The store feels like a deep freezer due to the below-zero temperatures outside. Customers complain about the cold in the store and my fingers are like icicles. I see Michelle and she’s back to her usual self, giving me a friendly hello, although I swear that I see a hint of suspicion in her eyes.
There’s a lot of white bread coming down the belt today and I don’t know if it’s the cold or the credit crunch. Either way, it looks like comfort food to me. During the coming months people look set to gain a few pounds, just not the right kind.
One of my first customers is a sweet-as-pie sixty-something couple. They’ve only just returned to the store after years away. They were deeply scarred by a bad customer service experience but decided to forgive the store, although from the convoluted anecdote they share with me, they certainly haven’t forgotten. I know that under Richard’s management things have certainly changed, so they are probably back for good.
There’s no avoiding the talk of yet more job cuts amongst my customers today. One man works for a charity that takes care of parks and looks after kids’ play areas and they’re short of money. He and his team have all decided that, rather than lose any jobs, they would all take a pay cut. Another small businessman says his work has gone so quiet he’s just sacked everybody who works for him. He’s got two kids and his own skin to save, so he sent them all home one day saying, ‘Sorry, but there’s nothing left to do.’ A receptionist at a law firm tells me they’ve just cut nine people at her law firm of 400. It’s all her friends who work at other law firms are obsessing about. One regular works for BNP Paribas and tells me that things have hit rock bottom there. They are about to cut 2500 jobs. While his job is safe, he says it’s never been gloomier.
But it’s not all bad news. An older dad, who comes in with his newborn son, works in the oil industry and tells me it’s ‘down but definitely not out’, and a nurse and her policeman husband are not worried about their jobs—she works at a doctor’s surgery and thinks her job is safe because ‘people get sick during recessions, after all’.
Apart from talk about jobs and the recession, customers are all raving about the BOGOF (Buy One, Get One Free) deals in the store. And Sainsbury’s have definitely got their finger on the pulse because next Saturday is ‘Make the Difference’ day. The focus will be on promoting the Basics range. At executive level they claim that more groceries and frozen items are expected to sell as customers start cooking from scratch and spending their cash on cheaper items.
I haven’t seen Rebecca for a week and am itching to tell her about my shift change. Just as we are chatting, Michelle nips in beside me. As soon as I see her, I know there’s trouble on the horizon—she’s planning to pin me down. First she tells us about her recent failed assessment. Richard has told her she needs to talk to customers a lot more and he’s not pleased. She tells us it’s not easy or natural for her to make small talk. Rebecca agrees.
‘Do you know what? I’m going to carry out my own poll and ask customers if they would like to engage in chat with me.’
‘Yes, you must—and then release the results of this meticulous empirical research to Justin King. I’m sure he’ll take heed.’
We are still chuckling about this when Michelle suddenly asks me, ‘So, have you changed your shifts?’
I turn to look at her. She has caught me off guard, but I have no intention of lying.
‘Yes, I have.’
‘Oh,’ she tries to say casually, ‘what to?’
‘Fridays and Saturdays.’
‘Two days! That’s what I need. Is it because of your kids?’
‘Yes.’
‘That’s what I need to do. I miss my girls too much and they’re too little.’
‘Well…well, he…he didn’t agree to it straight away…You know, he…he thought about it for a while…’ I trail off.
‘You know, I’m going to ask him again. No, no, I’m going to wait until I’m in his good books, and then ask him.’
I am officially teacher’s pet. Rebecca and I exchange a knowing look and I scarper as quickly as I can. It’s about minus three degrees outside and I feel for my friend having to take two buses to get home in this cold.
As I drive to pick my children up from my mother’s place I listen to Radio 4. The author Mike Gayle is talking about his new book The To-Do List. One of his resolutions is to talk to checkout girls more.