Thursday 17th June 2010 Day off.
Friday 18th June 2010.8am - 4pm
Within moments of arriving my new best friend, the cockney scrubber,came over to me even more fearful than usual,"someone from head office is coming to visit.......".
That means its all hands to the pump.Suddenly i noticed every senior employee was present and extra staff had been drafted in to cope with the visit of well fed area manager.I saw him on my first week,he's a rotund man with ill fitting suits and a foul temper.The pressure he must be under isn't worth comtemplating.
The Algerian was in a dark mood,his shirt was untucked and he was unshaven.He was just ferrying extra products back and forth in wheely cages and was getting more and more angry.He didn't even want to talk about the big game.Tall Indian supervisor who can't say his V's properly said,"we have a wisit make sure the cigarette counter is full with no gaps."
The King was scurrying back and forth with a trail of supervisors running behind him and fawning to all his needs.Lots of clipboards were being utilised and he was even seen pushing a trolley,that's how serious this visit was.The culture of fear had been increased several notches.Every minute a supervisor was on the scene preening the display's.I worked with a cool graphic design graduate who played the game with the females.
The punters seem to be more tired on Friday's which is understandable with it being the end of the week.The American girls are the easiest victims on the TPS because they are just so up for a laugh and a bit of surrepticious piss taking.
At the end of the day i don't think the visit even took place,i maintain it was just a bluff from head office to get the store looking good.As serious manager told me rather proudly,"we're the highest grossing store in London so they pick us out for visit's"
I tried to get some crucial info out of her for tax credits but maybe today wasn't a good idea.My neck has been really hurting me since i've started doing manual work again after a long absence so off to the osteopath after work.
Saturday 19th June 2010 2pm-10pm
After coaching a group of 6 and 7 year old boys i arrived at 2pm and immediately regretted my decision.I knew this would be a very hard shift and they have different staff at weekends but Somalian security was there and he broke the ice with me on the common ground of the World Cup.Its amazing how unifying football is in any situation.
Now,the weekend staff are a clique of non whites who seem to get a kick out of the fact that they are weekend staff.There is an Asian married woman who dresses immaculately with lots of makeup and appears very jolly and up for a laugh.Then there is a very attractive girl who could be Polish but wears the full Muslim headscarf and has a diamond ring on her wedding finger.I can only assume she married a Muslim and converted because there is no way she was born Islam.
The tall Indian was there and he asked me if i wanted to work on Sunday the response was "I need to have a day off to play cricket".I'm trying to arrange a friendly cricket match with his team who play in Ilford and i reckon are quite handy Asian's.
I haven't really gone into the eating habits of the British population especially the young women.Its normal to see young girls just eat a bag of Gok Yan crisps and have a fizzy drink,they are the ones who are worried about putting on an ounce of weight.Then we have the opposite end of the scale,the fat birds who have doughnuts,crisps and chocolate.This is very worrying in view of the increase in obesity cases in this country.I am genuinely concerned but still don't hold back of TPS when i see a single overweight woman.The dynamic on Saturday is different,the punters are more relaxed but you get a lot more Brits who complain about the extortionate prices for cigarettes.I take pleasure in reminding them its a bad habit as well as expensive.
There was a very officious weekend Asian supervisor who was on my shift.You know the type,rimless glasses about 30 years old and face never cracked an inch.Fair dues he's trying to do his job properly but once again the culture of fear remains but of course these Asian supervisors are very friendly with the Asian staff.Being a white Brit i felt out of place but gay boy from my interview was there today and that made me feel better.Also,the Bangla boy from the interview was there,he now calls himself Russell,but we had a good laugh working together until he smashed his head on one of the cash holders but he wore it well.
On a more serious note,i saw one of the female staff sobbing in the staff room.I tried to assist but she didn't want to tell me what was wrong.It transpired that her brother had died.She had to contact serious Indian before leaving work just in case she got the you know what.
The french single girls are really nice especially when i attempt my pigeon French on them but of course they appear briefly and disappear just as quickly.
I can't work this late shift on a Saturday again its too demanding so on Monday i will let them know.Hopefully,I won't get the boot but my good TPS should bail me out.
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