM and I really needed to piss, but I was going to maintain. I started closing my shift, she stared her opening count and then the Boss called to find out what was going on. He got into a huge fight with her and she decided she was going to storm out. Oh F-No! I wasn't going to be stuck there until someone with a key showed up to lock the doors. I calmed her down and convinced her to work the night and quit tomorrow. I needed to get my closing lottery ticket numbers but she kept getting in my way, telling her customers a wild story about what the Boss had told her over the phone, complete dramatic lies by the way. I finally got tired of trying to work around her so I left it undone, stuffed my paperwork into the safe and got the hell out of there.

Some time in the future the Boss is going to ask me to work Downtown again and I'm not only going to tell him No but F- No! It's still early so I won't know if she showed up for her afternoon shift on Sunday but I might not get to my phone around her starting time and just go to my normal shift at the Haunted Station. the problems Downtown aren't my problems and I'm not going to end up working there full time. Honestly, other people's drama and inability to do their job shouldn't become my problem.