To get something new circulating in FriHost's forums, I decided to come up with this question that should appeal to almost all of us who are a part of the labor force.
Describe your typical day at work. Be as detailed as you'd like, whatever you think would cover everything that's important in your day.
I think I'll start off, since I'm the starter of this thread. (I think this is going to be a bit lengthy but interesting).
To let you all know beforehand, I work as a cashier at a car wash in Chicago (some might know this already, since I think I've mentioned it on here before) on Saturdays and Sundays.
My day normally starts off (at work) where I sit in the car in the parking lot for the manager to show up to unlock the gate to the back parking lot. That's where all of the employees are to park, since the rest of the lot is for the customers to detail and wash their cars. (The carwash I work at has a tunnel, U-do-it bays, one touchless automatic, vacuums, shampooers, and such). When he does get there, he unlocks the building and I walk over the short wall of windows (since the customers look in at the tunnel to see their car being washed, this is near the exit where I operate all day long) where I grab my timecard and punch myself in.
On my keyring, I have a key to the office to unlock it (since it stays locked all the time, it's a new policy that's being adapted. If the office door is unlocked at any time and if the boss is there to catch it, the person who left it unlocked must pay a $1.00 into an envelope posted on the desk). When I get in the office, I normally punch the * key on the Datatrax computer on the back wall since the manager for the previous day is normally lazy and doesn't do it. That clears out the message saying that the previous day's printout is done and when it's pressed, the message gets cleared and shows the time and car count of the day and for the previous hour. I turn on the 3 survailance cameras monitors on the 2 desks and walk over to the register. I normally have to fix the printer for the credit card machine as the cashier for the previous day is normally unable to get the idea that the thing needs dusting off (since it sheds a lot of dust when the paper goes through) and needs to be readjusted to the blank paper that has pre-printed lines for fields. Then I turn on the register. Below the counter, I bundle together a bunch of tickets (exterior and regular tickets) to bring to the back, since they're normally low on them when I get there. I do the driver in the back a favor by doing that.
When I get back from that, I look in the store to see what needs restocking on some of the shelves (or needs to be rearranged to look more orderly). The only things that I have much control over is what's upstairs (not much) and sunglasses. I don't normally put much out in the morning, but organizing is one key thing to make a place look good.
After that, I go back into the office and walk out the trash from both of the trash cans that are in there (one for the cashier and the other for the manager's desk). Normally, the cashier from the previous day leaves several copies of "The Red Eye" (a local free newspaper in Chicago, printed by the Chicago Tribune) lying there, where I normally like to read it. After reading it, I toss em.
When the day actually starts with customers rolling in, I can be there going in ultra-fast-mode if there's a ton of people in line and when it's a nice day out. At other times (like when it's raining or snowing), I sit in the office either watching TV or playing games on their computer.
At each hour, I must count how many tickets have been brought to me by the customers (in which I brought to the driver at the beginning of the day). That number I have to record on a log sheet that sits on a clipboard besides me all day long. It's so that I know how good or bad the business is doing in the day. The most that I've ever done in a day was around 500 cars (on a Saturday). The place is open from 7AM - 6PM on Saturdays and 7AM - 4PM on Sundays. That number is matched up with the printout on the Datatrax computer to see if they match up. If they don't match up, then they go off of my number, since sometimes the computer sends in "virtual" cars through the wash when you least expect it. (The Datatrax computer is a system that turns equipment in the tunnel on and off, and sends up a roller to act like a car is going through).
Mostly I ring up customers on the cash register by reading what's on the ticket that I get presented when they come to pay. Sometimes they have disagreements and most of the time I get it all worked out. I punch through credit cards and whatnot all throughout the day.
I get a lunch around noon, for like an hour or less (however fast I eat), where the manager does the cashiering while I sit at the desk and eat.
Sometimes I tell the manager some complaints that people get (he's in the office at random times in the day) or what needs to be reparied. He does what he has to and I get back to my business.
At the end of the day I punch through the E-O-D's on the three machines (register, credit card machine, and Datatrax computer) and calculate all of the totals at the end of the day. I pack up my gear, punch out, and leave to either my dad's house, MicroCenter, or one of the Thrift stores in the local area.
So, this is my post all day long. I do have that stool to sit on (can be thankful since I see people at other places without a stool), but it's not very good. There are 2 office chairs at 2 desks that are in there, normally I sit at one of them when it does get slow.
The above is only around 50% of what I normally do in the day. Since I seen that it was getting a bit long, I left out the "nitty gritty", the fine details on everything. Hopefully that covers it. (Wow, that actually took me an hour to type up).
- Mike.
Describe your typical day at work. Be as detailed as you'd like, whatever you think would cover everything that's important in your day.
I think I'll start off, since I'm the starter of this thread. (I think this is going to be a bit lengthy but interesting).
To let you all know beforehand, I work as a cashier at a car wash in Chicago (some might know this already, since I think I've mentioned it on here before) on Saturdays and Sundays.
My day normally starts off (at work) where I sit in the car in the parking lot for the manager to show up to unlock the gate to the back parking lot. That's where all of the employees are to park, since the rest of the lot is for the customers to detail and wash their cars. (The carwash I work at has a tunnel, U-do-it bays, one touchless automatic, vacuums, shampooers, and such). When he does get there, he unlocks the building and I walk over the short wall of windows (since the customers look in at the tunnel to see their car being washed, this is near the exit where I operate all day long) where I grab my timecard and punch myself in.
On my keyring, I have a key to the office to unlock it (since it stays locked all the time, it's a new policy that's being adapted. If the office door is unlocked at any time and if the boss is there to catch it, the person who left it unlocked must pay a $1.00 into an envelope posted on the desk). When I get in the office, I normally punch the * key on the Datatrax computer on the back wall since the manager for the previous day is normally lazy and doesn't do it. That clears out the message saying that the previous day's printout is done and when it's pressed, the message gets cleared and shows the time and car count of the day and for the previous hour. I turn on the 3 survailance cameras monitors on the 2 desks and walk over to the register. I normally have to fix the printer for the credit card machine as the cashier for the previous day is normally unable to get the idea that the thing needs dusting off (since it sheds a lot of dust when the paper goes through) and needs to be readjusted to the blank paper that has pre-printed lines for fields. Then I turn on the register. Below the counter, I bundle together a bunch of tickets (exterior and regular tickets) to bring to the back, since they're normally low on them when I get there. I do the driver in the back a favor by doing that.
When I get back from that, I look in the store to see what needs restocking on some of the shelves (or needs to be rearranged to look more orderly). The only things that I have much control over is what's upstairs (not much) and sunglasses. I don't normally put much out in the morning, but organizing is one key thing to make a place look good.
After that, I go back into the office and walk out the trash from both of the trash cans that are in there (one for the cashier and the other for the manager's desk). Normally, the cashier from the previous day leaves several copies of "The Red Eye" (a local free newspaper in Chicago, printed by the Chicago Tribune) lying there, where I normally like to read it. After reading it, I toss em.
When the day actually starts with customers rolling in, I can be there going in ultra-fast-mode if there's a ton of people in line and when it's a nice day out. At other times (like when it's raining or snowing), I sit in the office either watching TV or playing games on their computer.
At each hour, I must count how many tickets have been brought to me by the customers (in which I brought to the driver at the beginning of the day). That number I have to record on a log sheet that sits on a clipboard besides me all day long. It's so that I know how good or bad the business is doing in the day. The most that I've ever done in a day was around 500 cars (on a Saturday). The place is open from 7AM - 6PM on Saturdays and 7AM - 4PM on Sundays. That number is matched up with the printout on the Datatrax computer to see if they match up. If they don't match up, then they go off of my number, since sometimes the computer sends in "virtual" cars through the wash when you least expect it. (The Datatrax computer is a system that turns equipment in the tunnel on and off, and sends up a roller to act like a car is going through).
Mostly I ring up customers on the cash register by reading what's on the ticket that I get presented when they come to pay. Sometimes they have disagreements and most of the time I get it all worked out. I punch through credit cards and whatnot all throughout the day.
I get a lunch around noon, for like an hour or less (however fast I eat), where the manager does the cashiering while I sit at the desk and eat.
Sometimes I tell the manager some complaints that people get (he's in the office at random times in the day) or what needs to be reparied. He does what he has to and I get back to my business.
At the end of the day I punch through the E-O-D's on the three machines (register, credit card machine, and Datatrax computer) and calculate all of the totals at the end of the day. I pack up my gear, punch out, and leave to either my dad's house, MicroCenter, or one of the Thrift stores in the local area.
So, this is my post all day long. I do have that stool to sit on (can be thankful since I see people at other places without a stool), but it's not very good. There are 2 office chairs at 2 desks that are in there, normally I sit at one of them when it does get slow.
The above is only around 50% of what I normally do in the day. Since I seen that it was getting a bit long, I left out the "nitty gritty", the fine details on everything. Hopefully that covers it. (Wow, that actually took me an hour to type up).
- Mike.
Good times for $12/hour...hopefully more soon. Ya never know.
)
