blog #7: the mushier the better?

So recently (kind of) I started my first ever job at Home Depot working as a cashier. I applied on a whim, since I had nothing better to do, I needed to save up for a car and just gain experience in something.

I honestly did not know what to expect at all, considering it is my first job, and I was pretty shy when it comes to people. Sometimes it is easier to push my shyness away when it's one to one interaction with a person and not a whole huge group presentation. (I also had to show the manager that I was really outgoing during the interview =') lol)

During my "training" after I got hired, I became a nervous wreck on the inside because I felt that I would mess up a lot. They would go over how the register looked, where everything is and online computer training (which is really useless tbh). I did not get to see how other cashiers ring up customers, until they actually assigned a "coach." I was suppose to get 3 sessions of coaching and actual practice with real customers but of course, since it is retail, there's never anyone there for stuff like that, so I only got one. I was later put on a register and just had to ask questions when I needed help.

I basically had to create my own image based on that one session and adapt to it, again pushing my shyness and introvertness (if that is a word haha) aside, if I wanted a paycheck. While working on the register alone, after that session, I would essentially study how the other cashiers in the other registers would greet customers and how they would scan items. I had to watch how they dressed every day so that I would not be over or under dressed and I had to learn quickly how to look up items that did not have a bar code. (the worst thing that a customer can do)

As I eased myself into the world of cashiering, I got the hang of it and became faster. It became a routine of mushfaking kindness and pretending that I knew what I was doing. It became a repeating process of greeting the customer, grabbing their stuff, scanning their stuff, and asking if it was debit or credit. I sort of seemed like a robot doing it even though it was exactly what the other cashiers are doing and the only time it was different is if the customer had a cute baby or dog with them.

After I mushfaked, even now, I molded myself into actually being a cashier and the 4 hour shifts seemed like only 1 hour. I was able to be more of myself with the other cashiers because we would all relate to times we dealt with weird customers and I am able to start my shift without screwing up every 10 sec. So mushfaking into this job worked pretty well, considering I am still working there and have not been yelled at by anyone yet, even though all of the head cashiers are still pretty cool. I still get pretty scared when a customer asks me a really random question or where something is and I guess I use mushfaking to act like I know or just end up asking someone else.