Thursday, November 03, 2011

Checkout operator


The wall has moved out by 4 inches, I thought that the trees might have pushed the wall out. The engineer I spoke to thought that it is roots of the trees that is holding the wall up.




Its mustache month !

You see! Jack L was on
Such is life, the ebb and flow of people coming and going in Ireland.
So many Polish and Latvian have gone home.
Today I had an Italian guy going to UPS to send his luggage home. He is heading to Italy and then to Barcelona to do his PHD, I suppose I will all have to call him doctor the next time we meet.
I have become something different after driving a taxi, I greet and talk to people without any inhibition. The staff in Aldi and Lidl for example. When you learn something about a stranger sometimes it leads you to a new startling discovery.

In Aldi on 4 occasions now something strange has happened.
I would greet my usual girls and ask them how they were going on etc.
Then as I approach the checkout one of them might say, "go to checkout number 6"
She would then open the checkout, serve me and close it when I am finished.
They tell me that I am one of the few people who talk to them !
I ask you !
What have we become when we don't talk to checkout staff ?

I have spoken to the most spectacular people working at the most menial jobs.

These people are often really well educated intelligent people. Just because the are on a checkout doesn't make them a lesser person.
Anyhow 3 of my checkout girls are moving on. I appreciate that they came to me to say goodbye. Perhaps we will stumble across each other again in a far flung land.

I was saddened when one of my serving Lady's told me she was going home and wanted me to collect her and bring her to the airport.
It is fantastic that once again she will be back with her people, though perhaps I feel sometimes like I am loosing a friend and a missed opportunity to learn more about their country.

A pal of mine once put this perception of what you are in others eyes.
"Are you mad buying a taxi? People will now look at you when they hear what you do for a living like the way they look at a piece of dogs shit that is stuck on their shoe. " Some did, some of them were bankers, now they know how I felt.


I have just noticed that I am like a boat with a broken rudder, drifting here and there. A ship with no destination, no star to follow, no destination in my sights.

Now that in itself is not a really bad thing BUT I should put a plan in place for the future.
Set my sights and get a plan in place for my life.

Perhaps I need a life coach.

4 comments:

  1. That's amazing that you actually got to know them in fairness. I go into my local centra say twice a week and I'm friendly to the staff but I don't cross certain boundaries like asking them their name. I've seen them out on the town once or twice but I don't feel comfortable saying 'hi, I know you!!' Getting to know people isn't easy. Well done sir.

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  2. Hi Sam, There was a lovely girl from Indonesia called Eileen who worked at our deli counter. She was doing economics and accountancy in her spare time. One day on the street she walked up to me and put her hand on my shoulder.
    I jumped back startled. John don't you know me? Its Eileen she had the most beautiful jet black hair which was kept out of sight under a white hat and hair net when she worked. We often joked about it later on.
    She is living in London now with her son and cousins.

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  3. I forgot to write what I said next.
    "Sorry Eileen,I didn't know you with your clothes on!"

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  4. Seeing people out of context can make them harder to identify so I don't blame you. I like the witty response you gave her ;)

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