My day started bad. I woke up late. My alarm clock did not make sound. So I rush to work. I work at a big store with many things. It sells food, clothes, and toys. My job is at the front, at the cash register. I make sure people pay for what they take. My boss likes when I come on time. Today, I was five minutes late. He just looked at me, no words, but his face said much. I punched in my time card, and my shift started.
My first hour was okay. Some nice people came. They paid fast. They smiled. I have a small blue mark on my left hand, a birthmark shaped like a tiny moon. When I am thinking hard, or when I feel stress, I often rub it with my thumb. Today, I rubbed it a few times already. Then, this woman came. She pushed her cart with one hand. The cart had just one thing, a big bag of special dog food. It was the expensive kind, for big dogs. Next to her walked a teenager. The teenager looked like a boy, maybe fifteen. He had headphones on his ears, but they were around his neck. His eyes looked at his phone screen. He did not look happy to be there.
The woman, she looked like she thought she was a very beautiful person. Her hair was very light, almost white. It was long. She had much makeup on her face. Her clothes were tight. She was not very thin, but she acted like she was the thinnest and best-looking person in the store. She was maybe twenty-two years old, I think. She came to my register, right in front of the line of people. She did not wait. The lady behind her made a sound like a sigh, but the woman did not care. She pushed the dog food onto the conveyor belt. The teenager just kept looking at his phone, standing a little behind her, like he was not with her.
I looked at the dog food. It had a price tag. I went to scan it. But before I could, the woman put her hand on the bag. She said, “This is free. I am taking this for free.”
I stopped my hand. I looked at her. My brain did not understand her words. I said, “No, it is not free. It has a price.”
She rolled her eyes. She said, “No, you do not understand. I saw a sign. The sign said if the bag is open, it is free. This bag is open a little bit. See?” She pointed to a tiny tear near the top of the bag. It was very small, like a pinprick. It did not look open. It looked like a small scrape.
I looked at the bag closely. I rubbed my moon birthmark. I have seen open bags before. They look different. This was not an open bag. I said to her, “This is not open. This is a small tear, not an open bag. We cannot give it for free.”
She laughed. It was a loud laugh, like I had said something very funny. She said, “Of course it is open. My dog needs this food. I deserve it. I always shop here. I spend so much money. You should just give it to me. It is store policy, I know it.”
I thought about store policy. Store policy says that if a product is truly damaged and cannot be sold, we throw it away. Sometimes, for a truly broken item, we give a discount. But an almost-perfect bag of expensive dog food with a tiny scratch? Never free. I told her, “No, that is not the policy. It is not open. It has a small mark. It is not free.”
The line behind her started to get longer. People were looking. The teenager with her just sighed very loud and turned his body away a little, still looking at his phone. He had heard this before, I think. The woman put her hands on her hips. She leaned over my counter. She said, “Are you new? Do you not know how things work? I am a loyal customer. I am a very good customer. I spend my money here. You should make me happy. Give me the dog food.”
I felt my bad day getting worse. I just wanted to go home. I did not want to argue about a dog food bag. My head started to hurt a little. I said, “I cannot. It is not free. I can scan it for you, or you can pick another one.”
She threw her hands up in the air. She made a big show. She said, “I want to speak to your manager. This is ridiculous. I have never been treated so bad. I know my rights as a customer.”
I pressed the button under my counter. This button calls for a manager. It does not make a sound for the customers, but it sends a signal. The manager might come in a few minutes, or maybe ten minutes. Sometimes, they do not come for a long time if they are busy. I looked at her. I said, “I have called the manager. They will come.”
She smiled, like she had won something. She said, “Good. Finally, someone with some sense.”
Just then, a very loud sound came over the store speakers. It was a woman’s voice, very cheerful and too loud. She said, “Attention all shoppers! The store will be closing in thirty minutes! Please bring all your items to the registers now! Thank you for shopping at our store!”
The sound made my ears hurt. It was much louder than normal. It made many people jump. The woman, she did not jump. She took the dog food bag and put it back in her cart, like she was going to push it away. She looked at me and said, “I will just take this and wait for your manager at the door. I am not paying for this.” She started to walk away. The teenager finally looked up from his phone, a little surprised, then he quickly followed her.
I stood there. My brain tried to process what just happened. She was just going to leave with the dog food? Before I could think what to do, my headset, which was also too loud because of the store announcement, buzzed. A voice, my boss’s voice, said, “Cashier number three, we need help in aisle seven. Spilled milk, big mess. Now!”
Aisle seven was far away. I looked at the dog food woman’s back as she pushed the cart towards the exit. I looked at the long line of people waiting. I knew I had to go to aisle seven. My boss never waited. I felt a sigh come out of me, a very big sigh. I just walked away from my register, leaving the line, leaving the empty spot where the dog food had been. I did not see what happened next. I did not know if she really walked out, or if the manager caught her, or what. I just walked to aisle seven to clean up the spilled milk. My day just kept getting worse.
