The Working Experience.

I set my sights on Pizza Hut, they didn't call. Things weren't really working out at FCH, so I quit. As my mum drove me around the Bintang area during a depressing search for another job, she forced me to ask a Speedmart staff for any vacancy. There was one. And so I filled it the day after.

On a good day, I love my job tremendously. Some aspects are right up in my comfort zone, and others force me to be more than I was at school. Those two facets correspond to the work that I had to do on my shift: Harini jadi cashier ke storekeeper? As a cashier, I have maximum contact with customers.. People make small talk with the cashier, mind you. I excel not, in the art of making small talk. It's just not built into me, although I do try hard. "Kenapa gula dekat kedai runcit selalu habis eh? Makcik pegi asyik habis..". I had no idea how to respond to this in a smart and witty way. I've always had the feeling that makcik-makcik suka budak perempuan yang petah berbicara, so I hope to God that Saffa's mom don't come here and cancel me off the list, on the spot. So I just grinned and said, "Oh yeke?" lepas tu kerut muka fokus dengan kerja meletak barang dalam plastik. Macam ianya memerlukan darjah konsentrasi yang tinggi. It works I think. I hope.

One hand, small talk. On another, kena marah dengan customers. If you, as a customer, find that the price tag on the product is different from the price scanned from the barcode, whose head would you bite off? Mestilah kepala staff yang paling dekat ketika itu.. which is the cashier. Product rosak, cashier kena. Mana ada orang pergi cari storekeeper untuk dimarahi. Takde. And don't even get me started on Hari Tanpa Beg Plastik. You'd feel like slapping some sense into the customers' heads, who produced ridiculous opinions with righteous and self-justified airs. One, upon being told that he had to pay 20 cents for a plastic bag, said to me, "Macam mana Malaysia nak maju macam ini. Ada ka negara-negara maju buat macam ni? Mana ada. Macam mana kita nak maju?". Serious nak kena pukul. Saya menghantukkan kepala ke dinding sejurus selepas kejadian itu.

But I welcome the customers' wrath. It's an opportunity to develop thick skin, to live with the fact that you can't please everybody, worthwhile or not. It's a chance to turn timid, cowering Aina that's scared shitless of a teacher (guess who) into an Aina that can flick you off like lint on her shirt. Cool or not?! Oh, and people watching? Forget sitting at a cafe or shopping mall. A cashier is granted access to the customers' lives through their purchases. Oh, customer yang ni suka beli kicap brand ni. Aha, student ni makan roti dengan peanut butter je setiap hari. And more. All those may be just a glimpse but still, it makes work interesting.

I've got to work a full day tomorrow so more passionate and wishful comments about my work later. Haha.

Oh, there's going to be a vacancy at Speedmart soon, cashier. Kawan-kawan, jom apply?