Updates

I have left you without conclusion in a few of my past posts. So I have decided that it would be nice to update you on how things have gone.

To start off, I had my first day of checking on Sunday. It turns out that this is the worst day to have a trial run because it is the busiest day for shopping. To top it off, this weekend was the employee-discount weekend. Several parents of employees came through my line with carts overflowing with food. This was always a challenge as a bagger (especially when they refused a second cart, because they were "sure everything could fit," then became impatient as I tried to stack the bags in a way that they would not crumble when going out to their car), but it was difficult for checkers as well. How fast should you scan the items? You don't want to overwhelm your bagger with piles of groceries, but you don't want to seem incompetent to the customer. It's difficult to balance, to say the least.

Overall, though, things went well. It helped that I had a checker next to me who has been working there since the store opened. Whenever I had a quick question (and didn't feel like drawing attention from half the store by calling a manager), I could just turn to Ms. Fountain-of-Knowledge. I only had to call over a manager five times, and three of those times were mandatory. Once, I accidentally gave a man a nickle in change instead of a dime and I didn't catch it until he was out of the store. I hope they don't come after and have me fired. But all in all a good first day.

Next update: All-State auditions. They were stressful, as always, but it helped that I had some experience from last year. It was the first year for two girls who play horn with me, and they were very nervous. The more I reassured them, the less time i had to freak myself out. Our judge was really nice, as well, making me even more relaxed. Long story short, I got second alternate. This means that if two people get sick or die, then I get to go! I am not disappointed; I got my name on the wall, and that's what I wanted.

A few major stress bumps are now out of the way. I will be able to relax for a bit, but never as long as I would like. But that's how it goes, isn't it?