by Adam Smith
I personally got a girl named Iris, as my first mentor. Black hair, adorable smile, she was 18 years old. "Hello there rookie!" she said. "Hi!"
"Common, grab yourself a chair, you don't want to be standing all that shift" I went to a nearby cash box that nobody occupied and took the high black chair from out there. I grabbed it back to where Iris was, and put it behind her and started to observe everything she did and how she served the customer. That little game we call a customer service, we should be acting nice.
She started to explain the system to me, and how it works, what buttons to press and when. The cash box consisted of a tiny printer, touch screen with a small physical keyboard to its side and of course, the actual box that contained the cash. The currencies we accept are US Dollar, Euro, English Pound, Swiss Franc, Australian Dollar, Canadian Dollar, and of course, Shekels. "We do not accept coin from any of those... only Shekel coins" - Iris started to explain to me the working system deliberately. As I observed her serving the customers one after the other, I concluded that my knowledge of English was a necessity here. However, I was at a disadvantage in comparison to her, for she knew Russian and I did not. "Every time, you have to ask for a boarding pass and a passport. They can't really get in here without those but yet, that's how the system works. Also, there are what we call aircrew, it's all the people who work at the airlines. They don't have a boarding pass, however, they are supposed to have a gen deck and a passport." "What's gen deck?"
"Well, a gen deck or a declaration is a piece of paper that shows who are the members of the crew of that particular flight. Also, the aircrew has a 10% discount on everything they purchase, what they don't have is the right for a double discount, so it's either 10% or that discount that includes some of the products here in the store." "Ok, can you show me how I can do that?" "Yes, of course. Once somebody of the aircrew approaches us, I will instruct you how to do that." A lady has approached us, however, she was not from the aircrew. "Shalom!" Iris began with her part "May I have your passport and a boarding pass, please?" "Yes, of course, just a moment." The lady replied, she then browsed through her bag and finally managed to fish the necessary documents out.
She was an Israeli. Iris scanned her boarding pass and then checked that the name at the passport is identical to that one on the screen. "Do you keep it here or take it with you?" Iris asked the lady. "I beg your pardon?" "Well, you have an option to leave your products here and then we will pack them and they will be delivered with the luggage when your flight is back" "Oh, I never knew there was such an option. I think, I will do that." It was only logical because she has a lot of chocolate and couple of bottles of whiskey.
Iris asked the lady for her back flight number, return date, phone number and then began to scan all of the products and put them in a white sack that she has opened just for that.
She also had to enter this lady's birth date, as she explained to me later that the computer must confirm that we are not selling tobacco or alcohol to anyone below 18. Just after Iris was done scanning all the products, the lady suddenly realized she wanted to take one bottle of whiskey with her.
And then, the lady pulled out an Uzi and started to fire all across the hallway putting down to sleep all of the customers and cashiers who served them. When the gun finally clicked, it was a signal for me to leap over and punch this cunt to the floor. I grabbed a nearby standing bottle of wine for better effect and crashed it over her stupid head to make her lose consciousness and all. Later, I learned that it's a Cabernet Souvenion Limited edition Israeli Barrkan wine.
No, that never happened, just thought, I could cheer you up a little bit with good old-fashioned action before you fall asleep. Anyhow, there was a button on the screen which you had to press to switch between the pickup on and off options. So, Iris has selected the item and pressed the pickup off. Suddenly, the line with this whiskey bottle became black. "Do you have a direct flight miss?" "No, I have a connection" "May I know where you are flying to?" "Yes, I'm flying to Hamburg through Berlin" "OK then, I will have to seal this bottle" "What does it mean?" Irish answered without any hesitation and very politely, even though I'm sure she is been asked this question plenty of times a day "Well, you see there is a border control on every connection and we have an agreement with countries in Europe to seal alcoholic beverages and all kind of cosmetics at a special bag, so they would not take it from you" "Oh, I see. So, sure then, please do seal it" Now, this was completely new for me, she took a plastic bag out of a drawer on her right side, it was always the third one from the top. She turned to me and said "Look over here, there is a special combination to print an "items in bag" announcement, if you forget to print it, you always can put the rest inside. It is a must as border control have to be sure that the items were purchased at the Duty-Free and no other place." "OK, got it." Now, it was the time for the lady to pay.
"Do you pay in dollars or shekels?" "I will pay with visa. In shekels" Iris showed me the button to press, so that computer would convert the amount into shekels. The lady pulled out the credit card and handed it to Iris, "One payment, Iris has asked?" "Make it two" "OK" Once again, she turned to me and showed me what button to press on the screen to split the payments, also she said "In case you mess up or have an important question, call the deputy store manager" she passed the card and the printer started to print 5 small papers. One was a paper that lady had to sign.
The second one was a recite. The third was item in a bag. The fourth and fifth were discounts but Iris threw them into the bin right away she turned to me smiling and said "Don't tell anyone I threw them because you know we are supposed to handle them out" I thought for a second about that fact but found it useless. The lady signed that paper and then Iris put the bottle inside of the bag and put the "items in bag" statement above it, she then let all the air out and finally took of a red stripe and sealed the bag, she then took a red sack that was hanging to the left to her cash box and put the sealed whiskey inside of it and handed the sack to the lady. "Have a great flight" "Thank you" when the lady disappeared walking her way to her plane, Iris finally said, "That's how you do it" I nodded to show that I understand and looked at my watch, we had two hours and a half to burn. After doing likewise to a couple more of clients and me filling out the checklist, Iris made me practice the trade and that's how my actual work began. I felt a bit nervous about my first client, however luckily they have shown understanding.
At first, I was a little bit nervous and was looking for an approval on every action, I was feeling really uncomfortable and Iris noticed that, she said "Relax, it's no rocket science", and yet still, first two of my clients had to be really patient because I was lost with all the instructions I received and had to remember all the questions and confirmations I had to master which was an addition to that state. What made me nervous at the first place is not as much as lack of technical knowledge of the profession as the sums of money I was handling that were quite out of my own possession. The stacks of dollars and shekels at the cash box were very impressive. However, the third client went easier for me, he did not take much, he was a tourist going back home to France, he did not take much and I already have developed the necessary habit to ask the right questions and press the right buttons.
It turned easy after an hour of such work, Iris asked me to let her continue because she got bored. I had empathy for her and could understand that boredom at this place was nothing of extraordinary.
I let her in and for the remaining hour, I simply observed her work. I felt a sort of delight and uplift in spirit because the job wasn't hard, the staffs, as for now, were friendly and it might be a good place to hold on and to make friends.
In between the clients, we discussed a bit of personal life, like what hobbies I had, what hobbies she had and what was our doing beyond the job. As for me, I said that I studied computers and was about to start studying law. It somehow impressed her and she shared that she doesn't have much time beyond the job, however, finds a
certain delight in belly dancing and quite talented at it. She told me that once she took her little sister to belly dance class and the instructor asked her if she came to apply to become an instructor, she denied and her mother yet insisted that she would show the instructor her mastery. The instructor was under the impression to get her a job, however, she has denied it, for she already had a job and thought of belly dance more as of a hobby.
Go figure. Today, we were preached to a lot that we should do what we love and in case it can sustain our living, it could be a dream coming true but Iris had something else in mind. Well, the shift came to an end. It was 19:00 and Iris told me that I may go. She remained at her place, however, explaining that somebody else, another cashier to be exact, has to come to take her place for the next shift. As will learn later, it takes about 15 minutes more and if that doesn't happen we have to turn on the red light.
I went to the employee's restroom, took my bag, scanned my finger to make a record of my working hours and left in the direction of the exit gate. It took me about 20 minutes to get there, passing all the corridors and checkpoints with my employee card.
At first, I was somewhat confused when I was outside the airport. There were plenty of minibuses that all belonged to the Bon-tour firm and supposedly were taking all the employees of the firm back to their home cities. Then I saw papers with lists of names of the employees and minibus numbers that had to spread them according to assigned locations. However, it was without avail, the lists were outdated. Then, I saw a guy who saw a guy... just kidding, I approached a fellow who was talking on the phone loud enough for me to hear that he was going to Holon. "Hi, are you going to Holon?" I knew the answer but I had to ask because that's the way I roll. "Yep, are you in the group?" "No. What group?" "What's your number?" I gave him my cellphone number and he instantly added me to the group.
"My name is Adi, and yours?" "Roi, I already deleted your number" I was confused, he noticed that and tried to clear my confusion with "I add to the group and instantly delete because I don't need all these numbers, they are in the group anyways, and in case I will ever need any of them". I followed him to the place where the driver was waiting and got into the bus.
The driver has scanned the passenger's card of each one of us and that was it, I was about to officially finish my first training day.
The ride home took about an hour because we had to spread all the ladies and gentleman around the city and I was among the last people to get home. I did not complain, I simply peeped outside the window and smiled with an unhealthy smile that would eventually erase from my face in a week, but at the moment, it was close to happiness because I thought I have found my place for the next year. Dreams fall apart faster than we manage to realize but that's not the point because I got home, brushed my teeth and fell asleep, jaded but was still smiling with that silly smile in an anticipation of tomorrow.
Chapter 2
I passed my exam on day three and started to serve customers independently. It wasn't that hard, the instructors were at the job only a couple of months and yet they were knowledgeable enough to put in my head all the wisdom necessary to serve well and at times, above the average expectation.
Days were passing fast, I can say that the clients were diverse and that was interesting to be among the final stand points of their journey beyond the borders of Israel. I already met few fellows who were friendly enough to say "Hi" every time they saw me, and Yael, the girl with whom we got recruited on the same day even insisted that we would take cash boxes that were next to each other, in order, to be able to chat at the short periods of time between serving the clients.
It wasn't happening too often, as each one of us, the cashiers had a different schedule. In total, there were three shifts, the morning shift from 3 AM to 10 AM, the shortest one, the day shift from 10 AM to 7 PM and the night shift from 7 PM to 3 AM. There are 70 cash boxes and 250 cashiers employed that work round the clock on different shifts, all the week, 365 days a year. Of course, each cashier had at least one day off a week, but most had 2, including myself. Even though I checked the box on the website of the firm that I'm able to work six days a week, I never actually got such opportunity.
It was my fourth day and I blended in well. Girls were saying I look good in a suit. My black shoes and pants composed a good set with the shirt and the jacket from the firm.
I certainly was not as intimidated by the amount of cash going through my hands as I was at the first day. Hour after hour, I was accepting boarding passes and passports and accompanied them. I was scanning products and activating discounts.
There were times I spent with the aircrew and I served them deliberately with all the conditions and affirmations from the deputy managers. I looked at the clock that was at the screen and couldn't be happy enough when the shift was about to end. I would take my slot walk into the room of the deputies and pack all the cash and signed papers into a white envelope.
Then, I'd sign with my name, cash box number, date and the shift type I was working that day. Afterwards, I'd approach the window where our deputies accepted and handed out the cash. The window was protected by an iron bar. I would hand the envelope, say goodbye and leave. Whenever I entered that small room, it was either a beginning or an end of a shift, it was so crowded that I thought of sardines in a can. When I left, I felt like a certain uplift and strolled fast forward to take my bag and head to the entrance gate. The guys at the minibus were all busy with their own concerns. Somebody spoke on the phone, somebody else listened to a music with earphones plugged to their ears, and some other guys were caught in a nap. I simply looked through the window, watching all the cars pass by, at times, looking up to see a leaving plane and wonder where they were going. People have so many concerns, at times, they forget to live.
When I got home, I put James Blunt hits though YouTube on my laptop, did some exercises took a shower and fell asleep. After all, I did not have so much time to indulge in anything else because the day afterward was still a day at the airport, at times, it was night.
During the first week, I developed a headache due to different shift times and sleeping times, however, it has passed in weeks that came after.
I noticed that the employees developed what I called "Zombiesm" which is a state of an automation and blankness of the mind. We simply walked and acted with blank minds, relying more on a habit of what we use to do than consciously performing the actions.
Nonetheless, I loved Sundays, it may sound unusual but as it been the beginning of the week in Israel, it was genuinely a blessing because not so many Israelis took flights on Sundays, with a comparison to other days, of course. Some employees among the customer directors, in which, their work consists of directing the flow of the customers to available cash boxes, so that, the service would remain in order and thus received tributes in form of golden pins symbolizing their success among their fellows.
As it turned out, I wasn't that good at sales. The thing is that as it turned, my duty wasn't just to serve the customers by providing them their bills. I had to try and up sell certain items that were unique to the cash box and had discounts. We had wine, chocolates and perfume among these times mostly. After three weeks of hard work, my up sell rate was among the lowest in the firm in history. No, not in history but only during these weeks, which also wasn't too good. Our manager that has passed every day over the lines of cash boxes with a printed paper showing how much each one of us has sold, several times called me out and tried to figure out what seems to be the problem. "On your first day, you had very good results. But your rate is among the lowest. Do you offer the discount to each and each passing prospect?" "Yes mam, I do" "You sure? How do you offer? Have you been though an instruction of how you ought to upsell?" "No, I haven't." "Would you like to go through one?" "Of course, I would gladly go through such an instruction." "Okay then, go back to your cash box and I will notify you of where and when to go" "Great. Thank you, mam."
I went back to
my place and felt a slight disturbance regarding this matter, a girl right next to me, seeing my frown face asked what was going on. "It's the sales, I do not manage to push through these stupid products." "Relax, I'm not all that good at sales either, but you see me still working here" "Yep, how long do you work here?"
"Little over three months, you?" "From the beginning of the month" "Oh, you are a rookie! What's your name?" "Adi" "And yours?" "Ximena" At first, I thought she was an Arab but her face features were different, so I hesitated and yet I got enough courage to ask "Are you an Arab?" "No, I'm from Columbia" "Oh, that's nice. There are mainly two things that I know about Columbia. First, you make a great coffee. Second, you have a lot of drug dealers." She started laughing.
When she stopped, she thought for a second and added quietly "You know these are stereotypes but they are somewhat true." Then clients came and we had no more time to talk. After about twenty minutes, Elena, the deputy manager with the list of sales rates, came to me and instructed to go to the Gold cash boxes. It wasn't the first time I've heard the term, however, I did not know yet where it was or what was so special about it. She said "I talked to May, it's a girl with a pigtail and blond hair, she is one of the best at the whole crew. She will instruct you on how to sell better and hopefully improve your rate." "Okay, got it. Thank you."
I had no idea what direction to go, so I asked one of the directors "Where are the golden cash boxes?" "They are right next to the gift-point." "Thanks" "Your welcome". A dark-skinned young girl with a wildly spread hair. I noted that I should ask her what's her name, next time I see her. Anyhow, I have continued on my quest to satisfy the deputy manager with my efforts to improve the sales rate.