Atarama

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Wednesday, January 25, 2006
The Jerk
Ata has been working. Working, working, working since Monday. Cashiering at schools for a company that supplies pre-packed stationery to school students. The system works like this:
1. Orders are handed in at end of school year for the following year
2. Orders are keyed in, invoices produced, and bags packed during Christmas holidays
3. Orders are collected and paid for at schools in week before school commences

Easy, right? On the collection days, a team of people goes to the school to do the selling. A supervisor, a number of runners, and one or more cashiers, dependant on school size. Monday and Tuesday had Ata working with a supervisor (aged about 19), three runners (aged about 15), and herself as cashier. Ata was not sure whether to feel like matron or madam. The cashier sits at a desk at the back of the selling area. Runners take names, find bags, check bags, and bring chosen form of tender to cashier. Cashier counts money, gives change/swipes card/checks cheque details before giving change/authorisation slip/handset for PIN entry to runner to take to customer.

On this particular occasion, an EFTPOS card had been offered as tender, and the handset had to be taken to the customer for their PIN. While waiting, another customer arrived, wanting to pay with a credit card. The runner brought the card to Ata, and together they waited for the handset to be returned. After a few seconds, the customer called the runner back. He would pay with cash instead. The customer was impatient to have his card back, and met the runner inside the selling area (ie -he went around the Row of Desks that demarcated the Place for Customers from the Place for Staff Only). Ata overheard a little of what he said to the runner as he exchanged cash for card.

"In the future, son..." was what Ata caught, and a little bit about "magnetic swiping" and "that sort of thing". Then the customer returned to his rightful place on the other side of the desks.

The runner brought the cash to Ata, looking a little stunned. They were good boys, our runners, teenage lanky and with a tendency to mumble, but they got everything done without complaint and never left a customer waiting to be served. Handing over the cash, the stunned runner spoke to Ata.

"That guy just threatened me!"

"What did he say?" said Ata, intrigued and slightly horrified. The customer did look a mite bit scarey, in an unpredictable, I-might-be-a-freak-hiding-in-the-disguise-of-a-normal-person sort of way.

The stunned runner, speaking as one who could not believe he had just heard it, replied, "If you take my card again I'll break your f****** arm."

"Well," said Ata, now definately horrified, "I'd better get his change right, then."

The runner was okay. Ata was lost for a moment in admiration, as that sort of comment from a customer when Ata was 15 would have resulted at least in tears.
posted by Ata @ 5:31 pm  
2 Comments:
  • At 11:14 pm, Blogger biped said…

    Charming Jerk. I hope his card will fail him one day when he is desperately in need of some cash.

     
  • At 10:39 pm, Blogger Ata said…

    I know. What did he think the kid would do? Run away and buy a complete home theatre with it?

     
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