Skip to main content

Six Sentence Story: Change

I'm linking up again with Six Sentence Stories.  This week's prompt:  change. 


She said, "Hello," just as she had been trained, but she hoped that none of the customers would be chatty in reply.  English was such a confusing language!  Working as a cashier at K-Mart wasn't her dream job, but if she had figured correctly, she should be able to afford her small apartment and have enough left over to eat simple meals.  As soon as the first customers came through her line, though, she immediately realized one vital piece of education that she lacked:  a knowledge of this foreign currency.  The man handed her a crisp bill.  Panicked, she cupped her hand into the register, scooped up a random assortment of coins, and thrust them into his outstretched hand, dismissing him with the perfunctory, "Thank you, and have a nice day."

photo visiting2_zps6d4521f3.jpg

photo ThankfulThought4_zps7d9599c2.jpg
Thanks for patience--on both sides of the register. 

photo signature3_zps16be6bca.jpg


Pin It

Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 14, 2016 at 8:20 PM

    Oy! What a moment of panicky realization!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KristiJanuary 14, 2016 at 8:33 PM

      Though I took creative license on the cashier's side of the story, the incident of the change was a true story.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 14, 2016 at 9:10 PM

    I love that you went with this interpretation of the prompt.
    I see too many cashiers who can't make change for whatever reason. I think it must be a scary feeling to be someone in a position like your character. Things we don't even think about...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KristiJanuary 17, 2016 at 7:30 PM

      I don't know why this particular cashier (true incident!) couldn't make change, but it was definitely a memorable moment.

      Delete
  3. Old EggJanuary 14, 2016 at 9:53 PM

    Luckily most cash registers will show the change required but not if the note's value is not entered! Let's hope she doesn't get transferred to the stockroom.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KristiJanuary 17, 2016 at 7:32 PM

      Even if the change required is shown, if the cashier doesn't understand the denomination of each coin, it is still nearly impossible to hand the customer the correct change.

      Delete
  4. BiancaJanuary 15, 2016 at 4:10 AM

    Next time I'm in a K-mart I will have to pay attention to the change I'm handed.... To me all those bills look the same aswell! Our money has all kinds of colours, so you can instantly see which is which. Unless you're colour blind of course....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KristiJanuary 17, 2016 at 7:37 PM

      I think it was the coins that really confused the cashier, but I agree with you that the bills do look very much alike!

      Delete
  5. Clark FarleyJanuary 15, 2016 at 6:40 AM

    I smiled, not at the plight of the cashier, rather the twist in the story, which while plausible (and I could even imagine responding that way myself), still had a bit of the 'shaggy dog story'* element to it.
    Fun.

    'Shaggy Dog Story' (from wikipedia) "Shaggy dog stories play upon the audience's preconceptions of joke-telling. The audience listens to the story with certain expectations, which are either simply not met or met in some entirely unexpected manner"
    purported to be the original Shaggy Dog Story:

    "A boy owned a dog that was uncommonly shaggy. Many people remarked upon its considerable shagginess. When the boy learned that there are contests for shaggy dogs, he entered his dog. The dog won first prize for shagginess in both the local and the regional competitions. The boy entered the dog in ever-larger contests, until finally he entered it in the world championship for shaggy dogs. When the judges had inspected all of the competing dogs, they remarked about the boy's dog: "He's not that shaggy."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KristiJanuary 17, 2016 at 7:39 PM

      The story was based on a true story. We were the customers, and were so shocked by the transaction, we didn't know what to do.

      Delete
  6. Tired TeacherJanuary 15, 2016 at 8:10 AM

    I can feel the cashier' panic - another great response to the prompt.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Josie Two ShoesJanuary 16, 2016 at 11:48 AM

    Great story! I think that most of us at one time or another has responded with panic to a situation and not made the best decision at the time. My heart always goes out to new workers in public service jobs such as this, restaurants, etc. It's not easy, and even more so when in situations like this where you don't have all the skills and knowledge to do the job. I try to be kind and patient, because they get growled and grumbled at all day. I can imagine how scared she must have been!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KristiJanuary 17, 2016 at 8:07 PM

      This was based on a true story. We were the customers, and were so shocked we just took the offered change and left. I don't remember, but I hope we were shorted. I've wondered off and on about that cashier, and how long she remained at that job.

      Delete
  8. UnknownJanuary 16, 2016 at 4:47 PM

    The panic, frustration and anxiety were quite evident in this story. That's a hard way to learn something new. Great job! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownJanuary 16, 2016 at 4:47 PM

    The panic, frustration and anxiety were quite evident in this story. That's a hard way to learn something new. Great job! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. UnknownJanuary 17, 2016 at 4:22 PM

    It is another wonderful story!

    ReplyDelete
  11. KristiJanuary 17, 2016 at 7:39 PM

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  12. PatriciaJanuary 17, 2016 at 7:53 PM

    Interesting that she got the job. Have to give her points for sheer courage to face so many unknowns.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KristiJanuary 17, 2016 at 8:09 PM

      I'm not exactly sure how she ended up in that position, but the story was based on a true incident. We were the customers.

      Delete
  13. AnonymousJanuary 19, 2016 at 8:37 AM

    Hi, Kristi. This is an excellent story. We take so much for granted and seeing things from another's perspective is always enlightening.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Conversations are so much nicer when more than one person does the talking. :-) Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts; I'd love to hear from you!

Popular posts from this blog

Monday Mentions: Equate Crutches

Have you ever needed crutches? I hadn't, until a week ago.  I'm pretty sure I strained a muscle while running a half-marathon.  (That sounds kind of cool, doesn't it? I'm not actually that cool; the last time I strained a muscle it was from carrying too many shopping bags at once.) In any case, I found myself in need of some crutches. I sent my husband to the store to get some. Photo: A pair of crutches leans against a wall  Not that crutches are all that complex, but because I hadn't used any before, I wondered if I could figure out how to adjust them to fit me properly. I shouldn't have worried. John came home from Walmart with their generic store brand of crutches, complete with instructions. First, I needed to take out a long bolt that went through the hand grip. Then I needed to find my height range, push down two metal pieces, and slide the crutches until the little metal pieces came up in the hole near my height range. (Having two people for this...
4 comments
Read more

Ten Things of Thankful: Live from Oregon, part 2

stock photo of old computer monitor When I was 10 or 11, I remember sitting next to my dad in our living room and reading computer code to him as he entered it into an Apple computer. We would finish the exercise and he would hit enter (or was it "run"?) and wait expectantly for the green type to appear on the screen. If we were lucky, the whole conversation would occur. Most often, there would be an error either in my dictation of the code, or in the typing of the code. We would then go painstakingly back through the lines, character by character, to find and correct the error. After what seemed like hours (and might have been), we would succeed and the computer would finally run the entire program. It was magical! My dad designed and built an earth-sheltered, passive solar home decades before solar panels were commonplace. He also was on a 9-month waiting list for a Prius, when hybrids were not seen on every street.  While my dad is definitely on the cutting edge of technol...
5 comments
Read more

Ten Things of Thankful: Oregon Edition, Part 3

  A western bluebird, sitting at the base of a house window, looks inside Thanks (1) to those who have sent well-wishes for my mom's recovery. Her wrist is healing up nicely. I met a friend from high school for lunch this past week. It was so nice to have a chance to visit with her for a couple of hours. She is one of those friends who it doesn't matter how much time has passed, we can pick right back up into meaningful conversations. Lunch ended all too soon, but I'm so thankful (2) for her, and I'm thankful (3) that she reminded me of the importance of reaching out to others.  Being in my parents' home this week, visiting with a long-time (I'm not saying old!) friend, and with Mother's Day tomorrow, my mind naturally reflects upon the women in my life. I'm thankful (4) for an incredible mom--a gentle woman who taught and loved and guided us (and still does.) I'm thankful (5) for grandmas who were different in their personalities but united in their...
3 comments
Read more