Mice Roaring

Thursday, August 17, 2023

This week, I wrote about attempting to pay for purchases in the area’s big box store and finding two separate cashiers giving me free products. The first incident involved a “Mr. Bill.” On his last day of working at the store, he knowingly and routinely undercharged customers. Another incident occurred a day or two later. I was self-checking out and discovered one small item that lacked its SKU. I requested help and the overseeing cashier said, “Just put it in your bag and take it. I haven’t enough time to look up every small item!”

I reported to management that incident, the second within a few days of product giveaways. One reader who has written reader understands the importance of reporting that first incident, but wonders if I struggled over whether to report the very low-dollar, second incident.

Actually, I did. Customers, anywhere, sometimes receive low-dollar giveaways from cashiers very busy or simply lazy. Few customers elect to report a dollar or two of store loss. In my case, I had to think about ratting on a coworker.

I had thoughts that the two giveaway incidents were related. Mr. Bill had been a cashier in a function that sometimes, or often, might give away small products. Theoretically, giving free items totally is wrong, but practically, maybe it’s necessary. I forced myself to set aside theoretical questions.

In reporting the second and smaller incident, I wondered if, in his cashier role, Bill had habitually given away small items. On his last day at work, for whatever reason, he might have elevated that practice.

During each of my reporting, the managers seemed seriously to be listening.

Additionally, I’m in training to become a backup cashier. My training insists that the cashier looks for and rings up every item in a basket and/or a customer’s hands.

Dear Friends: This story has its “if’s” and its unanswerable questions. Diana