working title

Public Blog excerpt, October 2009

I work as a deli clerk, slicing lunchmeats and cheeses for customers for hours at a time. It can be a challenging job, and it can very frustrating at times. I don’t only wait on customers. There are shelves that need to be stocked and foods that need to be prepared, not to mention all the cleaning that goes into this type of job. But I get that customers like the make the process as quick and painless as possible. To help ease the process for the customers and workers alike, I’d like to offer a few tips:

Deli Tip of the Day

When trying to get my attention or while waiting for your order, do NOT:

drum your fingers on the counter
clear your throat loudly
start sighing or complaining about waiting
whistle
tell me you're in a hurry

These are all extremely irritating, and will NOT make me work faster. I'm dealing with a meat slicer, a very sharp blade. Nothing will make me work faster and put myself in danger of having appendages sliced off!

*A side note: I also have many more tasks than waiting on customers. If I’m in the middle of washing my hands or some other task when you come up to the counter, please don’t act impatient with me for not being able to wait on you immediately. I will get to you as soon as humanly possible. Believe me, I don’t want to make my customers angry!