After the bitch customer left, the people after her were nice, and it almost made me not hate the register, almost.
I turned around and there was a cashier to relieve me of this spot in hell.
“Good luck,” I told her.
I went back to apparel, only to have this lady in a motorized scooter flag me down like a dog. “Where is there a price checker?” she asked, and she repeated her question again like she thought I was deaf and stupid.
I took her to the jewelry checker and scanned the belts. “How is it full price when it was in the clearance section?” she asked me as if it was my fault it was ringing up full price.
“The belts are mixed in together. There is are sale priced and clearance priced items mixed in,” I told her.
“Well, then shouldn’t it be moved to a different section? There was 20 of them.”
I repeated the same thing.
“I don’t think you are understanding me. It should not be mixed in with the clearance items,” she said, treating me like a dumbass once again.
“I do understand you, but they are mixed in, and it's not my fault because if it was clearance there would be a red tag. I know how to do my job, bitch.” I told her, not playing nice because of how she was treating me.
“Wow…okay,” she replied and rolled off, hopefully into traffic where she would get run over by a car.
I made it back to the fitting room, and I checked in the baskets to see the clothes. I gathered a few of them. I started to put them in their spots. While I hung up a shirt, I spotted Kyle doing his usual walk around the store. To my horror, he spotted me. “Good morning.” Even though it is 4:00 in the bloody afternoon.
I smiled back a fake retail smile. “Hi, to you, too, sir. I hope you enjoy your day.” Once I acknowledged him, he walked away. I had already tried running away. He caught me so that was a bust. I was taking away the trash. Then I heard the cries to the register after the lines kept backing up. I ran to put away the trash so I could get up to the front. I saw Kyle and ran the other way, hoping he did not see me. Instead, he pulled me into the office to accuse me of running away from my responsibilities. Nope, I didn’t run away to hide from the register. He just loved to put me on it since he knew how badly I hated it.
I jumped for joy when I went back to folding bliss, since it allowed me to fold on autopilot and daydream about leaving. The crowd died down at 4:30 which meant I could fold without some jackass messing it up. I hated it. Just get me to get the size you wanted, so you wouldn’t mess up my neat piles.
Kalisa came back. “The fuckers pulled me too, and if they’d hire more cashiers, this would not have to happen. We need to be on the sales floor doing our stupid jobs.”
I went to the time clock and clocked out. I made my way to find lunch. I really loved having an hour to myself, and I usually went out instead of staying in the store since I can’t stand Kyle. I left and headed to my friend Ginger’s shop. She was a local witch, or supposedly was, I just think she is a new age human who loves oils and incense. I have known her since I started purchasing the stones from her. She knew about me being able to feel people’s emotions. She was the one who suggested which stones to use. I came to her during my lunch at 5:00 to get away.
I parked my car, and the cool air greeted me, making me wish I had more on. I opened the rough door, and the bell jingled. Once I stepped inside, the smell of incense calmed me, and I recognized the calming chamomile scent. Yum. It calmed me down, making my problems melt away. I loved the smell, and it made my stress from the assholes at Kyle’s melt. I saw Ginger behind the counter, her green eyes lighting up into a smile on her face when she saw me.
“Hey, how have you been?” She asked, noticing the relaxed look on my face.
I smiled. “I’m alive, aren’t I? It has been a hectic Black Friday shift. I just need to get out of there before their energy drains me.”
"Do you want me to cleanse you from it?" she asked, since she knows it can put a damper on my day when dealing with their negative energy.
I nodded. "That'll be good. I will like it, and I'm going to need it to get through the rest of the shift."
"Yes, I know you need it, and their energy can build up to the point where it can overload your system. Follow me."
I followed Ginger to the back to her cleansing room, and I loved the smell since it was filled with lavender. There was a chair in the middle of a circle with candles. I sat on the chair, watching the candles flicker and sway, then closed my eyes.
Ginger put her hands on me, mumbling the chant to cleanse me while lifting the negative energy-blocks the customers left in their wake. They sent their energy toward me every time they yelled, and it was a horrible blast of energy putting a damper on my day. I felt it being lifted off me, and I could breathe now. It burned at some point, as if a person left their hooks in my aura. Negative people used hooks to feed off your life force without doing it, and the fucker must be Kyle. He had been on my case ever since I started working there six years ago. She stopped five minutes later, and I got off the chair.
She smiled at me. "Feel better?"
I nodded. "Good as new, since I had no idea Kyle had his hooks in me till now. I'm happy I can finally breathe now."
"It was a nasty hook, too, with barbs coming in showing he was a real piece of work. Humans don’t really give off that kind of hook either so be careful. He could be something else, and you wouldn’t even know it until it was too late," she said.
"I bet he has had it out for me since day one," I told her.
"There is something I want to ask you though, and a question I haven't asked you before. Do you believe in angels?" she asked. I wondered where that question came from since it was so out of the blue. My thoughts shifted to that guy in my dream….could it be?
My eyebrow rose. "What kind of angels, like ones with a halo, wings, and the things you meet when you die? That kind, and why now?"
She laughed. "Real angels are not like that, but they do have wings. They live in a realm separate from ours like in the Luxor realm. Or course, you do need to fly to get to certain places or ride the friendly angel dragons. I can tell by your energy something has changed. Have you been dreaming of something lately?"
"I have had a dream about a guy who said, ‘we will meet again, my angel.’ But why are you asking this now?” I said.
“I am asking this now, since I saw your angel. You are an AngelWtich, and not just any AngelWitch but the leader of them. The guy you are dreaming about is your AngelMate. And the reason why I’m telling you about it now, instead of later, is this is the right time, and if one angel can see what you are, then the rest will follow. The dark one, Zackary, will too, and they will try to steal your powers to escape Hell,” she said.
Huh? There must be some LSD in the incense she has lit... Her words hit me…I’m an AngelWitch, and I have an Angelmate…My thoughts went back to the guy in my dream. He was meant to be mine? Really? I’m not just a retail worker, but something more? I couldn’t believe this at all. He was real…
She smiled at me. “I didn’t want to tell you this yet, but I did since you needed to know. When you came into my shop, I knew you were one. It was hard to put into words since you felt like more than a witch, and you feel differently than a human. You will see, and I wanted to warn you since there has been a bad presence here lately, and something dark. I wanted to warn you before it was too late, and your angel will find you to keep you safe and never leave your side. You can trust him since he is your Protector.”
My mind tried to process what she said, but it’s too much right now. “I have to go. This is too much right now…” I left the room, exited the store, and headed to my car. Work was on my mind now, and I couldn’t deal with this right now…
Chapter 9
Tales From Behind the Counter Chapter 1:
Introduction to My Journey Into Hell!
I never planned on working retail at all. I wanted to continue at the job I was at since I
was making 8.75 an hour in the two years I worked there. I was an assistant to a successful company, and helped them with research. The same research that gave me empathic abilities, and made me able to read their emotions. Of course, I'll go into detail about it during AngelWitch, my book coming out. They informed me of what I was more than anything. Then, the company was bought out by another and I was laid off. I live in the Crystal Crest realm. After I graduated Southbend High school, I went to a community college. The whole time I was working retail on the weekends, and an extra day during the week. Thirty-two hours, and forget having weekends off since retail has weekends mandatory at times. Those are the busiest times anyway. During the week it’s slow as shit, and Sunday nights suck, too. It's the busiest Friday nights, Saturday around noon and 6:00. Sunday it picks up around 1pm after the church crowd hits. Holidays suck since it means crowds the day before and on the actual holiday. It means there will be constant register calls, and stupid people with stupid questions. I must have a drink sometimes after work to dull their energy signals/emotions I felt from them. Their emotions can leak into you like a virus corrupting everything. Feeling their anger, disgust, and rage can have you feeling drained after eight hours of torment.
I was unemployed for six months after I got laid off, and then I got a job at Kyle’s General Store working retail after I applied to several places. I graduated community college, and then transferred to South Bend University to major in English and minor in History. I live at my apartment off campus and take college classes online. It’s been a wild ride in retail-five years of it. Five years of being normal and acting like a normal college student.
My name is Angeline and you will see me in my new book AngelWitch where I finally find my escape from retail, and move on to bigger and better things. This book will have me telling you stories of my time working at Kyle’s in various departments. Retail is not for everyone. Not everyone can handle it. I have long black hair and smoky grey eyes. I’m pale since I don’t get out in the sun much, and to the world I look like a kid since I have a youthful appearance. I have a slim body, and it fits with the Kyle’s General Store outfit. Black shirts with the words Kyle’s General Store, and it has to be collared. Black pants even black jeans are allowed. They have added a black vest to the mix so people can identify who works there, but it doesn’t matter. I still have people ask if I work there. There is a name tag on the left side, and it has my nickname Angel for short on it. I love the fact that it’s all black since black is my color. I even wear black eyeshadow and nail polish to match looking like a goth girl.
It’s easy to get a job when you know someone. I got the job thanks to my guardian Kalisa to get away from it all, but that is a story for another time. After completing the personality test thing, which was easy since you pick stuff to indicate you are a people person. Then, there are interviews and the drug test afterward. You are put in orientation to get to know the company, and then the two days of mind-numbing modules that don't give you real world experience. Of course, when you get on the floor they don't have time to properly train you so then you have to stumble around like an idiot. Then have customers get mad that you don't know everything in the store even though you just started.
I work weekends and working five years in retail is slowly killing me. Yes, I make $11.50 an hour since they changed minimum wage in Crystal Crest. The government decided people need more money, and changed it to make lives better. Retail is not for me though. I can’t stand being around managers that run you to the ground. I can’t stand the customers who want you to break rules just for them, and these are the same people who expect to get a gift card just for them waiting around, “wasting their time and expect you to pay them for it” when you are running other departments as well as yours. Or, they expect to get special service because they spend a ton of money there. I spend money there too, and some people don’t even need the money work retail do it to have something to do. Even people with one full time job use retail as a part time one to help with expenses.
One guy wanted a discount for checking out at a different register, and when self-checkouts were installed they wanted a discount for that. As if they are more special than everyone else just because they are the customer. Some customers who don’t like self-check complain about not wanting to pay to bag and scan their own groceries as if this job is beneath them. Or if they go to a cashier they complain over their attitude and the way they bag. No winning there.
To me sometimes retail customers are not always right, and sometimes they are assholes that love to pick on the sales person and make their lives hell. So if you thought the customer is always right then this is not the book for you. These stories are a collection of mean customers, stupid customers, and proof why signs have to be put in bold lettering in order for some dumbass to see. I hope you will laugh with me as I go down memory lane to remember the funniest and stupidest people I’ve ever encountered, and I hope my tips at the end will teach you how not to be an asshole to the person behind the counter.
I work in the jewelry area, and everywhere the managers put me since I’m expected to be cross trained in different departments when the stupid computers don’t know how to schedule people. Sometimes I think it’s because managers don’t look behind and check the computer too, and if they had then maybe the schedule would be different. My job is mainly the jewelry area, and I show people jewelry. I put batteries in watches-only the ones we carry in the store, and the same goes for watch bands. That policy is not mine; it’s the companies, but it doesn’t stop customers from trying to get us to do it.
I fulfill personal orders like class rings, name plates and personalized jewelry. They are pretty easy to do and the book tells you how to do it. Of course, the customers there treat the employees like they are stupid and dropped out of school. Some of us go to college, have second jobs, or the older crowd enjoys people and wanted to use this job to get out of the house.
Kyle’s General Store is located off Surrey road, and it offers discount products for a good price…or so they think. The store was built in a really rich neighborhood, and that means the customers have a lot of money to spend. Customers like them expect to be waited on hand and foot like the store is a high end retail store when it’s not. Not even close, and some of them even expect you to be their personal shopper. That's what I hate the most since they act like they can't read the price, and they want you to even help them pick out their own shoes.
They ask questions and don't even bother looking for themselves. They also have to be led to items in front of them, and they can’t bother to look up and see the department has a sign above it stating where they are when it’s right there. They treat the worker like they are unintelligent people, and the customers are the ones that need help using their own cards.
Customers expect you to be able to read their mind when they tell you about an item they found at another store. Like one lady asked me if we had a particular item, and I could not find it. When she told me her relative got it at another Kyle’s then I knew we didn’t have it. Or they expect you to walk them to the area if they can’t find an item when it’s right in front of them. Some of the customers are okay with me pointing, and it’s hard to know when it’s okay to point or walk them to the area. If we are out then they expect you to go to the back and get it for them. We are out of some items, and we have no way of ordering more since it’s something out of our control. Then the customer gets mad at us as if it’s our fault.
I try to be nice and smile at the customers since there is a ten foot rule only to be ignored sometimes or even mocked by them. It would be a different story if people were nicer, but some of them are not. They don’t even treat workers like people. Especially some managers, for example ones like Alex who called us bodies not people or even workers.
Alex Jones is the manager below the store manager Kyle who has been a pain in my side ever since he started working there. Tall, dark haired, and glacier blue eyes, always a scowl on his face. H
e was an asshole to people telling them about the ruthless point system when they were genuinely sick. He told me that I should be able to hold it in when I told him I wanted to go home after I caught food poisoning. A ruthless asshole.
What they don’t tell you once you sign up for said job is they will put you wherever they need you. Hell, those idiots move you to where they want you to go, and even if you haven’t been assigned there. Managers will be petty, and assign you to places where they know you don’t like it. Kyle put me on the register so many times that I want to bash his fucking brains in. He is an asshole. He is tan with blonde hair and blue eyes. He looks like he should be out in the sun surfing instead he is making people miserable at Kyle’s. He doesn’t know how to run a store, and he treats those under him like shit. He expects people to kiss his ass just because he oversees the store. He doesn’t schedule enough people, and makes them work multiple departments without help. Kyle’s is a wasteland full of bullshit and misery.
I hate it here since it’s the same old shit day after day, and over the years every day is an ordeal for Kyle and some of the things he does is fucking ridiculous. Kyle gets on the Co-managers, who get on the assistants, and they take it out on the supervisor and then the associates. It’s a vicious cycle, and everyone is stressed out. When corporate comes, I know the day is going to be incredibly long since that is when they are the most stressed and horrible to their employees. They complain about stuff not being done when it should have been done weeks ago, and do shit only when the bigwigs are there. It’s bullshit. Like I got in trouble thanks to Ms.Sniffles thinking I need to be more productive with my time, and I work my ass off for the company. It’s not enough for them sometimes they expect us to have super powers when we don’t.
It also doesn’t make any sense to put me on the register when I’m in a sales area, and you can thank asshole Kyle and the customer service people for your wait at the counter. It’s their fault anyway. They are the idiots pulling people out of their departments just because even a person is waiting in line, and they freak out about it for no reason. Apparently the front end is a priority, and they want to get the customers out as fast as possible. Also, we have to listen to the customer service people, and if we don’t then they tell an assistant manager about it as if I was being subordinate when I was one of the ones on the floor helping with the phones. I never forgave him to this day.
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