'But hey, 'I'm just a cashier'': Retail manager gets wrongfully reprimanded on Black Friday by incompetent supervisors, so he lets them 'run the show' as revenge

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Dec 4, 2024 7:00 AM EST

Working the register on Black Friday is the pinnacle of retail misery, but despite that reality, when this floor manager was sentenced to work the register (and nothing else), they gleefully complied to watch everything go up in flames in the hands of incompetent supervisors. 

For your average retail employee, the holiday season is marked with manic customers, disheveled merchandise shelves, and Mariah Carrey songs playing on a loop. While many go insane by the end of December, others find delightfully petty ways to pass the time. Sure, you can't avoid the chaos of holiday shoppers, but you can use them as ammunition against bad managers who forgot the woes of working the floor. 

That's exactly what u/bookdragon22 (OP) did when supervisors started getting finicky about manning the registers. Because they were a head cashier and the floor manager, OP knew that there was a lot more to their shift than simply working the register–but according to their bosses, cashier-ing was all they were good for. 

And oh did they learn their lesson…

Advertisement
  • 01
    "[I] was told to be a normal cashier, so I let my supervisor and managers run the show" JOHN
    via SDI Productions

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    I let my bosses run the show today So, for context, I'm currently a head cashier at Home Depot. I work in a higher volume store that remodeled the "front end" (where our registers are) a couple months ago where our
    via bookdragon22
  • 03
    central checkout is now entirely self checkout registers (referred to as sco). While it's sco, it's known as "assisted" sco, and they want us to be assisting as much as possible (6 items or more, high price items, and anything that could hide anything inside of it are a must), as well as pushing credit card applications.
    via bookdragon22
  • 04
    Now here's where there's been a huge issue. Starting with the cashiers not pushing credit enough, so we fell behind on our goal. So last week to make up for it, around halfway through the week, my supervisor told us she
    via bookdragon22
  • 05
    wanted everyone physically on a register. Head cashiers included. They don't even want us checking the schedule to send breaks, or the cashiers home even though no one is allowed to get overtime. Unless there's money to handle, we aren't allowed off of a register.
    via bookdragon22
  • 06
    I bet some of you can understand how frustrating that is. It's literally a sco. I'm having more people starting to get upset that we're constantly helping them than when we changed it to a sco, and had a ton of people
    via bookdragon22
  • 07
    angry there aren't any normal registers in the main area of the store (2-3 normal registers open total on the opposite ends of the store, and that's it). And me and the other head cashiers weren't complying the entire time about
    via bookdragon22
  • 08
    staying on a register 100% of the time because we were going to prioritize at least knowing when to send breaks, and our cashiers home. Even if it meant us getting into trouble. Well, today was black Friday, and
    via bookdragon22
  • 09
    my supervisor, a long with the store manager, and a few other managers were lurking around almost constant. A couple actually helped, which was appreciated, but I digress.
    via bookdragon22
  • 10
    The other day, I mentioned to my supervisor when she insisted head cashiers had to stay on a register, how we were supposed to send breaks, or how we would direct the line because most people won't walk to an open register even when sco is empty.
    via bookdragon22
  • 11
    She told me to figure it out, and if I have to keep my head on a swivel so I can check customers out AND get the line down, then so be it. So, I let them run the show. They put me on a register. I complied. I
    via bookdragon22
  • 12
    only left when I was told to cover for someone going home, or to use the bathroom. My lunch was two hours late. I didn't say anything until an hour and a half after the fact because I rarely get my breaks on time anyways, but my lunch is mandatory because "no overtime."
    via bookdragon22
  • 13
    My lunch wasn't the only break late though. When I finally got to go on my lunch, one of my cashiers came back from the bathroom, and we both saw his fifteen minute break was nearly an hour late. I apologized, and let him know I hadn't been allowed
    via bookdragon22
  • 14
    to check the schedule, or I would have sent him already. I told him to go, but let him know he should double check with our supervisor just in case since that would mean two people would be leaving at once.
    via bookdragon22
  • 15
    Then, I come back from my lunch and find out one of our full time cashiers was forgotten on one of the few normal registers, and was actively building overtime. Something if I was physically there for, would have never happened as she leaves at the
    via bookdragon22
  • 16
    same time every day. Except, I was on my lunch. Two hours late. Then later, I'm sent to garden to cover a lunch over half an hour late. When I got back inside, another cashier calls because his fifteen is over half an hour late. Almost 45 minutes.
    via bookdragon22
  • 17
    That's just some of what happened. I wasn't allowed to do my job, and therefore, my cashiers were actively being forgotten about because it wasn't important enough. Oh, and we got just as much credit card applications as we did early last
    via bookdragon22
  • 18
    week before we were forced to constantly be on registers. It's not about being on a register. It's about asking in general. Something I may not like, but I do because it's my job. Or at least, it was. After seeing
    via bookdragon22
  • 19
    how me not doing my job to comply with dumb rules that makes no sense effected my cashier's today (and the fact I got a call back from another job), I put my two weeks in. Just to seal the deal after a day. But I'm
    via bookdragon22
  • 20
    happy. I'm leaving H | Depot, and couldn't be happier. I just worry for my cashier's who are probably going to continue to suffer with these new rules and regulations, and especially if anyone above them actually complies to them 100%.
    via bookdragon22
  • 21
    Tl;dr: was told to be a normal cashier, so I let my supervisor and managers run the show. Almost everyone's breaks were forgotten about until a minimum of 30 minutes after, and they forgot to send someone home. But hey. I'm just a cashier. Oh wait, I'm not
    via bookdragon22
  • 22
    JasontheFuzz Sadly they'll replace you by offering a cart pusher a meager raise in exchange for their soul
    via JasontheFuzz
  • 23
    MikeLinPA Manglement at its finest!
    via MikeLinPA

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

cash register boss worker employee manager job retail work coworkers working black friday ceo cashier employees tales from retail supervisor workplace company coworker business
Scroll Down For The Next Article