Tell me about working part-time in a grocery store, please
March 29, 2015 3:43 PM Subscribe
Hello Mefites,
I have a full-time professional job with benefits. My husband and I don't have kids and I'm finding myself bored out of my gourd most evenings and weekends. For medical reasons I won't go into, my husband and i don't spend a great deal of time together. I'm thinking of applying to work evenings and weekends at the grocery near us.
I'm good with people and like keeping things tidy, so I'm thinking bagger and shelf stocker/organizer.
Pros? Cons? Please don't suggest other hobbies or pastimes. Let's stick to grocery store work.
I'm good with people and like keeping things tidy, so I'm thinking bagger and shelf stocker/organizer.
Pros? Cons? Please don't suggest other hobbies or pastimes. Let's stick to grocery store work.
Instead of bagging or stocking shelves, apply for a job in the seafood department. That was my college job and I loved it. It's basically your own little kingdom and you keep the ice fresh, arrange the fish nicely. It's fun to weigh and wrap up the fish, fillet salmon and steam lobsters.
(It's only fun because you aren't doing it full time and is not the major source of income.)
posted by pintapicasso at 3:54 PM on March 29, 2015
(It's only fun because you aren't doing it full time and is not the major source of income.)
posted by pintapicasso at 3:54 PM on March 29, 2015
Best answer: To me retail clothes sounds a little better to me. Lots of tidying up and less chilly parts of the store. I didn't like bagging near the front doors or stocking in refrigerated areas. Also, a benefit of working someplace is a discount. I might focus on something I'd love to get discounts on.
posted by beccaj at 3:58 PM on March 29, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by beccaj at 3:58 PM on March 29, 2015 [5 favorites]
Best answer: You can get specific store reviews written by employees at indeed.com
That may help you get a general idea of what it's like.
posted by artdrectr at 3:58 PM on March 29, 2015
That may help you get a general idea of what it's like.
posted by artdrectr at 3:58 PM on March 29, 2015
Seafood often isn't open evenings/weekends, so your choice will be checker or stocker.
I liked being a checker. My primary complaints were a) I didn't have the right shoes for standing for 6-8 hours at a stretch, b) my hands got gruesomely dirty, and I didn't have any access to wash them except on breaks, because this was before hand sanitizer. It might be better now.
posted by Lyn Never at 3:58 PM on March 29, 2015
I liked being a checker. My primary complaints were a) I didn't have the right shoes for standing for 6-8 hours at a stretch, b) my hands got gruesomely dirty, and I didn't have any access to wash them except on breaks, because this was before hand sanitizer. It might be better now.
posted by Lyn Never at 3:58 PM on March 29, 2015
Best answer: Being good with people, look more to see if you can work in one of the departments. Bakery, deli, produce... there are lots of possibilities. It is also likely to pay somewhat better than a bagger.
Most work in the actual grocery department is tedious and dull. Stocking involves knowing where everything in the store is and being under pressure to get the grocery load (maybe 2-3x/week) out on the floor within your shift. Blocking or facing of the goods on the shelf is repetitive and hard on the hands. There isn't necessarily a lot of customer interaction, and you have to be handy at whipping out your box cutter and not damaging the merchandise (harder in this age of plastic bottles).
Working the registers these days is probably substantially easier than it was years ago. We were working with first generation barcode scanners, and it was very hard on the wrists for most of the checkers because the item had to be slid over the scanner which scanned from underneath.
Working a smaller store can be brutal, due to staffing pressures. When I was an assistant manager, at what had originally been called a supermarket, we were eventually surrounded by larger "mega" stores and had a lot of pressure to keep costs low and competitive. This usually meant shortchanging us on staffing levels. One checker, one clerk to run both bakery and deli, utility clerk for just long enough to scrub the floors and clean the departments...
posted by jgreco at 4:07 PM on March 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Most work in the actual grocery department is tedious and dull. Stocking involves knowing where everything in the store is and being under pressure to get the grocery load (maybe 2-3x/week) out on the floor within your shift. Blocking or facing of the goods on the shelf is repetitive and hard on the hands. There isn't necessarily a lot of customer interaction, and you have to be handy at whipping out your box cutter and not damaging the merchandise (harder in this age of plastic bottles).
Working the registers these days is probably substantially easier than it was years ago. We were working with first generation barcode scanners, and it was very hard on the wrists for most of the checkers because the item had to be slid over the scanner which scanned from underneath.
Working a smaller store can be brutal, due to staffing pressures. When I was an assistant manager, at what had originally been called a supermarket, we were eventually surrounded by larger "mega" stores and had a lot of pressure to keep costs low and competitive. This usually meant shortchanging us on staffing levels. One checker, one clerk to run both bakery and deli, utility clerk for just long enough to scrub the floors and clean the departments...
posted by jgreco at 4:07 PM on March 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Management and customers are your problem here. The work is easy. I worked in a grocery store deli a couple years ago, and anyone could do it. And the cashiers and stockers were the same deal. But management is greedy and mean, customers are ridiculous human beings (i was asked for seven slices of Turkey totaling eight ounces - our scale read pounds in decimals. I'm good at math, but come on...). It seems like Whole Foods and even Trader Joe's employees are way happier, so if those are an option, definitely go for them. The worst that happens is you stay a week or two and decide it isn't for you.
posted by papayaninja at 4:11 PM on March 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by papayaninja at 4:11 PM on March 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I worked at a grocery store in high school and college. At my store (one of the most highly rated employers in the U.S.), everyone trained as a cashier because while they need people to stock shelves and bag groceries, sometimes the store gets really busy, even at night, and you need all hands on deck. I worked in the meat department after I turned 18 but even then, I worked as a cashier when I wanted to work nights because the meat department closed at 9 pm. That said, at my store, being specialized also meant more money.
In general, I liked working there. It wasn't perfect and since I was one of many young people, there was occasional drama but for the most part, we were all just trying to do our jobs. It was a nice store and honestly, I think the customers frequently responded in kind. When there was s nasty storm the Monday before Thanksgiving, the Wednesday before was incredibly busy but a customer bought me a Coke just to be nice. I noticed another customer buying ingredients to make lots of cookies, I think around Easter, and a week later, she came in with a small bag of cookies for me. Slow times were boring but I don't remember ever being terribly bored. So sure, give it a shot.
posted by kat518 at 4:11 PM on March 29, 2015
In general, I liked working there. It wasn't perfect and since I was one of many young people, there was occasional drama but for the most part, we were all just trying to do our jobs. It was a nice store and honestly, I think the customers frequently responded in kind. When there was s nasty storm the Monday before Thanksgiving, the Wednesday before was incredibly busy but a customer bought me a Coke just to be nice. I noticed another customer buying ingredients to make lots of cookies, I think around Easter, and a week later, she came in with a small bag of cookies for me. Slow times were boring but I don't remember ever being terribly bored. So sure, give it a shot.
posted by kat518 at 4:11 PM on March 29, 2015
Best answer: Have a good long read of this site before entering the world of working in retail. Things look VERY different from the other side of the counter.
posted by Solomon at 4:14 PM on March 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Solomon at 4:14 PM on March 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Is there a Trader Joe's in your area? If so, consider applying there. They have a reputation for treating their employees well and being a pleasant place to work.
posted by Metroid Baby at 4:14 PM on March 29, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by Metroid Baby at 4:14 PM on March 29, 2015 [5 favorites]
Response by poster: I worked directly with the public for 20 years - I know about dealing with nutty people. I'm quite good at it, actually.
/done threadsitting
posted by harrietthespy at 4:18 PM on March 29, 2015
/done threadsitting
posted by harrietthespy at 4:18 PM on March 29, 2015
Are there any specialty food stores in your area? I had a fun time working part time/weekends in a cheese specialty shop. As long as you familiarize yourself with the merchandise so you can make informed recommendations to customers, it is not that difficult a type of job.
posted by gudrun at 4:20 PM on March 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by gudrun at 4:20 PM on March 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Is there any chance that someone who knows you from your professional life could run into you at the store? I'm not sure what I'd think if I saw someone I dealt with as a professional doing a grocery-bagging job on the side, but I might wonder whether they were in some kind of financial or professional trouble.
posted by zadcat at 4:28 PM on March 29, 2015
posted by zadcat at 4:28 PM on March 29, 2015
Response by poster: ZadCat: It's reasonably possible and I may also see people from church. It wouldn't bother me and I would be open to talking about it.
posted by harrietthespy at 4:31 PM on March 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by harrietthespy at 4:31 PM on March 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I would totally work at a coffee shop - something other than Starbucks. I work full time and do well for myself, but if there is one thing I miss from my pre-working stiff days, it's working the counter at a coffee shop. Evening were the best as it was low-key, the customers were regulars and the conversation was awesome.
posted by punkrockrat at 4:32 PM on March 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by punkrockrat at 4:32 PM on March 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Since you already marked the response about retail clothes as a best answer, I'll give my 2 cents there. I actually really enjoyed the work I did at a clothing store, even though they treated their employees like near criminals and didn't hardly pay enough for it to be worth it. It would have been a difficult place to work had I needed the money, but I was really just looking for a break from working at home all alone. I loved straightening, folding, breaking the new merch out of the boxes and putting it out, and most of all, helping people. There was a real reward in helping a customer find an outfit she felt good it, or helping someone pick out a gift, etc. This was a med size chain store, no commission, very soft sales targets, but geared towards mid/a bit higher end clothing. I can imagine the good points diminish at a cheaper price points, larger stores.
Checkout at a large big box store. It was a mind numbing, killer on the feet and filthy.
I stocked produce at a large co-op/Whole Foods type place. That was fun, you were pretty much left to yourself, got the same sort of thrill out of making everything look good. You do get dirty.
At the same store I worked shifts at the deli. I would never do deli meats again, I can still smell what my clothes smelled like after a shift 20 years later. But when I wasn't doing the meats, I was cooking the food for our prepared foods section and I was pretty much on my own, with a lot of autonomy (and in hindsight, no training!). That was fun, especially the shifts where I came in early before the store opened.
posted by snowymorninblues at 4:41 PM on March 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Checkout at a large big box store. It was a mind numbing, killer on the feet and filthy.
I stocked produce at a large co-op/Whole Foods type place. That was fun, you were pretty much left to yourself, got the same sort of thrill out of making everything look good. You do get dirty.
At the same store I worked shifts at the deli. I would never do deli meats again, I can still smell what my clothes smelled like after a shift 20 years later. But when I wasn't doing the meats, I was cooking the food for our prepared foods section and I was pretty much on my own, with a lot of autonomy (and in hindsight, no training!). That was fun, especially the shifts where I came in early before the store opened.
posted by snowymorninblues at 4:41 PM on March 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
My sister worked in the deli section at the grocery store - much like you it was just a part-time supplemental thing to do. It paid a little better, but mostly it was nice because there was a smaller rotation of workers who worked there so they got to know each other pretty well and all the specialty workers knew each other, especially the bakery as they were right next to each other. She had a good experience and when she quit they gave her a huge sheet cake and always would talk to her when she shopped there.
Working in the deli, you might be completely swamped for 30 minutes and then nothing. All the specialty areas closed between 8-9pm. You could always be pulled to work on the floor though. It didn't happen often in the evenings when she worked as that was when the deli was most popular though.
This was at just your typical grocery store - nothing fancy.
posted by Aranquis at 4:52 PM on March 29, 2015
Working in the deli, you might be completely swamped for 30 minutes and then nothing. All the specialty areas closed between 8-9pm. You could always be pulled to work on the floor though. It didn't happen often in the evenings when she worked as that was when the deli was most popular though.
This was at just your typical grocery store - nothing fancy.
posted by Aranquis at 4:52 PM on March 29, 2015
If you're going to do mall retail, pick a body products store over a clothes store, because it saves you from having to fold. So. Much. Folding. And then some asshole walks over and messes it, sometimes while you're still standing there. They don't have that problem at Bath & Body Works. I'm just saying. YMMV.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:56 PM on March 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:56 PM on March 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
When I was in high school, I worked at a grocery store as a cashier. Your mileage may vary, but I thought it was pretty awful. Bagging the groceries and lifting them into people's carts repeatedly really hurt my back. You'd get really impatient assholes or people who wouldn't bag their own groceries, but had a lot of complaints about how you bagged them. You'd get super old bored cranky seniors in need of human interaction who would complain a lot and be rude about everything. You'd get the coupon hawks who would make a fuss about any price they disagreed with or any coupon you wouldn't accept. I also saw the way some parents spoke to their kids in line and it made me uncomfortable. I worked at a semi low-end grocery store, so I imagine it will be somewhat different if you worked at, say, Whole Foods. As a cashier, when there weren't customers, all you could do was stand around. Or you would close your lane and work on returning abandoned groceries or helping other cashiers bag. The people who stocked shelves or worked in specific food departments were a separate team than the cashiers. I did have a friend who worked in a prepared foods department at a different grocery store and he seemed to like it. Bakery looks like the best department to me -- what isn't fun about baking and smelling bread/cookies all day?
In high school and college I worked at a grocery store, a retail clothing store, and a coffee/sandwich shop with a drive thru. Personally, if you are looking for some low-level work to occupy your time, I'd work at a place with a drive-thru that's not gross (i.e. no deep-fried food, no McDonalds) because the drive-thru is kind of fun, or I would become a barista at a Starbucks/local coffee shop. Working at a clothing store isn't that bad either though. I got really good at folding, first dibs on cute clothes and employee discounts. The work at a clothing store isn't that hard either or frustrating -- at least it wasn't for me.
posted by AppleTurnover at 5:12 PM on March 29, 2015
In high school and college I worked at a grocery store, a retail clothing store, and a coffee/sandwich shop with a drive thru. Personally, if you are looking for some low-level work to occupy your time, I'd work at a place with a drive-thru that's not gross (i.e. no deep-fried food, no McDonalds) because the drive-thru is kind of fun, or I would become a barista at a Starbucks/local coffee shop. Working at a clothing store isn't that bad either though. I got really good at folding, first dibs on cute clothes and employee discounts. The work at a clothing store isn't that hard either or frustrating -- at least it wasn't for me.
posted by AppleTurnover at 5:12 PM on March 29, 2015
For some reason I remember that you mentioned having arthritis in a previous question or comment on one of my questions. If that's true then grocery store work (and much of retail) will be hard on your body. I'd especially rethink the grocery store work - it's repetitive, heavy, awkward, and often you're in chilly environments.
posted by barnone at 5:14 PM on March 29, 2015
posted by barnone at 5:14 PM on March 29, 2015
Best answer: The best part-time, menial work job I ever had was working in a movie theater. Specifically, as an usher and eventually a box office cashier. I think a lot of theaters tend to cross train everyone for everything (usher/concession/box office) but in any event, 95% of the time it was a fun gig because most people are in a good mood when they come to the movies. It was a nice mix of busy periods that passed quickly (shows typically start and end within about an hour) interspersed with slow periods of low-key down-time tasks and/or goofing off. Plus free movie tickets!
posted by usonian at 5:16 PM on March 29, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by usonian at 5:16 PM on March 29, 2015 [5 favorites]
I worked at grocery stores through high school, and I actually really enjoyed it, as far as retail-type work went. There's a perverse sort of pride you get in bagging items well.
If anything, I would say that it is often either unbelievably boring or really busy, and that's most of the frustration with it. Some nights will go really slowly. Sundays are generally very intense and exhausting. I also worked in a grocery store floral department, and that was extra nice. Flowers are cool. It was hard to get decent hours, though.
I once took a job in a Starbucks but only lasted a few days, because I would have had to clean bathrooms, and forget that. I went and got a restaurant job instead; waiting tables paid better and I didn't have to deal with food service and poop service. But YMMV if that sort of thing would bother you.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 5:19 PM on March 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
If anything, I would say that it is often either unbelievably boring or really busy, and that's most of the frustration with it. Some nights will go really slowly. Sundays are generally very intense and exhausting. I also worked in a grocery store floral department, and that was extra nice. Flowers are cool. It was hard to get decent hours, though.
I once took a job in a Starbucks but only lasted a few days, because I would have had to clean bathrooms, and forget that. I went and got a restaurant job instead; waiting tables paid better and I didn't have to deal with food service and poop service. But YMMV if that sort of thing would bother you.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 5:19 PM on March 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
I worked at a bakery briefly and really enjoyed it. They did really nice rustic specialty breads, really nice cookies and baked sweets, that sort of thing. Almost everyone at a bakery is happy to be there. Customers were consistently nice than whenever I was waitressing.
If it were me, I'd aim for the cheese counter at WholeFoods!
posted by jrobin276 at 5:34 PM on March 29, 2015
If it were me, I'd aim for the cheese counter at WholeFoods!
posted by jrobin276 at 5:34 PM on March 29, 2015
Response by poster: barnone: Yes, you are remembering correctly. I do have arthritis, mostly in the knees. However, I have just completed two full knee replacements (yay!) and am now pain free. I am left with all of this free time and nothing to do with it. Frankly, this isolation from my husband leaves me craving human interaction which is part of the reason for this post. And I am really good with chit-chat and making people smile.
posted by harrietthespy at 5:46 PM on March 29, 2015
posted by harrietthespy at 5:46 PM on March 29, 2015
Best answer: I used to stock shelves on an evening shift at a food pantry. We had a few people come through to get food in the evenings, but mostly it was re-stocking, and sometimes re-packaging bulk items into consumer-sized portions. Excellent cameraderie with both other volunteers and our patrons, and lots of chances to deploy organisational and people skills. If you don't need the money, there's people out there who could use the help.
posted by une_heure_pleine at 6:33 PM on March 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by une_heure_pleine at 6:33 PM on March 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
Oh that's great about being free of pain! Just to be clear - you're only looking for weekend and evening job opportunities which would give you some social opportunities? Would you be interested in other structured and routine volunteer options, or only things that bring in some extra money?
posted by barnone at 6:34 PM on March 29, 2015
posted by barnone at 6:34 PM on March 29, 2015
Response by poster: I would consider volunteer, barnone, but the extra money, while not necessary, would be nice. I haven't found any volunteer opportunities in my area that interest me.
posted by harrietthespy at 6:47 PM on March 29, 2015
posted by harrietthespy at 6:47 PM on March 29, 2015
Best answer: A few other random ideas:
- My mother-in-law did a few evening/weekends of training and is now an evening chaplain at her local hospital. There is a 'real' chaplain who has far more training and the capacity to do religious services, but she basically does rounds and helps to sit with folks going through a hard time. She loves getting to chat with people and bring a spot of brightness to a difficult time. She gets paid for this. This might be too much with your current full-time position, but she was a widow and craving human interaction, and this was a really good fit for her.
- Some hospitals also have greeters - these might be unpaid positions but it's something to consider!
- Library position that doesn't require a degree - there are restocking positions, info desks, greeters, sometimes positions in the children's area, or maybe running an evening class series.
- Evening pharmacy tech or clerk position
- Coffeeshop with evening hours
posted by barnone at 7:12 PM on March 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
- My mother-in-law did a few evening/weekends of training and is now an evening chaplain at her local hospital. There is a 'real' chaplain who has far more training and the capacity to do religious services, but she basically does rounds and helps to sit with folks going through a hard time. She loves getting to chat with people and bring a spot of brightness to a difficult time. She gets paid for this. This might be too much with your current full-time position, but she was a widow and craving human interaction, and this was a really good fit for her.
- Some hospitals also have greeters - these might be unpaid positions but it's something to consider!
- Library position that doesn't require a degree - there are restocking positions, info desks, greeters, sometimes positions in the children's area, or maybe running an evening class series.
- Evening pharmacy tech or clerk position
- Coffeeshop with evening hours
posted by barnone at 7:12 PM on March 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: It all depends on what department you are in and the managers that surround you, but it should be pretty easy for part-time work. I worked in a produce department for several years, I wouldn't have survived in any other area of the store.
posted by signondiego at 7:23 PM on March 29, 2015
posted by signondiego at 7:23 PM on March 29, 2015
mall portrait studios can get brutal - but it's a lot of interaction, and play, and direct sales - i usually enjoyed the social aspects of it. i worked with quite a few people who needed a second job for one reason or another and they liked that (except for christmas season), we were done by nine and only open 6 or so hours on sunday. it was a nice balance between more hours, and not working until midnight.
posted by nadawi at 7:29 PM on March 29, 2015
posted by nadawi at 7:29 PM on March 29, 2015
Another suggestion: I worked at a CVS in high school and for a minimum-wage job, it was pretty fun. We all traded off cashier and "facing" duties, so you'd get a good mix of the two, but you don't have to deal with food grossness and the stores aren't as cold. The volume of customers was pretty easy to deal with too.
posted by lunasol at 7:30 PM on March 29, 2015
posted by lunasol at 7:30 PM on March 29, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks everyone! I'm calling this question resolved.
posted by harrietthespy at 8:32 PM on March 29, 2015
posted by harrietthespy at 8:32 PM on March 29, 2015
Best answer: I did grocery work for a fortune 25 company back while I was working my way through college in the dinosaur years and honestly, looking back, it was some of the most fulfilling work of my life. Don't get me wrong: the pay was shit and management treated most of the workers like dirt, but I seriously loved going to work. My coworkers were awesome, and dealing with the customers was a joy. Most of my customers were either stressed out parents trying to get their shit done before their kids got out of school or senior citizens from the trailer park next door and honestly, they were just lovely, all of them. If you can manage more than a bored "how are you today" and actually feign interest in what is going on in your regular customers lives, you'd probably become a favorite person, as I was. I'm a natural people person, despite my shy tendencies and I totally flourished in that job. I would've stuck on further if the environment wasn't so toxic and sucky, but I have mostly good memories from my retail experience. (This accolade does not apply if your job is in the sticks somewhere and you're all stuck with a-holes coworkers... but I just wanted to to let you know, good retail jobs do exist for people who do want to pick up a few extra bucks and don't depend on the income for their livelihood. Honestly, knowing what I do now, I would never do a retail job ANYWHERE for what they're paying local workers to put up with. Just saying.
I know that sounds lame, but when my day at the time consisted of work, sleep, school, be nice to people for a few hours, it was golden.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 10:44 PM on March 29, 2015
I know that sounds lame, but when my day at the time consisted of work, sleep, school, be nice to people for a few hours, it was golden.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 10:44 PM on March 29, 2015
Best answer: Even though this is resolved, have you thought about a place like Hallmark? (Do those still exist in the US?) Lots of older people there happy to chit-chat!
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 12:06 AM on March 30, 2015
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 12:06 AM on March 30, 2015
One of the best part-time jobs I had was cashier and stocker at a mall book store. Even the dumbest books are more interesting than boxes of Cap'n Crunch as a product to be sold. And we got a store discount and (probably illegally, but tacitly approved by management) got to take heaps of stripped mass-market books home for nothing.
The most fun part-time job I had was selling records (back in the olden days) in the same mall. Music all day, a fun atmosphere, an interesting product, a good employee discount, and an occasional free ticket or promotional record. Instead of employees mindlessly putting cans of Chef Boyardee on shelves, everyone at the record store was interested in music and had opinions one way or another about almost everything we sold. This job probably doesn't exist anymore, or is rare.
Working at a convenience store (small grocery) wasn't nearly as fun. I cut ingredients for sandwiches, stocked shelves of dairy products and the like when a truck arrived with shipping pallets of stuff to sell, ran the cash register when there was no old-timer on duty (running the cash register was the cushy job because generally you just sat and waited for your next horrible guy to come in and ask for a pack of Marlboro), took out the garbage, and swept and mopped floors after we closed. No employee discount that I recall. Free take-homes were just old bologna sandwiches and such. Bleh.
posted by pracowity at 5:58 AM on March 30, 2015
The most fun part-time job I had was selling records (back in the olden days) in the same mall. Music all day, a fun atmosphere, an interesting product, a good employee discount, and an occasional free ticket or promotional record. Instead of employees mindlessly putting cans of Chef Boyardee on shelves, everyone at the record store was interested in music and had opinions one way or another about almost everything we sold. This job probably doesn't exist anymore, or is rare.
Working at a convenience store (small grocery) wasn't nearly as fun. I cut ingredients for sandwiches, stocked shelves of dairy products and the like when a truck arrived with shipping pallets of stuff to sell, ran the cash register when there was no old-timer on duty (running the cash register was the cushy job because generally you just sat and waited for your next horrible guy to come in and ask for a pack of Marlboro), took out the garbage, and swept and mopped floors after we closed. No employee discount that I recall. Free take-homes were just old bologna sandwiches and such. Bleh.
posted by pracowity at 5:58 AM on March 30, 2015
I hated working in a grocery store-- cold, grimy, blah. Nthing work in a coffee shop.
I also worked in a movie rental, which was fun, but yeah don't really exist anymore.
posted by stoneandstar at 8:21 AM on March 30, 2015
I also worked in a movie rental, which was fun, but yeah don't really exist anymore.
posted by stoneandstar at 8:21 AM on March 30, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by harrietthespy at 3:50 PM on March 29, 2015