Pocket Full of Change

Hello readers,

I realize it’s been nearly two months since my last post, so let me recap what’s been happening in the store: not much. Summer brings slow business so there isn’t much to talk about. More than half of my conversations with customers include one or more of the topics: football, weather, homeless people, and how much we wish school would start up again. I think it’s fair to assume that school is in high demand with everyone who stayed in Eugene for the summer.

However, one major benefit of working in a convenience store in a densely homeless-populated area of town would be getting a better understanding and empathy for the less fortunate. While walking home after the Vampire Weekend concert with my friends, I ran into a frequent customer of the store whom I believe to be homeless. We made the usual small talk as if I was behind the counter like all of our other encounters. Later in the walk, I ran into another familiar homeless customer and we, like the previous man, talked to each other as if I was at work. When we got back, one of my friends commented that I know a lot of the homeless people in the area. My first -internal- reaction was “Of course, I work at a convenience store.” But my job doesn’t dictate my environment. There are plenty of clerks who see homelessness on a much minor scale. Little’s just happens to be in an area with a lot of homeless patrons. Many people reading this might be thinking it would be better to have customers with better reputations. True, that would make my job friendlier and easier, but that kind of mindset seems ignorant to individual needs. I usually enjoy taking an interest in stories that my customers have to tell.

There is a fine line between homeless and not. In the Little’s region, a disheveled appearance does not necessarily constitute a lack of home. And I’ve been wrong in my judgment before. Pointing out the similarities between homeless people and people like ourselves, who are sitting inside with internet access, is the first step in building solidarity within socio-economic classes. There is a notorious woman in the neighborhood, I’ll call her Katy, who is the most recognized and hated woman within earshot. The other day Katy was loitering outside the store, which is a popular hangout spot for the local transients. My boss told me that when people congregate outside, I should immediately call the police non-emergency number and a patrol car will come by shortly to tell them to clear out. Well I did what my boss wanted and called the police, who said they’ll send a car. The car never came. I stepped outside during my break to find Katy sitting against the side window. She wasn’t wearing any pants and was holding part of a wooden curtain rod. I asked why the curtain rod. She replied that it was for protection from a man who was stalking her. I told her the police station is two blocks away, and that they would be better protection than the club. But she seemed genuinely scared of an attack. I ended the conversation because I could tell I was talking to someone who wouldn’t listen to what I had to say. The point of this story is not that homeless people are crazy, desperate people, but that it is possible to connect with them. This woman causes the most frustration and anger to people who come in contact with her than any other person I’ve met. But when she showed genuine fear for her safety, we connected briefly in a shared thought of helplessness in a situation, which I’m sure every single person has experienced at some point.

As a clerk, I get frustrated when a patron pulls out a pocket full of change. As a person, I get sympathetic that a fellow person lives his or her life with nothing but a satchel and pocket full of change. Homeless people are people too, even though it might take more effort to notice.

Where Do I Stand?

So after 2+ months in this job, I've come across some situations in which I've been having trouble being completely objective. It's true that for the purpose of this blog I'm an observer, but I never thought about possible interferences with the law. This job requires me to maintain a safe shopping environment for the customers, which means my moral stance needs to be on the side of the law should something happen. For instance, I've had multiple occurrences in which my moral fiber was tested. A month or so ago a customer dropped some marijuana on the counter by accident. At this time I was still new to the system so I decided to tell him to put it away immediately (because the cameras might or might not have picked it up) and let him leave. However, this question of legality would not be the last. And keep in mind, I don't want the cops in the store. Not because I'm doing anything illegal, I just don't want to deal with the process. So for the most part I will "let it slide." But today, I witnessed a situation that left me wondering if I did the right thing. Three -let's call them "rugged" types- entered the store and bought their chips and sodas while discussing Hemp fest. The third guy to come up to the register pulled out a vile and offered his friends something. Assuming that the contents of the vile were as substance more criminally offensive than marijuana, I told them to get out. I know the camera picked it up but I'm not sure if my managers will check the footage. I also didn't want to get them in trouble for a non-harmful crime that didn't directly affect the well-being of the store. So once again, I "let it slide." I'm not sure if I did the right thing legally but I know I did the right thing personally. Please comment if you feel I did the right thing or not, and as always, have a nice day.

Interesting Traveler...

So not much activity in the last few days. Mostly the usual college students and local transients coming through to buy their drinks and ice cream and such. But today a very special and sufficiently awkward conversation happened between me and a fellow who would not shut up about the train ride from LA to Eugene. Maybe conversation is giving it too much justice. He talked; I nodded. Because what he talked about I had almost no interest in. He began with his approval of the sleeping cars in the train from Eugene to LA, which transitioned into expensive living in LA, which transitioned into Eugene restaurants, which transitioned into lamb chops, which transitioned into family. After about 15 minutes, when a customer finally came in to interrupt the "conversation", he left. The woman that followed him, who walked inside mid-argument with her son, offered some humorous insight. I told her that the guy before just talked my ear off. She replied, "It's cause he's gay, and he likes you." Laughter all around. Enjoy the nice weather and as always, have a nice day.

Little's Frequent Customers

I'll be listing a number of frequent customers. Mostly I won't use names (because I don't know them) so I've used excessively descriptive nicknames. If you're a frequent customer and don't see yourself on this list, don't think I don't recognize you, it just means these people are noteworthy for some reason. If you are someone from this list, please don't take offense. I'm merely trying to be a transparent eye. So to kick it off...

Little's staff:
Kim- owner, ruthless yet kind, good to have on your side
Sue- Kim's wife, funny (perhaps unknowingly), sweetheart
Mike- manager, meticulous, numbers man
James- beer guy, Mike's brother, genuine
Will- cashier, experienced, funny
Andy- cashier, straight-laced, a bit shy
Matt- me, attractive, strong/silent, intelligent
Jeff- cashier, new guy, unknown


Max's Customers/Staff:
Soda- thick sideburns, Pabst jacket, bouncer?
guy that looks like Mitch Hedberg- owns a Vespa, cool
other random Max's employees

High Priestess Staff:
Tall guy with guages- likes Orbit wintermint, almost annoyingly nice
Cute girl with tattoos- flirty?, looks younger than she probably is
Tall guy with guages' lacky- buys his gum
Guy with Pabst hat- I have the same one, cool
Shorter guy with guages- really into whatever I say, but not in a weird way

Other Random Staff Members from Local Businesses:
Aaliyah Brothers guys- kind of old, tradesmen
Tall old guy with sweet moustache- buys a 22 of Bud and that's it, always
Guy from Bijou Theater- way too friendly, but still nice

College Students:
Girl with nose piercing- cute, raspy voice
Girl who always buys fortune cookies- cute, always buys fortune cookies
ok the rest are kind of boring so I'll cut to the exciting portion...

Transients (or homeless people, bums, whichever you prefer):
The guy who always buys four maxed
The lady who mumbles so much that it sounds like she's speaking something other than English
Carrie- (Crazy Carrie) red head, veteran?, not allowed in the store
My favorite transient- I don't know his name but I want to call him Joe, always alone, friendly, appears to make a profit from the cans he returns
Frogg- yes, the same Frogg who sells the "world's funniest joke books" on 13th
Sweet Pea- decent fella, makes artwork, follows Oregon sports, nice guy
Pepper- gay?, transgender? not quite sure, probably going away for a while...


UPDATE: NAKED MAN SPOTTED OUTSIDE THE STORE
I look outside and catch more than an eye-ful of a tripped out college student wearing his birthday suit. So, like any rational cashier, I open the door and politely ask him to put some clothes on. Ten minutes later I spot him outside Max's next door. He followed my orders as if he were a stubborn 2-year-old. He put on an apron. That's it. And not the kind that goes all the way around... I really hope he leaves.

About the Store

Little's is on 13th and Patterson Alley. Directly next door is Max's Tavern. Besides being the biggest draw of the block, Max's can be a blessing and a curse to Little's. For instance, whenever you see a Little's employee surfing the net, they do so with a connection to Max's router. But if you come to Little's on a Friday or Saturday night, the employee won't even have time to use the internet with all of the Max's customers buying their nightly essentials. However, there are many Max's customers and employees that are personable and friendly so our relationship is not strained.
Across the street is High Priestess tattoo parlor. I have frequent interactions with the employees there because they all smoke cigarettes and guess who the closest cigarette retailer is... Also, many of their customers use our ATM for their tattoo payments. Most of their employees are well-behaved and use manners, which almost doesn't fit because (and I'm not placing judgment or anything) they all have numerous tattoos and piercings and usually you'd suspect someone with excessive piercings and tattoos to be less mannerly, but that certainly isn't the case here.
A few other noteworthy places in the surrounding area: Aaliyah (sp?) brothers carpet cleaning. These guys are just old and buy their lunch in the store. Harmless, beneficial. The florist is just a half block away and every now and then one of their employees will come in. Occasionally I'll be targeted for flower sales which always catches me off guard. Hospital/various surrounding medical buildings means a lot of people in scrubs come in to buy their soda and cigarettes (irony?). The laundromat is across the street too. This can be frustrating if their change machine is out of quarters because guess who always has change for quarters and happens to be across the street...
Hope this gives you a better idea of the surrounding area. My next post will be on the regular customers, and if I have time, a list of things they do that I like/dislike. But until then, have a nice day!

Welcome to the Little's blog!

This blog is an account of any bizarre, out-of-the-ordinary interactions with Eugene's finest. You see I work at Little's Market and Deli on 13th and Patterson Alley. It's a convenience store situated three blocks from the U of O campus and only about four from downtown Eugene. This means that the type of person who walks through the doors can vary from a homeless person to college student to local working stiff to the retired and elderly. Eugene is blessed to have the multitude of people that it does because they keep the city diverse and entertaining.
My goal for this blog is to document life in this particular area through an almost neutrally subjective outlook. I'll provide anecdotes of things I see and hear that are either funny or shocking, or might provide the reader with some degree of new perspective. I will try to post at least once per shift but this may vary if something really cool happens. So please read these stories and hopefully you'll find them to be interesting or at least not boring. And as always, have a nice day!