Where No Man Has Gone Before

(soundtrack)

All Falls Down – Kanye West

My first week as a cashier has come and gone and I’ve got to say that the results have been mostly positive.

In what likely comes as a surprise to no one, I was struggling at first. My main problem was (and to some degree, still is) remembering codes for stuff that I can’t just scan, like fruits and vegetables. I don’t think they expected me to have the whole produce section memorized by my second day, but I was still disappointed in myself. My other problem was identifying the different fruits and vegetables. All these different kinds of onions and apples and potatoes…it can be intimidating. I wasn’t screwing up too badly, but I may have mispriced a few things here and there so whoever handles the accounts is going to be none too happy with my work.

I’ve settled into a nice groove now and frankly, it’s an enjoyable job when I think about other things I could be doing. Like being one of those kids who stands outside with a sandwich sign. That’s just humiliating. My apologies to anyone reading this who has actually had to do that for a living. Also, my pity.

Bonus points: I’m surrounded by women all day. Admittedly, they’re all kind of “Meh with a side order of meh”, but that’s okay. It’s better than the sausage party that is the society of stock boys.

I’ve probably also allowed my fair share of counterfeit bills to come my way. We’ve got this machine that scans the bills and we’re supposed to examine the bills ourselves, but I’m too lazy for that. Plus, it’s somewhat offensive to the customer. However, I was suspicious of this one guy who pulled out what looked to be a fat roll o’ fitty’s. I guess I’m afraid to confront someone on it. How embarrassing would that be to be wrong, eh? This is definitely not a case of “better safe than sorry”.

I guess I don’t really have any interesting stories yet. But I should mention something that I noticed about my store in general. I would describe it as the “Supermarket of the Damned”. It seems like everyone who works there is either a young gun who hates the job but needs the money or an older person who missed out on going to school because they have to support a relative. One of my grocery supervisors, Danny, dropped out of school because he had to take care of his mother. My cashier mentor, Clara, didn’t even go to school. She’s got a mother and a handicapped brother to take care of.

I was hoping to scrape up some dough to buy myself a new pair of shoes.

I’m happy that I’ve rarely taken for granted how easy my life is. Sure, sometimes one can feel guilty or confused when most of the major necessities in their life are taken care of for them. It’s like, “I guess I don’t really need to do anything then, do I?” However, I think don’t think it’s wrong to appreciate what you’ve got if you are in a situation where someone (say, your parents) are taking care of things for you, so long as you don’t rely on it. This shit is flimsy, yo.

That’s why when I go to sleep at the end of the day, I’m at least content with how things are going. Yeah, I get depressed a lot and there’s always stupid things to complain about, but when I take a step back to look at how things are going, how can I not be satisfied? I’m not going to resent my parents for coddling me (though maybe I should). I mean, that’s why I took this job. I want to help them out with taking care of their idiot son. That, and a new pair of shoes.

So to summarize the moral of today’s unnecessarily preachy post: Don’t try to be something you’re not. Just be who you are. That’s what’s really cool.

What you reckon he’s gonna do with the Roadrunner, he ever catches it?

T.C. says he’s gonna stick his pecker in it.

Huh?

Says that’s what he’d do.