Creative Writing: The Ripper

I remember it being extremely cold. The wind was starting to pick up, feeling like cold needles poking my face and ears as I quickly walked towards the building. My shift at Harris Teeter did not start for another five minutes, but the wind was painful to feel against my skin, so I hurried inside. As soon as I stepped through the doors, the warm, dry air hit my face. After I dropped my keys and purse off in the break room, I headed to the front desk to clock in. The lady at customer service, Laura, told me which register I would be working at today, so I went to register three like she said and signed onto the register. As the shift went on, my day started to get worse and worse. Customers had been cranky and snobby with me all day. The worst

“Ma’am, I can promise that I put in the right amount, see.”, I turned the register’s monitor towards her so she could she the amount I typed in to charge on the card.

“Whatever. Just call the manager so he or she can fix this ridiculous mistake.” She huffed as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

So, I called the manager over because I did not want to upset the woman anymore than I already had done. The manager, Jordy, came over to the registers and asked me what the problem was. I explained the situation to him, as he stood there, nodding his head like he understood what was going on. Jordy turned to the woman after I was done talking and explained to her that her card was not overcharged and that maybe there was just a problem with her bank. The lady was still upset after being told the same thing twice and she ended up just throwing cash at me to pay for her groceries. Despite the fact that she was extremely rude and was not understanding at all, I kept a smile on my face and told her to have a nice day. After that, I turned back around to greet the next

“I’m doing just fine. How are you, young lady?” He smiled as he asked.

He had seen the encounter I had just had with the grumpy woman. He could probably tell it got to me a little and hurt my feelings. However, I was not going to let that bad experience ruin my mood for longer than a few seconds, because I am at work and need to be civil with the customers.
“I’m doing okay, thank you.” I gave the man a small smile and started ringing up his groceries.

As I did so, I had small talk with the man. We talked about the ridiculously cold weather, how he had been stationed in Alaska for three years while in the Air Force, and how I had never been there before. The man was very friendly overall and it was a nice refresher since I had been dealing with rude customers all day long.

“Alright sir, have a great day.” I smiled at the man as I handed him his groceries after he had payed.

“Thank you, and don’t let those cranky women ruin your day.” He jokingly winked and laughed a little as he walked