Keyed Up

Sunday, October 17, 2021 (October’s fullest moon [“Hunter”] rises on the 20th.)

I was supposed to be off from work until next Friday, but the boss asked if I could fill-in today in for someone with an unavoidable commitment. I’ll be a little relieved of worries about having forgotten by Friday much from the first days in my new job.

Working at a cash register has easy parts. For example, straightforward sales, paid for with credit cards, are a piece of cake. There however are many sales variations that require pushing specific, non-intuitive keys. My concern is from doing my work by using a computer screen with a typical word processing layout. The keys on that screen don’t work as I expect. For example, one key opens a cash drawer, and most others perform non-text functions.

Different sales conditions require knowing which keys trigger appropriate responses. For example, tapping an asterisk might bring up a customer’s purchasing history. Tapping a minus-sign might bring up a return-for-credit screen. A plus-key will yield yet another image. Customers stepping from a waiting line to a check-out expect we at the registers to be quick and accurate.

Even over the two days since Friday (the last day I worked), I’ve forgotten what those keys–the asterisk, minus, and plus–bring up on the register screen. I’ll be starting over. My hope is for today to ease yet another re-beginning, next weekend.

My coworkers at the registers are young, quick, and bright. They’re very helpful, have smoothed my learning curve, but coaches have expectations. I must rise to the occasion.

Dear Friends: I will believe in myself, but as a writer do prefer understanding keys as initially designed. Diana