The Bags

I am a good worker I’ve always taken great pride in that, so when I first got my job at Hannaford Supermarkets in Lewiston I knew that I would do my best, and succeed at whatever task I was asked to do. My first 8 months at Hannaford my main task was to bag, and do carts because at this point I wasn’t old enough to cashier. So these 8 or so months I got really good at these tasks, and my fellow employees really took to me as I took to them. The issue was I had always had this cloud floating over my head as I didn’t want to mess this job up cause of how long it took me to get it, and also I had just boughten a car so there was a lot riding on it, and this is why one stupid question almost ruined my career at Hanaford.

It had been really gloomy Sunday in March 2019, I was not feeling that well at all, and had almost called out a few hours prior, but I was determined to keep my perfect attendance record up. So I walked in, and it was busy as it always is on Sunday. I went to my shift leader Suzanne and asked her what my job was for right now. She told me to go bag for register 7. In my head, all I was thinking was “alright that’s better than doing carts.” I walked over to my station and I was baffled to see my manager as the cashier, she was sitting there, and said hello to me and for the next 20 or so minutes, everything went smoothly everything was just routine. But then when we started to get our afternoon rush people started to get a little bit more on edge. The customers starting complaining/ about there rewards points, their coupons, and stuff we didn’t have in stock. Any other day this would have been fine I usually have the patience to deal with these people. But today was a different story I was still not feeling good, and it was putting me on edge as well. It was only going to take one customer for me to mess up, and saying something stupid, and that time came quicker then I realized.

We have our usuals that come in almost every day, but this lady I had never seen before. l never knew her name so let’s call her Kathy. Kathy had a large order, but you know whatever I do this all the time. My manager looks over at me and hands me Kathy’s bags. Now I’m going say this to this day I’ve never had to deal with bags this small. I look at my manager and I’m in disbelief, why in the world would someone have bagged this small? As the food starts coming down I try to fit stuff in the bags, but they’re so small that the food on the belt is starting to build up, and I’m getting stressed, and that is when I decided to ask my question. I asked how I was supposed to work with bags this small, and why she would bring bags this small under my breath. What I said came off a little rude, and I get that but the fact she heard it made it a lot worse. I stood there and thought it was the worst thing to happen, but it wasn’t. Its what she said back that made me look even worse than I already did. Kathy looks me in the eye and says, well maybe you just don’t understand how to bag. So now my manger had taken notice, and so did the 10 people waiting in line, It was not a good look, and I have to face how stupid my question made me look.

I had been so upset at the situation that the next few hours had gone by, and I totally forgot I was sick. My manager had talked to me, and she went over how we should treat customers, and how that was a dumb thing to say. She understood where I was coming from, but as a manager, she couldn’t condone my actions. Now that I look back at it I wish I would have just done my job, and not questioned why she would bring bags that small. Cause if I hadn’t asked the question I would not of gotten talked to by my manager, and I wouldn’t have gotten embarrassed in front of customers. In the end, it all worked out my question may have been rude and came off bad, but I got through it and was able to overcome that sense of feeling stupid by turning it into a positive learning experience as well, as I never have again have mumbled something under my breath, or asked a stupid question.

Photo by Takoma Park on Foter.com / CC BY-NC