At work, I spend time between the grocery side and the liquor side (which is separate). This week, I have spent most of my time on the liquor side of the store, which is quite different from the main store because of the nature of the, ahem, clientele. On the liquor side, for example, there is a much higher concentration of drunks, bums and thieves. It's true. At least 10% of the customers who come into the liquor side of the store are impaired in at least one sense of the word, and the percentage rises as the night goes on. I usually wind up closing, so I get to see it all.
The other night, I was working with another guy, a young black guy who is a student at LSU. We get along pretty well when we work together, and we don't usually have a lot of trouble, because a lot of the skanks that inhabit the area won't come in if we are working. So, it's like, mid-afternoon when we get the first indication that things might be interesting, wen one our co-workers, who was outside having a smoke, comes in to inform us that one of the locals walked up while he was smoking and peed on the soft drink machine. Of course, we all know this guy: I have turned him away because he was too incoherent to function. Also, another employee, a month or so ago, went into the store's public rest room and caught him in there, wanking. So, he was told not to come back, but he was so fucked up he probably won't remember so he'll be back eventually.
So, everything is going smoothly, and I am waiting on customers, when these two guys come in, each grab two 1.75l bottles of liquor, and run out the door. My buddy chases them out while I call for help, but they jump the fence and are gone before anyone can get to them, and, besides, we are not allowed to even try to apprehend them: we can get fired for it. So, we figure, as long as it's kind of slow, I'll stand behind the counter (which is impossibly long and it takes you too long to get around) and he'll just stand at the door and watch out.
Sure enough, he's not standing there for half an hour, when a customer comes up o the counter and buys cheap beer, and is on his way out the door when D. stops him and asks, "You want to give me that bottle you have in your pants?" They guy says, I don't know what you're talking about, but D. just says, "Well, just call the police, then," and he produces a bottle. "All of it," D. says, and out comes another one. So, we tell the guy not to come back, and he leaves, and we are going like, what is wrong with these fucking people? Three thieves inside of an hour! So, for the rest of the night, he stands guard while I ring, unless it gets really busy.
Later on, D. goes off shift, and I m left to close. About an hour later, I hear a commotion outside, and it is Blue, who is one of the smelliest and skankiest of all the skanks, and he is outside bumming money from customers to buy Thunderbird. So, I have to call a manager, and he runs him off, and Blue leaves, with his beat up old shopping cart and the six iron he uses for a cane (which is why some of the employees call him Golf Club Man).
This is pretty much a typical evening in the liquor department, but it is still much quieter than the main store, even if the clientele is, um, different. Of course, it is not all bad: most of our customers are decent people, and I have gotten to know a lot of them quite well. Still, work is insane.
Oh, yeah: the picture of the flock of pelicans has nothing to do with this post at all, except that I didn't really have a pertinent photo and they are pretty. This same flock shows up on the lakes every year and spends a month or so here.
The other night, I was working with another guy, a young black guy who is a student at LSU. We get along pretty well when we work together, and we don't usually have a lot of trouble, because a lot of the skanks that inhabit the area won't come in if we are working. So, it's like, mid-afternoon when we get the first indication that things might be interesting, wen one our co-workers, who was outside having a smoke, comes in to inform us that one of the locals walked up while he was smoking and peed on the soft drink machine. Of course, we all know this guy: I have turned him away because he was too incoherent to function. Also, another employee, a month or so ago, went into the store's public rest room and caught him in there, wanking. So, he was told not to come back, but he was so fucked up he probably won't remember so he'll be back eventually.
So, everything is going smoothly, and I am waiting on customers, when these two guys come in, each grab two 1.75l bottles of liquor, and run out the door. My buddy chases them out while I call for help, but they jump the fence and are gone before anyone can get to them, and, besides, we are not allowed to even try to apprehend them: we can get fired for it. So, we figure, as long as it's kind of slow, I'll stand behind the counter (which is impossibly long and it takes you too long to get around) and he'll just stand at the door and watch out.
Sure enough, he's not standing there for half an hour, when a customer comes up o the counter and buys cheap beer, and is on his way out the door when D. stops him and asks, "You want to give me that bottle you have in your pants?" They guy says, I don't know what you're talking about, but D. just says, "Well, just call the police, then," and he produces a bottle. "All of it," D. says, and out comes another one. So, we tell the guy not to come back, and he leaves, and we are going like, what is wrong with these fucking people? Three thieves inside of an hour! So, for the rest of the night, he stands guard while I ring, unless it gets really busy.
Later on, D. goes off shift, and I m left to close. About an hour later, I hear a commotion outside, and it is Blue, who is one of the smelliest and skankiest of all the skanks, and he is outside bumming money from customers to buy Thunderbird. So, I have to call a manager, and he runs him off, and Blue leaves, with his beat up old shopping cart and the six iron he uses for a cane (which is why some of the employees call him Golf Club Man).
This is pretty much a typical evening in the liquor department, but it is still much quieter than the main store, even if the clientele is, um, different. Of course, it is not all bad: most of our customers are decent people, and I have gotten to know a lot of them quite well. Still, work is insane.
Oh, yeah: the picture of the flock of pelicans has nothing to do with this post at all, except that I didn't really have a pertinent photo and they are pretty. This same flock shows up on the lakes every year and spends a month or so here.
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