I just got a part time job working the swing shift at a local circle k the job isn’t that bad and the hours are ok but some of corporate policy just seemed goofy. The main one i can think of is that we are not allowed to have over $55 (and less than 35 on grave lard) in our register (not counting change) and large bills ($20 bill and over) can NEVER be in our register and must be dropped in our safe along with all smaller tender that would make our register over $55. Ok I can under stand the theory of this policy that is clearly meant to minimize losses when a robbery happens.
Now what gets to me is that I have to do this in-between customer. If some one pays $40 for gas I can’t help the next guy who wants his Mountain Dew and Sinkers bar until I print out a drop safe slip put the money in the envelope and put the envelope in the safe. Now when the line is 6 people long this can really piss people off, I’m getting really tired of having to saying “I’m sorry sir I have to do this because if i get caught with large bills being anywhere but in the that safe i can be fired.”
What i don’t under stand why can’t they let me keep the money in my register until any customers have to be inconvenienced (i.e. when now one is in line trying to buy an Icy), because in practice that’s what most of the clerks actually do, and ignore the $55 dollar rule say they don’t have to pull tubes to make change every other customer. I really think the people who make these policies should work a shift or to so that they can see how impractical some of the rules are (don’t even get me started on what eh assistant manger has to go threw to close the books)
PS why do customers get pissed when I ask for an ID when they buy a 12-pack beer?
You’re bitching about the requirement to not be a target for a robber in the middle of the night? There was a shoot-out at the Circle-K (now dubbed “OK Corral” in the local parlance) in my neighborhood. And now none of the workers there complains about the requirement to minimize the amount of cash there.
You’re bitching about the requirement to not be a target for a robber in the middle of the night? There was a shoot-out at the Circle-K (now dubbed “OK Corral” in the local parlance) in my neighborhood. And now none of the workers there complains about the requirement to minimize the amount of cash there.
I’ve spent more years than I care to think about working in the Stop-N-Rob industry, and robbers generally go into a store to scope it out before they rob the place. They notice if the clerk tends to keep a lot of money in the drawer, then they’ll be more inclined to hit that store, than the one next door that doesn’t have nearly as much money in the drawer. One of their methods is to walk up to the counter with a 25 cebt pack of gum and try to pay with a $100 bill. If the clerk tells 'em it’s going to be a few minutes before they can break it, the guy knows the clerk doesn’t have much money in the drawer, so it’s not worth the trouble. But if the clerk says, “No problem, mister!” and proceeds to count back the change, the would-be robber knows that he can get at least $100 from the store.
Word of advice, Lear’s_fool, if you ever need the police there because of violent actions on the part of someone, dial 911 and then hang up when the operator answers! Do not talk to the operator! He or she will try to find out from you what’s going on before sending the police. If you hang the phone up without speaking to the operator, they’ll immediately dispatch police to your location. (They may try to call you back, if that happens, pick the phone up and slam it back down again.) Also, call the cops (using the non-emergency number) anytime someone parks in your lot for an extended period of time without coming in. Ask the cops to send an officer over to do a “drive-thru” of the lot. They might not be happy about it, but if the person in the car intends you harm, they’ll most likely move on once the police car drives through.
Oh yeah, and if you haven’t seen the movie Clerks, go rent it immediately!
Actually, you’d be much better off finding some way of communicating the problem to the 911 operator. Local protocals probably will vary, but there’s no guarantee that an officer will be dispatched at all, let alone immediately for a 911 hangup call. If it really is a violent situation, the call also may not receive the priority it should, which could result in a delayed response.
IMHO, if you can somehow call, but are unable to talk you’d be better off just leaving the phone on. If they can hear that there’s some sort of trouble, they will dispatch law enforcement.
Actually, I’d think that any jurisdiction where a “911 hang up” wasn’t treated as a priority would be the exception rather than the rule. I can imagine a number of scenerios where someone would be able to dial 911, but be unable to respond or forced to hang up the phone before they could give any information to the operator. News of the Weird usually has at least one story a year where someone dials 911 by mistake, hangs up without telling the operator anything, and shortly thereafter is surprised to find the police there and are immediately arrested because the police spot them wearing a prison jumpsuit or are in the possession of something they shouldn’t have (drugs, weapons, etc.). I’d think that if they didn’t dispatch an officer immediately, they’d be opening themselves up to a lawsuit, since it’d be likely that sooner or later they’d fail to respond to an event where someone couldn’t remain on the line to talk to the operator and later wound up dead or severely injured.
My advice for doing a 911 hang up comes from both cops and a former 911 operator that I used to know.
Yeah, I used to work at a Circle K, too, and dropping money into the TAC used to be a pain. A bigger pain would be if a couple of customers in a row had to have change not in the register, and you had to wait two minutues before you get get another $40 our of the safe.
On the other hand, with practice, you learn to do this quickly, as second nature. And most customers understand when they might have to wait a few seconds for their change. I LIKED the idea that people saw me putting constantly putting money in the safe. It made me feel just a tiny bit safer.
Good thing, too, if you’d have been shot in a robbery, we’d be sitting around posting “Alas, PoorYorick! I knew him Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy!”
About your PS Lear’s Fool, I wondered that myself when I worked at a grocery store. People who were well over the age limit would get highly upset if I asked for their ID.
I preferred to err on the side of caution, as age can be tricky.
