As many of you know, I am a cashier at Market Basket. I love working there, but sometimes, some truly awful things can happen. For example…

1. Someone paying $4.86 in nickels and dimes..or any other amount. In such a time-consuming manner. Because I have to recount everything to make sure my drawer isn’t off at the end of my shift.

2. Tomato sauce shattering, creating a huge mess and a hazardous glass filled area.

3. Blueberries spilling every which way, causing entire lanes to be shut down while they are cleaned up.

4. Orange stickers stuck to the machine ~ these are very hard to get off cleanly. If I give an orange sticker to amuse your child, please make sure they don’t stick it on any Market Basket property!

5. Running out of an item ~ especially being in a small store, this can happen. And people are not happy about it.

6. Dropping a credit card (or any card) into the depths of the register. I have done this before, and trust me, it’s not an easy fix.

7. Eggs cracking, causing a bagger to rush and get a new carton, and you as the cashier having to wipe down your register. Remember customers, keep the lighter, more breakable/squishable items on top of the cart to prevent further damage.

8. Watching your bagger put something heavy on top of bread, chips, or any other delicate item and knowing there really isn’t much you can do about it, since you don’t want to draw too much attention towards the situation.

9. Coupons not working, no matter what. For some reason customers think it’s our fault, as the cashier (it’s pretty much always not).

10. Someone paying in only $1 bills. This happens more often than you think. I won’t inquire as to where you got them, I just don’t look forward to counting them at the end of my shift.

11. Actually getting fake money. Luckily this has never happened to me (someone knock on wood) but I’ve heard the stories.

12. Receiving damp money. Especially in the summer, this is too often an occurrence. It makes me cringe and luckily I always keep hand sanitizer in my pocket.

13. Having the misfortune of knocking over a 2 liter of soda over the belt and it explodes everywhere. It happens to the best of us.

14. Packing a six-pack or so of soda into the carriage and all of them but one falls out of the plastic it was once contained in. Which results in misshapen cans.

15. People wanting their milk in a bag, and then just having to watch helplessly as the bag breaks, resulting in an explosion of milk on the floor.

16. Someone wanting to get money back on debit, right after you started your shift. There is a finite amount of money in my drawer, and now I have to owe it back to the front. One time I got up to $90 in under 15 minutes!

17. Finally, it can be difficult during “rush hour” at the grocery store -- the time when everyone and their grandmother is out shopping, and it seems like your shift will never end. You just have to keep your head up, keep smiling, and do your job.

If you liked this article or can relate to Market Basket in any way, check out my article, “16 Things Every Market Basket Employee Says Daily” at https://www.theodysseyonline.com/debit-credit