For about ten months, I worked as a cashier at Hannaford, the local grocery store in
The work was repetitive, but I actually learned a lot about myself. Here’s what I discovered:
I Can Read People
Being homeschooled my whole life, I thought my social skills would need some work. I was pleasantly surprised. I was able to almost immediately pick up on what kind of person each customer was. If they were especially chatty, I could easily have a conversation that was engaging and was the perfect length. One time I made a man especially happy just by asking about his dog, which he had brought into the store with him.
I Love Teaching People
About half-way through my time there, Hannaford, which is one of the largest New England grocery chains, launched a new app. I live in a town mostly populated by the elderly. Many of them were not tech-savvy and I had the opportunity to answer questions and trouble-shoot issues with the app. My favorite times were when there was no line and I could spend as much time as necessary to help out the customer.
I’m Capable of More than I Thought
Like many teens, I’ve often leaned towards a lower opinion of myself. I thought I was an average employee. Turns out, I was doing better than some of my co-workers who’d been there far longer than I had. I could scan items twice as fast and even got a coupon as a reward.
Though this isn’t the sort of environment or job I’d want to return to, I still learned a lot about myself. I think everyone should work a retail or customer service job like this at least once in their life.