Sometimes I Hate Working as a Cashier…

[Caesium Iodide]

Hi. This is a rant thread about the stuff I deal with at my local grocery store where I work.

Background info about the store: very common in Iowa, almost every large town/city has at least one. Very famous for fresh products. Midwestern luxury. Family oriented, and Christian based values.

Story time:
So there has been this lady that I've checked out at least two more times before tonight, and it kinda bothered me the first time. In my town, there is so much minority that the white people are actually the minority! And over half of the "minority" in my town can't speak English. So anyway, this lady can't understand my English, so during that first time I check her out, I'm a little more understandingg. This was probably about three weeks ago. So then while I was working tonight, she comes in again. I ask the standard "Will that be everything?" And she stares at me blankly before I purse my lips and my blood boils. Okay, you're confused? Well. This woman doesn't speak English, and perhaps has made no attempt to learn more English. Before anyone goes off the deep end, I know English is a hard language to learn. The format and everything is so different. So this woman put me in so much rage because she couldn't speak any English and I vented on a scratch of receipt paper.
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Excuse me for being a blunt, right-wing American, but I honestly think that if you're going to shop at an English speaking grocery store, that you should at least know some English. And I wasn't just angry, I was pissed.

Just leave my rant as a rant and not one of those "guilt trip" things or whatever. It won't make me feel like ripping anything up if this stays in one piece.

Also, one of the guys I work with has a girlfriend but he teases/flirts with all the lady cashiers. Like, it confuses me so much. And myself is included, but it's not like he's not attractive just. That's not cool to do, ya feel?

[Traum]

I don't want to come off as rude, but I guess you work as a cashier for a reason then

[Caesium Iodide]

I don't want to come off as rude, but I guess you work as a cashier for a reason then

Nope. Just confusing. I've worked as a cashier for as long as I've worked at this store. Mainly it's high school gals that work the register. And high school guys do courtesy, or bag groceries and do carry out.

[Traum]

I doubt you understood me

[Dontier_S]

I know the pain. Where I live, majority of people in the area are Hispanic. There were stores I worked at where I actually had to find one of our employees to translate for me.

If you think about it, it's not much to expect. If I move to Norway for example, I'm going to learn the language. Whatever the country, I think it should be part of the citizenship to have at least functional language knowledge whatever country you move to. Not just here.

It's a thankless job I've been doing in some capacity or another for almost 10 years, but then again some of the people I do meet from time to time are one of the reasons I do like it. But we all have a need to vent sometimes. Boy could I tell you some stories...

[HollowOfHaze]

I doubt you understood me

If it's not constructive, I'd extinguish that line of thought.


Sorry that you've had some difficulties with your line of work Armonia. I'm honestly surprised that you'd be seeing so many immigrants in that part of the nation. However, I do have to point out that in a nation that is typically known for the diversity of ethnicities and nationalities, it would be best to assume that a community comprised mainly of foreigners would probably have it's fair share of people that cannot speak English.


On the other hand, I have to agree that it should be a priority for a person to lean the national language of the country they are living in, regardless of which nation it might be. Doing otherwise would cause nothing but issues for anything more complicated that simple exchanges, and without a translator on hand, things could go sour in a high-risk situation.

[Cheza]

As part of a minority myself, people often forget how hard it can be to learn a new language, -especially- if you're grown-up and/or out of school. Then there's also confidence issues. Some people might -understand- a language and maybe even be perfectly capable of speaking it, but still not being able to due to nervousness or worry that they might come off as "stupid" to someone who know that language "perfectly". It happens to me. I might know exactly how to respond to someone, but when I try to actually say it, it's as if someone shoves a hot potato into my mouth.
Especially if I notice the person is getting annoyed with my silence.


I've lived in Finland all my life, yet I still don't dare to speak Finnish, the (obvious) majority language of the country. Mostly due to bad experiences linked to me -trying- to speak the language amongst both native speakers and "people like me".
Ironically, it's usually possible to compromise and communicate in English instead.


Of course, there -are- also more than enough of those who could care less and might even demand service in their own language. Which is a completely different story.


What I'm trying to say is, not everyone is like that. Languages are hard to learn, so it takes time (as most people who've studied some other language should know), and they only get harder to learn as you age. The only advice I can give is to try and be patient. It might pay off in the long run.

[NautilusWolf]

I've never worked a cashier Job, but I've worked construction with Spanish speaking coworkers. It was a little aggrivating at first, but I got used to their accents and it wasn't a problem after a solid week.