The Cashier Chronicles

I recently got a job here as a cashier at a local grocery store.  As the newest cashier, I've been shadowed by some coworkers to make sure I don't mess anything up too badly.  How busy the store is depends on the time of the month, as most of our customers are on Food Stamps and WIC, which are issued at the beginning of the month.  The end of the month is pretty slow.  It's interesting to see how different people will spend this money versus how they'd spend their own money.

I've also learned some new stuff about produce.  I've never actually seen okra before this week, except when Tiana made gumbo in The Princess and the Frog. Who knew?  Fascinating item.  Another produce item with a twist: cucumbers.  Our store carries two sizes: normal and small.  When I got the small ones, I spent forever trying to find it on our produce sheet so I could enter the code into the system.  It turns out their official name is not "small cucumbers" or "mini cucumbers" or "midget cucumbers."  Nope- their official name is "picklin' cukes." Picklin' cukes!  I love it.  It's a good thing I was being shadowed that day or I'd never have found them.

In addition to okra and picklin' cukes, we sell bags of ice.  We do not sell blocks of ice, however.  I was trying to make this distinction with my trainer ("Well, what do I type in if they want a block of ice instead of ice cubes?"  "Who would want a 10 lb block of ice, Sariah? What would you even do with that?") and explained what ice blocking was.  She responded, "That sounds amazing.  Why haven't we done that?  I reckon it'd be great on our hills...hmm.  Do you need grease for it?"  (She puts oil on the bottom of her inner tube to go sledding in winter.  I've never heard of this.)  In return for my explanation of this fun new pastime, she told me about a Southern alternative: muddin'.  Muddin' is where you go out driving (preferably in a mud-friendly vehicle) through mud puddles.  How muddy you yourself get depends on if you're in a truck instead of ATV and if the windows are open.  I feel like ice blocking might be a cleaner option, but still, if we get bored, we'll know what to do!