May 11, 2013 - RedCardMan
CASHIER SURVIVAL 101
I’m colossally pissed off at Big Red (my hours are down to 21 from 37 and this little prick of a new hire gets 37 right out of the fucking gate!), but no so ticked that I don’t take pity on my fellow cashiers. My 100s of regular guests love me and when I finally get termed there are going to be hordes that will tear my store apart in revenge *laghs*.
Do these things to help yourself:
1) Ditch the t-shirt. Wear something that looks nice, buy it cheap on ebay. Many guests come in to the store and all they want is to shit on someone. They’ll be intimidated if you dress better than they do. I wear a tie and buttoned down shirt as often as the weather will allow. It does a jiu jitsu trick on their attitude, but you have to be able to bag well too. Give them nothing to complain about, though they’ll do it anyway – the difference is, when they do it anyway they KNOW they’re in the wrong and act all sheepish and fuck off.
2) Be on top of people getting on your line – tell them exactly where to put the hand baskets, don’t let them do what they want. A customer comes to a store, and there are so many of them, they can’t be expected to know how we do things – so TELL THEM. They’re like children that need discipline – they WANT discipline and if you ask them very nicely and respectfully to leave their basket in the front of the register on the floor, for instance, they’ll be happy to. If they start putting their 15 pound 12 pack water on the belt say “You don’t need to do that – I’ll get it with the gun. Leave it in your cart, please. Thank you.”
3) Don’t play their game of “It’s YOUR problem if you can’t scan it” – it’s their fucking problem – make it their problem or they don’t go home : guests on my line who have the bar code facing away from me on heavy items in the carts, I let them know right away “Ma’am – I need to see a barcode to scan it. Thank you.” and stand there gun in hand until they move it. It’s a bullshit power move some people pull, I don’t stand for it. Life is too short and my fucking back hurts to much.
4) Ask guests for change, pennies, singles – it will give you a breather and cut the pace. It’ll also keep your drawer full. Work your line at YOUR pace, not the guests. It’s YOUR office, treat it that way, keep it neat and clean – they respect that. Anyone starts draping re-shop clothes over the candy rack say “I’ll take that right here, ma’am. Thank you.” – it embarrasses the hell out of them and they won’t do it again. When I’m really pissed off because the guest is obviously flagrant about it, I add “Thank you, we’re not Wal-Mart, ma’am : we try to keep the store neat. Thank you.”
When you are bitching people out in this way you can’t say thank you enough… not if you want to get away with it. No guest is going to go your TL and say “I was fucking up your store like the slob I am and your cashier was rude to me.”
4A) Don’t play the “re-bag” game, or “You can put more stuff in this one” or “I don’t want a bag” after you’ve filled it. On my line, if I’ve removed the full bag from the metal stem – I’m done. If they want more shit jammed in there thay can hold it open or let me start another bag – and I tell them so politley. It’s too hard on the back to hold the bag open and scan items and fill it with the other hand. Fuck that – it goes on all day and I don’t stand for it.
5) Be really sweet to sweet people. You always need someone in your corner. I give double nickels to people with their canvas bags who do most of the dirty work. They may be there to back you up when another guest is rude. I’m very popular in my store and I had a line of six people – regulars – shouting at this one bitch who was giving me a hard time about nickels for her nasty used plastic Michaels bags.
6) Finally, DON’T LOOK DOWN YOUR LINE!! It just makes you edgy. There will ALWAYS be someone else on your line, you’ll never finish them all, you cannot go fast enough (same with carts) there is always another until you clock out. So take it easy. A green speed score is easy. Let it flow. And don’t cram all the change, receipt and coupons into peoples hands at once trying to save seconds: give them their coins first then put the bills in their hand and then the receipt. Don’t rush anyone off your line BUT do begin ringing up the next guest so the one you’re done with gets the hint. Always say thank you when taking cash – people hate to give it up because it’s real to them, unlike credit or even debit. It’ll take the edge right off your day when you see how people appreciate this behavior. Target mgmt is too stupid to train people this way and so big stores have a reputation for being “shit-in, shit-out” factories. Your register is your office. respect it yourself and it translates to respect from the guests once they notice.
The bottom line is you can be sweet as pie and helpful as hell to 90% of the people on your line (and they’ll love you for it!), and STILL you can keep the other 10% from treating you like shit. At the end of the day, all you’ve got is your self respect and giving it up isn’t in the job description.


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I like your post; I was cashier at Target for 5 years and it rough. May I ask what is your age or age range? I was one of the oldest cashiers at the store. How long have you been at Target? If you want to move ahead at Target you'll have to kiss a lot of ass to do so. Anyways great advice.
45, two years. No intention or interest in moving forward - just maintaining health benefits until I move on.
Thanks - glad you enjoyed it!