Paper or Plastic: reflections of a checkout clerk

Hello, how are you today? That's great! Would you like paper or plastic today?

The last 3 months I have worked part-time as a cashier in a upscale grocery store. I have appreciate having a job, and my co-workers great, however my daily interactions with customers frustrate me. This being said, not everyone is rude or condesending, but the number of unpleasant shoppers who do come through my line is depressingly high.

It bothers me how little value our society put on checkout clerks considering how consumer based it is. If you are in line for longer than two minutes you have the right to complain. If you pick an item that has no price and then have to wait for someone to find out the price you have a right to complain. If you are in line behind someone with a large order you have the right to complain. If the person bagging your groceries doesn't use the type of bag you prefer you have a right to complain. Why is this? Why is it that as a society we feel we can make a stink about the way someone is doing their job? Sure being a checkout clerk isn't rocket science, but there is more than you think going into it.

1. Your items per minute are being timed. So if the customer is slow to load their items you get told you aren't scanning fast enough - something completely out of your control.

2. Learning produce codes. Every item in the produce section has a four digit code that you need to memorize.

3. Acturate money handling. There are hundreds of people who will come through your line a day and your drawer better be even at the end of your shift.

4. Bagging items properly and quickly.

5. Customer Service - this is huge. At the end of the day, the checkout clerk is the last person you will encounter at the store, so your interaction with them is most likely what you will remember. You have to deal with all types of people, and some of them are going to be rude, others and going to tell you jokes. "Thank you" can go a long way. 

The deal is, the average checkout clerk starts our making about $8.00/hour. Monthly that is $1,280. Yearly $15,360. That is not enough for the amount of rudeness and impatience they have to endure daily. It's no wonder stores cannot keep their best employees. And why is it that checkout clerks a paid so low? We all need them. How else would we all get groceries or other goods? Everyone freaks out when factory workers go on strike, but how many people are actually affected? What if every grocery checkout clerk desided they weren't going to work? I hope that isn't what it takes for them to be respected in society.

So next time you find yourself getting impatient in line, just think about where you are. You are buying food. It should not be stressful, so take a deep breath and enjoy the moment of downtime in your schedule.