Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Customers: Part 01 - The Italian Car

    Friday night. I trained on register. Simple enough. Punch in the price tag amount, hit the product code on the register key. #1 for LP, #2 for CD, #3 for VHS, #4 for CS, #6 for Single, #13 for Boutique stuff. There were other product numbers, but I couldn't keep them straight. Luckily, every register had a cheat sheet.
    Anyway, Trina (the same girl who had trained me on security taping cassettes and CDs) explained the register to me. Helped with five or six transactions before she disappeared into the store. There was a counter bell. Ring once if you needed some kind of assistance, twice for register backup, three times for a manager.
    Friday night, it was busy, I was new. I didn't dare ring for a manager unless I wanted to appear completely stupid.
    Wanted to make that good impression.
    But I was stupid. Ignorant, actually.
    "Where's the bathroom, mister?"
    Uhhh ... One bell.
    "Can you break this five dollar bill?"
    Three bells.
    "Do you stock laserdiscs?"
    What's a laserdisc? One bell.
    I fell behind and rang for backup, meaning someone would have to run a second register. Usually one of the managers up in the booth. One of the Dan's. Danny or Dan. Danny had big hair, Dan a coffee cup glued to his hand.
    Danny got this great woman customer. Actually, I suspected she had milled about, waiting for him.
    She was bombed drunk.
    He had finished the transaction, then waited for her to shove off.
    Instead, she said, "I gotta itchy pussy."
    That got my attention. Danny, on the other hand, totally ignored her. Looked bored beyond belief.
    So she repeated her line, louder, "I gotta itchy pussy."
    Brown hair. Looked 30's, skin baked dry from years of tans. Crimson slash of lipstick, could have used a mirror, bit clownlike. Cigarette dangled from her lower lip, bounced up and down when she spoke.
    "Hey, boy, ya hear me?"
    "Yes, ma'am," Danny replied wearily.
    Black top, very low cut. Cigarette ash had fallen onto her left breast and sprayed downwards. Several times. She didn't notice or didn't care.
    "So wha you wanna do about it?" she slurred.
    "Do about what?" Danny asked.
    "Itchy pussy," she leered. "I gotta itchy pussy."
    "Ma'am," Danny leaned forward, "I don't know anything about Italian cars." Then he walked off.
    She paused. Tried to reboot her brain. Looked over at me. Scowled. Shambled outside.
    Heaved.



  Link to Danny's Site = https://www.facebook.com/people/Danny-Haslett-Art/100066582675740/

No comments:

Post a Comment