I start my shift with a bright smile. Customers always like to see a happy person on their toes at at the windows. Even on frozen mornings, or blistering afternoons, the smile is always there. Even when a customer is a grumpy as Great Auntie Mildred, I still have to smile.
Smiling for hours on end is a talent. Not everyone is fit to work in the service industry. I get lines at every station (we have four, two of them have two pumps), people who mix regular UNLEADED with premium UNLEADED because of how it is written, and motorcycle after motorcycle after motorcycle after motorcycle after motorcycle after motorcycle after motorcycle after motorcycle. I have to keep the smile motoring and the frustrations at bay.
On days when traffic is slow, I clean everything. From the counters inside to the pumps outside. If I don't clean, I sleep. And sleeping is prohibited. At least while at work. At least the rules are pretty lax when it comes to music. I just have to keep the swear content to a next-to-nothing level and I'm safe.
You wouldn't believe the amount of flirting that goes on when I'm at work. I have at least one guy per shift talk me up and tell me that I should quit working and become their housewife. They may be eighty, but they certainly know how to flatter a girl.
There are certainly times when you don't feel like smiling for everyone. Times like when the bear decides to pay you a visit, or when someone pays for sixty dollars of regular UNLEADED with rolled quarters (I have to count them to make sure they have enough of them), or even when someone threatens to leave without paying because you are serving other customers and not them at that very moment. I've learned to apologize and smile for everything. If I can't get to a customer right away I always apologize for the wait. At this point, I'd like to avoid all possible outbursts of inner rage from not being served.
I'm the type of person who finds the little things to talk about. The little things that take on a wider topic range when the customer replies to my attempts at conversation. I love it when people have a nice conversation with me. Talking always makes people feel better about not pumping their own gas.
Animals seem to make very less-than-dramatic entrances while I'm working. I see deer on a daily basis because they like to wonder around town during the summer. Even seeing the bear doesn't bother me much anymore. I'll be filling up someone's tank and I'll see the bear climbing into the garbage bin around back. He tends to do that a lot.
I haven't been working here all that long. I'd say about three and a half months (give or take a few days). I think I have the hang of the job. The till was easy to figure out, it was dealing with people that I was afraid of. Not so much anymore now, but I was definitely scared in the beginning. Everything is routine, even the customers. A lot of the regulars ask me about some of the things we talked about the last time I saw them. The Purolator guy still calls me a greenhorn every once and a while though.
That's all for this entry. All of you have a wonderful evening/morning/afternoon!
~Bunny
