(no subject)
Aug. 12th, 2005 05:46 pmSo I'm running register at work when my coworker, Rachel, leans over and mutters to me, "There's a guy in a yellow shirt coming. Don't sell him the beer."
Uh oh.
Right away, I know what she means: I'm not sure if the law is federal or state, but it is illegal here to sell alcohol to someone who's already drunk. Since she knows that I know to check IDs, and the guy is at least in his forties anyway, that's the only reason for her to tell me to deny someone an alcohol sale.
So in a minute, I'm gonna get a drunk customer and have to tell him no.
For all the training and warnings I've gotten on this, I've never had to do it before. Either people buy sober, or I don't realize until after the fact that maybe I should not have let them have that six pack.
He comes up to my counter. I take the six pack, put it down on the floor next to me (this is one of the things they hammer into you; when you have to deny an alcohol sale for whatever reason, make sure the alcohol is out of the customer's reach), and smilesmilesmile. "I'm sorry, sir, I can't sell you that."
To add to my anxiety, at this point, all I have is Rachel's warning; since I didn't see the guy enter the store, I have no evidence of my own to offer as explanation.
Until he opens his mouth. "But I'm a regular customer." I'm not going to try to reproduce it in spelling, but the guy was slurring bigtime. So I say,
"Yes. A regular inebriated customer."
And he says proudly, "Yes, I am."
Well. There you go. My nerves vanish in an instant and I explain cheerfully that it is illegal to sell to him in his current state. He tries to argue a bit and fails, possibly because he can't decide which of me to argue with, and then leaves without making a fuss.
Thank god he was a happy drunk.
Rachel was very impressed with how I handled it - turns out she's never had to deny a sale either. And we were both very relieved that he didn't turn nasty; I've had a coworker get shit thrown at her.
Unfortunately, it didn't occur to either of us to watch him go and make sure he wasn't driving. Fortunately, I seriously doubt he'd have made it to the store if he was.
Also on the subject of work: I mentioned that I am working at a different location this week. Not so coincidentally, this week I have also been pretty happy during my shifts.
This store is so much better. It's more laidback (I can wear my Red Sox and Tigers hats!), we don't have corporate breathing down our necks and upsetting our manager, the morale is infinitely higher, my fellow coworkers seem happier, and this might just be because I am calmer, but I swear even the customers are more polite. The fact that it's a much busier store is a more than fair enough trade. After all, since I'm not spending every second hating being there, I'm less stressed and customer traffic is easier to handle.
And I get to work there next week too! If Terri tries to steal me from Lori, I think I will let her. =D
Uh oh.
Right away, I know what she means: I'm not sure if the law is federal or state, but it is illegal here to sell alcohol to someone who's already drunk. Since she knows that I know to check IDs, and the guy is at least in his forties anyway, that's the only reason for her to tell me to deny someone an alcohol sale.
So in a minute, I'm gonna get a drunk customer and have to tell him no.
For all the training and warnings I've gotten on this, I've never had to do it before. Either people buy sober, or I don't realize until after the fact that maybe I should not have let them have that six pack.
He comes up to my counter. I take the six pack, put it down on the floor next to me (this is one of the things they hammer into you; when you have to deny an alcohol sale for whatever reason, make sure the alcohol is out of the customer's reach), and smilesmilesmile. "I'm sorry, sir, I can't sell you that."
To add to my anxiety, at this point, all I have is Rachel's warning; since I didn't see the guy enter the store, I have no evidence of my own to offer as explanation.
Until he opens his mouth. "But I'm a regular customer." I'm not going to try to reproduce it in spelling, but the guy was slurring bigtime. So I say,
"Yes. A regular inebriated customer."
And he says proudly, "Yes, I am."
Well. There you go. My nerves vanish in an instant and I explain cheerfully that it is illegal to sell to him in his current state. He tries to argue a bit and fails, possibly because he can't decide which of me to argue with, and then leaves without making a fuss.
Thank god he was a happy drunk.
Rachel was very impressed with how I handled it - turns out she's never had to deny a sale either. And we were both very relieved that he didn't turn nasty; I've had a coworker get shit thrown at her.
Unfortunately, it didn't occur to either of us to watch him go and make sure he wasn't driving. Fortunately, I seriously doubt he'd have made it to the store if he was.
Also on the subject of work: I mentioned that I am working at a different location this week. Not so coincidentally, this week I have also been pretty happy during my shifts.
This store is so much better. It's more laidback (I can wear my Red Sox and Tigers hats!), we don't have corporate breathing down our necks and upsetting our manager, the morale is infinitely higher, my fellow coworkers seem happier, and this might just be because I am calmer, but I swear even the customers are more polite. The fact that it's a much busier store is a more than fair enough trade. After all, since I'm not spending every second hating being there, I'm less stressed and customer traffic is easier to handle.
And I get to work there next week too! If Terri tries to steal me from Lori, I think I will let her. =D