Interesting Customers and Co-Workers

[giantsfan2016]

The Fugitive's post about interesting people he had worked with at AMES leads me to start a post about interesting customers and co-workers you have encountered. The names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Part one for me:

I'll start with a store I worked at from December 1999 until December 2000.

One of my duties included rounding up the shopping carts in the parking lot. One night a drunken woman with a Southern Accent got out of her pick up truck and demanded me to tell her where her husband was.

Dennis was a guy I worked with. He was one of the craziest guys I ever encountered. He was like 6 foot 4 or 6 foot 5. He was another cart guy. He was very loud and made weird noises. He would think nothing of eating an entire rotisserie chicken by himself on his break. He was fired because the owner heard him swearing in the break room.

Another customer once parked their car in the cart corral.

Shaw's Supermarket Farmington Ave Bristol, CT (Oakland Street):

Kelsey Simpson was the Front End Manager when I started there. I told Kelsey I couldn't work on Fridays, but she kept scheduling to work on Friday.

Steven Kemp was the Union Steward. He was completely worthless. He didn't do anything for me.

There were a few others that made my life miserable. Once at the end of my shift I told my boss I would not be coming in for my shift the next day because my Mom was in the hospital. Well this boss did not write it down and another boss called me the next day asking me to come in early for my shift.

Another one got really pissed off with me because I waited until an hour after I was supposed to be in to call out because my Mom's car broke down. Neither of us had a cell phone and I had to walk a very long way to find a working pay phone.

Shaw's Supermarket Queen Street Southington, CT

James Olson was the Union Steward at this store. My second day working at this location he encountered me in the break room introduced himself as the Union Steward and asked me if management told me I had to join the union. I told him I was already in the union as I was a transfer from Bristol.

Irving Bryant was another cart guy. Nice guy that I enjoyed working at. We were friends from September 2004 when I started at this store until June 2017.

Dennis Lemuix was the Assistant Manager. He was quite a character. Easy going. One day in the break room he kicked the crap out of the snack machine because it ate his dollar.

Peter Silvestri was a new hire. He was hired to replace me as cart guy after I got promoted to cashier. We became fast friends and are still friends to this day.

Andrea Jackson was a transfer from another store to become Font End Manager. She was always badmouthing employees. She was a lesbian and she use to freak out the customers talking about her "wife". Keep in mind this was 2006. We were still a few years away from having Civil Unions and Legalized Same Sex Marriage in Connecticut. I quit because of her. Because she wouldn't stop bad mouthing employees. (Ironically years later I found out from a manager at a different store I worked for that Andrea's "wife" left her for a man). That right there is karma.

[giantsfan2016]

Part 2

Price Chopper Queen Street Southington

Justin Franklin - He was a Cart boy. We were friends for 6 years (2006-2012) til I got drunk one night and punched him out after he was talking s h i t about some of my friends. He was a user.

Tom Geneva. - When I first stated at PC part of his job involved making signs. He later became a cart guy. The girl he was dating at the time was kind of strange. Often times if they weren't working at the same time she'd sit in his car all day and wait for him. Tom gave me my first taste of weed. It was a few months before I turned 26.  Lost touch with him. Ran into him at Stop and Shop last year. I have him on Facebook, but we don't talk. He has a new girlfriend now and is a father.

Chris Napolitano. - Chris was one of my supervisors. Never had any issues with him til February 2008. At that point I was working as Cashier during the day 3 days a week and Overnight Cashier 1 or 2 nights a week. I worked 11PM Saturday Night until 7AM Sunday Morning, meaning I didn't have to work Sunday. At about 4:45 I call up Tom Geneva and ask him if he wants me to bring anything to his Superbowl Party. He tells me bring a bag of chips and stop by at 5:30. I go down to Price Chopper and buy a bag of chips. Chris Napolitano sees me. He says "We're busy. I need you to go home home, change your clothes, and come in for a few hours. You either do it or I write you up." So I did. I finally got to Tom Geneva's house at about half time. He was so pissed at Chris.

Cathy Miller. - She was fun to work with. She flirted with most of the guys.

Working third shift is when I had a few interesting customers.

One was an older gentleman. I seen him in the day sometimes too. One night after I rang him up and he payed he started yelling loudly "I'm broke! I'm broke!" About a year or 2 later Justin Franklin and I were eating at Denny's. It's about 12:45AM and this guy comes over and starts talking to us

I had a stripper come through. She paid for $92 worth of groceries with singles. After her I excused myself to the men's room and washed my hands about 10 times.

Another time Justin Franklin's Mom came in shopping about 11:30. She finished up at 12:30 and she demanded an escort outside.

Another guy I used to see regularly on 3rd shift obviously a steroid user. He had these huge muscular arms and you could see the needle marks. He wore a half shirt that showed off his beer belly.

Walmart. Queen Street Southington.

Greg was a cart guy. He got fired for stealing a $50 gift card from a 3 year old on Christmas Eve. He watched the little boy drop it. He picked it up and kept it. Loss Prevention was monitoring the parking lot and caught him.

There really weren't any other memorable co-workers or customers.

Shoprite Route 5 Wallingford/Queen Street Southington
Not too many memorable customers. Made a few friends there. Nothing really to write home about.

Walmart Farmington Ave Bristol
No memorable Coworkers or customers.

Hobby Lobby Farmington Ave Bristol
Nate is the only one from Hobby Lobby I'm still friends with. In 2016 I would help him get a job at Stop & Shop.

Stop & Shop Pine Street Forestville (Bristol)
Vera Anderson - Vera and I started on the same day in October 2015. We became friends almost immediately. And it turns out her step brother was in my Cub Scout Pack way back when I was in 3rd grade.

Ernie Donner - Ernie was a CDH and the biggest asshole I ever had for a boss. He's the one I said something inappropriate about and ended up getting fired. He made my life miserable for the 13 months I worked at Stop & Shop. No one like him. A few months after I got let got he ended up becoming a CDH in New Britain - one of the worst performing stores in the district. He didn't like to help out the employees. His favorite thing to say was "Figure it out for yourself." He also resented the fact that I became good friends with another CDH. 

Susan - She was an assistant manager. Liked to make up her own rules as she went along including CDHs can't be friends with the underlings. And Employees aren't allowed to purchase alcohol even while off the clock. She got transferred to New Britain and last I knew she was working in Cheshire. She made Duck block me on Facebook.

Duck - CDH. He was my best friend. He's a very good guy. He was the first boss I had in a long time to tell me I could succeed in the company. His belief was that I could've been a CDH like him. We're still friends. He showed me the stuff that Ernie didn't want to show me. He told me he didn't like Ernie and back when he was a Cartboy like me, Ernie used to do the same stuff to him.

A few other's who I'm still friends with.

There were a few interesting customers. One who got banned from the store with all her bottles and her arguing repeatedly with managers.

[giantsfan2016]

December 23rd, 2015. I'm working the closing shift at Stop & Shop. It's pouring rain and in the 50s. (Go figure, right?) Ernie (the boss no one likes) tells me I need to count all the shopping carts. I'm running around the shopping center through the rain getting every single shopping cart. Normally if one of our carts was by one of the other stores in the shopping center I'd leave it there. As it's getting closer to the end of my shift I'm getting angrier and angrier because Duck (the boss I'm friends with) was going to be giving me a ride home. I was supposed to be getting out at 11PM. It was 11:08 when I clocked out. I hurry back downstairs, hoping Duck was still waiting for me. I go outside and stand on the sidewalk trying to scan the parking lot to look for Duck's Honda Civic. About a minute later a White GMC Terrain pulls up. The passenger side window comes down and Duck says "Marc, get in." I get in and I'm pleased to see that there's a towel on the passenger seat, so I wouldn't get it wet. (Before Duck left at the end of his shift I told him to get a towel, so I wouldn't get his seat wet). So we drive off.

Me: frickin stuff dude, you've got the pimp mobile. This is my dream truck. What I want to buy someday when I win the lotto except I want a red one. What did you do? Steal this from the GMC Dealership?
Duck: No, bro. It's mine. (Actually it's his mom's).
Me: Sorry, I was late getting out of work. Ernie made me count all the shopping carts.
Duck: Really? I told him before I left I wanted him to do it.

We're driving down South Washington Street in Plainville. He points out the street that leads to his house.

Me: My friend Pete Silverstri lives on this street.
Duck: Who is Tonya Silvestri?
Me: One of Pete's younger sisters.
Duck: I graduated Plainville High School with her.
Me: What year did you graduate?
Duck: 2012.
Me: You're only 21?
Duck: Yeah.
Me: frickin stuff dude. I thought you were like 25 or 26.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
January 3rd, 2016.

I'm bring a shopping cart full of cardboard to the backroom for recycling. I'm drop off the cart and on my way back up front my co-worker Jimmy Monetez is stocking shelves.

Jimmy: Marc, how was you weekend?
Me: I was worked here both days, but Sunday after I got out Duck and I went to Denny's.
Jimmy: That's cool. Duck is a good guy. He's one of my friend.

Ernie appears out of nowhere.

Ernie: Marc, why are you hanging out with Duck?
Me: Because he's a friend of mine.

Ernie and I are walking back to the front end. His next question puzzles me. I decide to answer with sarcasm.

Ernie: How often do you and Duck smoke weed together?
Me (sarcastically): 20 times a day everyday. (At that time I hadn't smoked weed in 8 years).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another night we all made Ernie think we was going crazy.

A co-worker had smoked weed in his car while on his break. He didn't spray himself with axe body spray. He's standing next to Ernie. Ernie says to him "Why do you smell like marijuana?" He laughs and denies that he smells like marijuana. Ernie starts asking random employees (including myself) if the guy smelled like marijuana. We all lied and said "No." We all like the co-work and none of us like Ernie.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another night we're working til Midnight. It's really slow because it's a snowy night. Our stoner co-worker tells a story. (He's the Front End Supervisor).

Co-worker: I have to tell you guys what happened back in August.
Me: What happened in August?
Co-worker: It was About 6 or 8 weeks before you started working here, Marc. I had been Front End Supervisor for 3 or 4 months. I came in here on my night off. It's around 10PM. Obviously I'm stoned off my ass. I pick up a bottle of Visine and bring it to the register. When it's my turn the cashier stares at the bottle. Then she stares at me. She does this 2 or 3 more times. Finally she scans the bottle. Then she says to me "I thought you were a good guy. Obviously I was wrong."
Me: What did you do to her?
Co-worker: Nothing that night, but the next time we worked together I made a note while I was counting her till that she was $100 short. It wasn't, but I made note of it. They fired her.
Me: Wow dude. Savage.
Co-Worker: She had it coming.
Me: Maybe.

[JJBers]

Walmart. Queen Street Southington.

Greg was a cart guy. He got fired for stealing a $50 gift card from a 3 year old on Christmas Eve. He watched the little boy drop it. He picked it up and kept it. Loss Prevention was monitoring the parking lot and caught him.

There really weren't any other memorable co-workers or customers.

When did you work there? If it's beyond 2010, I might have been there at the same time.



That's because my grandma lives in the same town as you...

[giantsfan2016]

Walmart. Queen Street Southington.

Greg was a cart guy. He got fired for stealing a $50 gift card from a 3 year old on Christmas Eve. He watched the little boy drop it. He picked it up and kept it. Loss Prevention was monitoring the parking lot and caught him.

There really weren't any other memorable co-workers or customers.

When did you work there? If it's beyond 2010, I might have been there at the same time.



That's because my grandma lives in the same town as you...

I worked there June 2008 until October 2009.

[giantsfan2016]

Stop and Shop Pine Street.

Bryant McKenzie and I became friends shortly after I started working at the store. He's an all right dude. He's also gay. (Nothing wrong with that). I was at Stop and Shop today and ran into Bryant and he told me that he had a crush on one of the new assistant manager's. Problem is said Assistant Manager is straight and married to a woman. I told him "Word of advice bro, even if he wasn't straight and married it's a bad idea to declare your love for one of your bosses."

[giantsfan2016]

Halloween 2016 Stop & Shop Pine Street

They allowed the employees to dress up for Halloween. Since I didn't have a costume I just wore my regular street clothes. My boss and best friend Duck dressed up as Batman. (Between a couple of Halloween parties and dressing up for work I think Duck used the costume 4 times).

So on Halloween Duck was scheduled to work something like 3PM-8:30PM. He wore the costumer for a couple of hours until he had to use the bathroom. No zipper in the costume, so he changed back into his regular work clothes. It really didn't bother him about having to change back into his regular work clothes since he was getting hot wearing the costume.

All was good until about 20 minutes to 6. A little boy somewhere between the ages of 4 and 6 (yeah I know when I told this story to Jon the other admin of this board on Facebook Messenger I told him the boy was 4) who was dressed up as Batman spotted Duck not in his Batman costume and he started crying. Ignoring the orders of his boss Agatha, Duck ran upstairs and changed back into his Batman costume. When he came back to the sales floor, the little boy stopped crying and several pictures were taken. All was good. Duck was later able to change back into his work clothes.

Who was the little boy and why was he so upset that Duck wasn't in his Batman costume? The little boy is the son of a regular customer. The little boy was so excited when he met Duck for the first time because his first name is the same as Duck's real first name. (His real first name is Gavin by the way). It was exciting because the boy had never met anyone with the same name as him. Every time the little boy came in he would always ask if Duck was working. And he was so excited when Duck told him that he was going to be Batman for Halloween too. That's why he was so upset when Duck wasn't wearing his costume.

And on an unrelated note Duck once told me he liked his real name Gavin because it was unique, but as unique as it is there was still another Gavin who graduated Plainville High School in 2012 with him. Oh and Duck is a nickname he gave himself. It's not because he looks like a Duck either. It's because of his last name, but I will not post that here.

Another unrelated note, Duck's younger brother by 3 years - Jake (I refer to him as Baby Duck) is the one who actually looks like a duck because there are hundreds of selfies of him on Facebook making the duck face. Frankly he's embarassed by the fact that his brother likes the nickname Duck.

One more unrelated note. Everyone on here knows I'm in my 30s. Some may know my actual age. Back in the spring when I decided to start using the nickname Brammy I told Gavin and he told me "Brammy is a stupid nickname." I was like "Really? This from the 23 year old dude who brags that his nickname is Duck." Truthfully I can't even get my friends to call me Brammy. It was hard enough after I graduated high school to get my former classmates to call me by my real name - Marc. To them I was always Sparky. (A dumb ass nickname I may or may not explain on here how I ended up with Freshman Year in High School). I tried to explain to them that "Sparky" died once I graduated high school.

[TheFugitive]

Sometime in 1983, Noblestown Road Shop & Save, Pittsburgh

I was going to school and working part-time as a bagger at Shop & Save.
Generally I would bag for cashiers, straighten the shelves and gather carts.
The union rules prohibited me from doing much more than that.

I was packing for a cashier named Diane whose father was the store's produce manager.
She had been out on a date the night before.  Her date had taken her to a drive-in to see
a movie called Hardbodies.  She did NOT enjoy the date!  She proceeded to spend the entire
four-hour shift rattling my ear about what a gross, perverted and disgusting movie this
was, and how anybody who would take her to see such a movie was an IDIOT and would
not be going out with her again.

Flash forward three decades.  I woke up early and Hardbodies was playing on cable.
So I watched it.

Three decades hence, and her words were still ringing in my ears.  

She was not wrong.

It WAS a very creepy and disturbing movie.  It was about three balding, grey-haired
wealthy middle-aged guys renting an expensive beach house and hiring a smooth talking young
con artist to help them hook-up with 21-year old bikini chicks.  I can see how it would have been very
offputting to this girl.  Hell, I was about 50 and it disturbed the heck out of me!