Cashiering ...

This job interview couldn't come at a better time. I'm down to surviving off a small savings account I established the first week of the new year. I think I blogged about it, save one dollar the first week of the year, ten dollars the tenth week, fifty-two the fifty-second week. You get the idea. At the end of the year you'll have saved just over $1,300.

Problem is, I have no choice but to "borrow" that money this week for groceries. BossMan, for the second week running, can't pay me. He's broke. He's stranded in Pennsylvania somewhere, and the semi truck driver didn't submit paperwork so that we could get paid for the deliveries he's made this week (a bad habit he has).

I'm confident I will get the job. It's in retail, something I've done since I was 15 and worked with Mom in the florist that she owned, The Dried Boutique. Not only are my "drawers always on" - bad cashier humor for my cash drawer being accurate to the penny at the end of the shift, but I take great pride in "The Customer is Number One". He's our bread and butter ... to leave him/her with the knowledge that the cashier - the last person they encounter during their visit - did everything to assure their visit was pleasant and they found everything they needed. I'm the type of cashier, too, who takes a minute to get to know something about the customer ... name, reason for visit to store (often obvious by their purchases), if they have a child with them get the kids name, etc. Next time they're in you ask them by name how they are, if the issue from last visit was resolved, how little Tommy is doing, and on and on.

Mom trained me to do this at a very young age. Like I said, I worked in her floral store when I was a teen. Every day after school and weekends. I loved that job!! I learned so much about dealing with people from Mom and The Dried Boutique.The Dried Boutique wasn't actually a store, it was a kiosk ... a large antique wrought iron "push cart" (more like a horse drawn cart) that sat in the middle of the mall's main corridor, it's deep shelves filled with all sorts of dried floral arrangements made by Mom, and buckets of fresh flowers on the floor all around the perimeter of the cart. Even the cash register was antique, from the early 1900s. Our receipts were hand written on those "guest receipt" books you may remember from your youth. Definitely a low-tech, high customer service operation.

But, once again, I digress. My ultimate goal is to move into Customer Service. Problem solving for the customer. I love that! You can devote more time to solving the customer's problems and providing them with the services they need. Leave 'em knowing that I did my best for them to resolve their questions, concerns or issues with the company and the products I represent.

Granted, it's still a seasonal job, but they're already saying that an average of 50% of their seasonal hires turn into full time, year round employment. And I'm sure once they see how I am with the customers, and that my "drawers are always on", this will definitely turn into a permanent job.

*****

Off to scrub down the fridge and freezer. It's a job I had to put off during the time the furnace was out. I wasn't about to freeze scrubbing it down. Furnace is replaced, no excuses now.