Going into work today, I already knew it was going to be an adventure. Until last night, we one of the oldest style registers among our network of stores. They have a huge array of buttons with a flip-up screen at the top. There is almost a square foot full of colorful buttons, and then the screen is fairly small and black & white. Here’s an example of one without the buttons labeled:
I wasn’t sure if I’d like the new registers or not just cause I’m so used to the old ones I practically have them memorized. There were a lot of buttons you press and then have to be more specific by typing in a two-digit number off the menu that pops up on the screen. For example, a Sausage Egg & Cheese Breakfast Sandwich Combo with a Fruit Explosion Muffin and a Medium Iced Cappuccino made with chocolate milk…
Sandwich: [Breakfast Combo],
- – - [12] for Breakfast Sandwich Combo,
- – - [11] for Sausage,
Muffin/Side: [Combo Side],
- – - [13] for Muffin,
- – - [Plain] muffin modifier button,
- – - [17] for Fruit Explosion
Iced Capp/Drink: [Combo Drink],
- – - [22] for Sub. Beverage,
- – - [Iced Capp],
- – - [12] for Medium,
- – - [12] for Chocolate Milk
Of course this is one of the biggest issues. If someone gets a sandwich and a drink, then decides “oh, hey! I’ll get a donut and make it a combo!” we have to erase their entire order and start over because you have to choose the combo first. The new registers do all that for you! In fact, they don’t even have a combo option. You just ring in whatever the customer asks for and the computer will say “Hey! That could be a combo, wanna make it one?”. It’s a huge time saver!!! As for remembering where all the buttons are, I’ve gotten pretty good at the register in just one shift. I was on order taker so I was typing in orders all day long, non-stop. Once I found out where everything was, I was a pro.
They really are pretty cool. They’re a lot taller but take up less counter space which is amazing! I can push the register to the back of the counter and stage bags or coffee filters on the counter right where I’m standing, rather that do it on the next counter over like I used to. The only problem is they are kindof wide and it’s hard to fit a plastic tray next to them on the storefront counters. I’m sure we’ll find a way around it. They have a big touch screen with a credit card reader attached right to the side of them. They still have menus you have to go through to choose specific items but they’re organized better and easier to navigate.
That was all expected… then came the unexpected.
We have a few employees that, well… just don’t butter the bread. Today was especially entertaining. Usually it’s just an order gets screwed up, or they have a bad day and need constant attention, or they clock out without getting all their chores finished. We were having a normal day, save for the new registers. A customer points out that there’s a car in the lot with their lights left on. It’s one of the employees. Easy fix, right?… Wrong. She comes back in complaining her brakes didn’t work. He car is accross the parking lot, on the grass, halfway into a shrub.
Our parking lot is a U-shape with the store and a sidewalk down the middle. Cars park up to the sidewalk, facing each other. However, there are more spots on the North side than the South. The South side makes up the distance with a tiny courtyard surrounded by tall shrubs with three wood benches along the edges. What we think happened is that when she went out to turn off her car, she noticed she was parked a little crooked. So she backed out and then when she pulled back into the parking spot, hit the gas instead of the brake. This launched her over the yellow parking block, up onto the grass, across the courtyard, took out a wooden bench that was on posts stuck in the ground, and plowed it into a huge shrub. It was disastrous. She came back in and you can’t blame us for nearly laughing. She got pissed though.
You think it’s over? Not yet!
A few customers later, there is this lady who wants a few sandwiches and drinks. I end up having to go help get the order put in the register correctly (which is a usual occurrence with new people). By the end of the order, the customer is nearly yelling and the manager rushed over. Long story short, the customer was in the store for probably close to 20-30 minutes, and when she got her sandwich asked for it to be reheated in the microwave to melt the cheese. She told the customer to go home and reheat it herself. That basically ended with the manager telling her you keep talking like that and you won’t have a job. She says she doesn’t get paid enough to deal with all this and walks out on the job. She quit. Fun.
On the brighter side, I’ll be close to 40 hours on this week’s payroll. That means my next paycheck should be pretty nice. I do need to save up for going to Pennsylvania at the end of the month..
I also stopped at my cousins house to pick up some graduation gift money… LOL, I found her card a couple days ago with the check still in it! Obviously, the check wasn’t good any more. After that I went to take Dea and Karen the donuts and apple cider I bought them at Yates, and then we hung out for like an hour or so. It was lots of fun, but I was so dead tired… I’m still tired.
