Day 8 - Cashier

아침이 밝았습니다. 알람 소리에 눈을 비비고 일어나 다급하게 화장실로 달려가서 출근 준비를 합니다.

 

 

I arrived at the wholesale 🥩meat factory and workers were busy as usual. Each had their own duties and responsibilities and diligently performed the task at hand. I clock in with my finger and felt a thrill down my spine as I was just on time (if I was slightly late, I would be penalised and my wages would be deducted to the minute). 

 

I put my bag down and get the float (money for change) ready for cash transactions.

Not many customers bring physical coins and notes these days but it's protocol for retail shops to be ready for cash transactions as it's the traditional form of payment before all the progressive payment methods became so prevalent and intertwined in our daily lives..

 

I put on latex gloves before I touch the 💰money. Ten $10, Five $5 and so it goes on…….

 

I quickly set up the bread stand before the rush of customers. I put each baguette and rounded sourdoughs in brown paper bags as I stack them up neatly one by one next to each other and put the pricing tag just to the right of the stand, enough to be visible for the public to see the price before they buy.

 

After the bread, I stand behind the allocated section carved out for meat purchases as customers carry their meat loaded basket from the cold room. I like this retail section, its layout is like an old style delicatessen. There is a transparent freezer and condiments stand on each side of the counter. 

 

duties and responsibilities - 업무와 책임

clock in - "Clock in"은 근무 시작 시간을 찍는 것을 의미합니다. 보통은 출근 시간을 기록하기 위해 자판기나 전자 시스템을 사용합니다. 따라서 "clock in"은 "출근하다"라는 의미로 사용될 수 있습니다.

deducted to the minute - (급여가 )분 단위로 깎이다

(cash) floats - 매장이나 가게에서 미리 준비해두는 거스름돈

it’s protocol for - 관례/규정이다

prevalent and intertwined in - (우리의 일상에서) 보편적이고 엮여있다 

bread stand - 빵을 판매하려고 세운 곳(stand)

allocated section carved out for meat purchases - 육류 구매를 위해 (잘라지고 지정된) 할당된 구역

delicatessen - 델리

 

I served the first customer who paid by credit card. He taps his bank card on the Point of Sale (POS)  machine after I have scanned the plastic vacuumed meat products. There have been numerous occasions where the POS machine goes temperamental and would not accept card payments due to a technology issue. It has frustrated customers many times as they had to wait longer, use another card or maybe find some cash in their wallet  if they were organised. 

 

The bane of my existence at the meat shop was when the scanner would not scan the barcode of the meat product due to condensation of the package (as a result of people waiting in the queue). 

 

I flash my customer service smile to ensure that their experience at the meat store was finalised with good vibes. . 

 

Cut throat retail, that’s how the old saying goes. 

Customer satisfaction, competition from competitors, quick on the feet, mental maths and cleaning. The skills that you learn range from multitasking, communication, problem solving and last but not least heavy lifting.

 

temperamental - 변덕을 부리다

bane of my existence - 내 삻의 불행의 원흉

I flash a smile - flash의 동사는 짧은 시간동안 잠깐 무언가를 하는 것으로 여기서는 미소를 지었다로 해석되겠습니다. 친구 또는 새로운 사람을 만날 때 미소를 짓는 것을 flash a smile로 표현합니다.

cut-throat - 치열한

last but not least - 마지막이지만 동일하게 중요한