All the lonely people
SELF-service checkouts, like most of the population, I dislike them.
There are many reasons—of course, doing people out of jobs is the main one and pandering to the world’s current do-it-fast-and-run attitude, another.
But speaking as one who way back worked as a check out chick, I have other reasons.
Older, steady staff like I was, tend to work the odd shifts, the ones the teenage kids or working mothers don’t want or can’t do.
Shifts with added responsibilities, counting money in and out, opening and closing and cleaning.
As a writer, I have always been observant, people interest me. I could never just throw the items in the bag and say “have a nice day”. There was always a person on the other side of the register, so I chatted.
There were several of us that took a quiet interest in our customers.
We watched if a woman appeared pregnant, and slowly enlarged over the months, and suddenly deflated in size, reappeared with a tiny, red-faced infant tucked into a pusher.
We saw the two old people who always shopped together, and then, when two became just one, we were sad for them and told them so.
The Beatles song, Eleanor Rigby, is always one that has stayed in my mind because of the night shifts.
That’s when the lonely people come in.
During the day, when things are busy, it’s not possible to spend much time talking, and technically you aren’t supposed to, but evenings are different.
They drift in and wander around, and come quietly to the register buying one thing, maybe a jar of jam, some chewing gum, and they pay in cash.
I realised after a while that I was probably the only human contact in their entire day, so I made sure they got some of my time and a chat.
I actually asked one quiet young man, if I was the only person he got to talk to and he nodded quietly and said yes.
So, in the quiet of the evening, we made sure they got a smile, a hello, and a bit of a chat.
Holding out their change, the touch of our hand on theirs was also the only human contact they had.
I wasn’t the only one; check out chicks are often thought to be nobodies but many of us are intelligent and caring, and we see life close up with all its facets.
I have retired ten years from that job. I hope, late at night they still get the chance for a chat.
At least at that time of night, the self-service registers will be closed.
