Photo by Annie Vo on Unsplash
Carrie Davis
I weave through the customers and their carts like a fish, evading capture, twisting, and turning to avoid being run over by a preoccupied shopper. My coworker Ry looks at me, grins, and spins in a circle like a ballet dancer, making me giggle while mimicking my movements. She's not as graceful as they are, but her goal was to lighten the mood. I’m just trying to answer my calls for help from my coworkers without getting bumped up and bruised from carts, machines, and people alike. When we are busy this becomes a challenge just like a moment ago when I avoided colliding with the customers cart. This is a typical Monday morning and when you work for Wal-Mart, anything helps break the monotony. Working with associates like Ry, help the day pass faster. This is not always the case with the other workers with different personality types. I work with seven types of cashiers daily. Each one has a distinct personality. I like to correlate the personalities with the seven dwarfs from Snow White.
As I walk around to answer various questions, the first personality I run into is known as Doc. They act like the leaders. They have earned this title just for the fact that they have been here a long time. They are repetitive and stay on a set schedule with little to no variation. When they train someone, they teach them the old ways, even when simpler ways are now available. Examples of this would be punching in produce numbers or memorizing them when we can just scan the barcode. In this case they needed a price check. She asked, “Could you run to the back of the store where automotive is and get me a barcode?” We have a nifty little button on our phones that do price checks for us, or we can look up a product and get the barcode for the product. So that's what I do. She then scans the barcode that is displayed on my screen. She knows about this technology, she just doesn't like to use it, so she calls us over to do it. Docs are dependable so if they miss more than a day of work we start to worry.
Next is Sneezy, just like the one on Snow White, you can tell these ones apart because they are always blowing their nose, using hand sanitizer, or calling off work. Most of the time it's allergies, but you would wonder how they didn't end up in a bubble to protect themselves. Though if they could sneeze hard enough to blow certain people away, I don't think that would be a total disaster, but unfortunately that's just not realistic. Today, he called me over just for a bathroom break. So, nothing is too serious. Though as he explains it, “I don't know what's wrong, I just can't stop peeing today. I swear I have an infection in my bladder or something.” I'm standing there thinking no, I'm sure it's the gallon of water you drank as you were walking in. All I say is, “I'll cover you, make it quick.” Once he's back, I move on to the next.
Now the handheld goes off and this is the one I don't want to answer. This is grumpy. These coworkers make the day drag. They have perpetual frowns on their face. They don't talk, but when they do, it's usually to complain. Their complaints can range from the temperature to the customers. It's never Gray, just black or white. This also means no matter how hard you try to please them, they will find the one thing you did wrong. The first words out of their mouth when i get there are, “What took you so long? It's been like 5 minutes. I already sent the customer up to the service desk. They just had a complaint for you. You can just go up there and get them.” She then turns her back to me as I nod and head up to the service desk.
Up at the service desk, we have Happy. First thing in the morning, they greet you with not just a “hello”, but a “good morning, good morning, good morning” in a sing-song voice. This can drive people crazy, especially Grumpy. This person loves to laugh, joke with the customers and loves to talk to everybody. Their peppy attitude makes them a favorite of not only coworkers but customers as well. Just know if you try to have a serious conversation with them, they will usually find the positive, humorous side of it. I find her talking to the customer with the complaint. She has managed to oversee it and beautifully resolved the issue. The customer left with a smile, in a better mood than when they started. It just proves that a cheerful outlook can get positive rewards. I thank her for her help in resolving the matter and I head over to self-checkout.
I've gotten radioed by the management that I need to have a talk with Bashful. Bashful likes to stand at the podium. They don't like to initiate conversations but will open up if we talk first. They don't like to approach customers unless it's a necessity. This is what I need to talk to her about because we are not just supposed to stand at the podiums and that's what she's doing. I explained to her, “I need you to walk up to the customers and greet them. Please don't just stand up here.” She tells me. “OK.” quietly. It's difficult to hear them talk sometimes because they use a whisper when they talk. Customers tend to tell them to speak up. Once they get over their bashfulness, they are usually warm and caring.
Next, I get called over by Sleepy. They are always ready to go home and take a nap. They get anywhere from four to ten hours of sleep and will still crave their pillow and blankets. You may notice them from the constant yawning, stretching and dark circles under their eyes. “I just called you over to see if I could take my break early. I could really use an energy drink.” I look at my list and see that I have someone coming in the next 5 minutes. So, I let them know, “When they get here, I will send them over and you can take your break then.” With Sleepy, it may take them longer to act like their head is screwed on, but they eventually sort out the problems and get the job done.
Last but not least is Dopey. This is the one that makes your day go fast. They are full of energy, probably run off Energizer batteries. They just keep going and going and going. They try to entertain themselves by making random noises, faces, and gestures. Funny voices and random song lyrics are a part of their personality while they do their work. If they could be our mascot, they would hype people up. They tend to do random funny dances, have a joke or two and a smile to brighten anyone's day. In this case they come skipping in through the doors humming a little tune. Their energy is contagious, and they can play off other personalities as well. I smile and ask them, “Once you get clocked in, can you go take over for Sleepy so they can take their break, please?” She does a happy little dance with a twirl and replies, “Ooh goody self-checkout, I love self-checkout!”
There you have it, the seven dwarves of Wal-Mart. Some cashiers will have multiple personalities, but there is usually one personality that is predominately first and foremost. Whether Grumpy, Sleepy, Happy or any of the others, it just depends on the day and the people around. When you get a bunch of Dopeys, the day goes fast. But, if everyone is grumpy, you can plan on a day that drags on for what feels like eternity. Every day is a new day and a different personality. For the people who work at Wal-Mart, these different personalities help keep boredom at bay.
