Kristin Slater: Workers do the best they can to keep up
Brown puddles of coffee splattered the surface of the counter like a preschool class was in here painting with brown water and just left the mess for their teacher to clean up. Apparently every person who had come through in the last half hour rush had been too busy to wipe up any spills. Her feet burned from standing in one spot at the register for so long in a rushed attempt to keep the line moving. The people who were on their way to work couldn’t spend 10 minutes in line so both people had to get people through as fast as they could during rush hour times. At least this was something to do that would let her move around a bit before the next rush.
With a sigh, she grabbed the cleaning rag from the bucket of bleach water, wincing as the watered down bleach stung her drying out skin. Maybe she should start bringing a bottle of lotion to work so she could use it after each time she wiped counters. Starting at the corner, she wiped up as many spots as the rag would hold, then went to the sink to wring it out before going back to the spills. She lifted the sugar packet holder to wipe underneath it. Coffee spills had spread under displays and even dripped to the floor in some places.
There was a hard spot that had apparently been missed last time the counters had been wiped. It was next to the coffee pot warmer and the heat had dried up the spill making the brown liquid into a hard solid that clung stubbornly to the counter. She scraped it with her fingernail through the cleaning rag until her arms burned as badly as her feet. She hoped the worn material would hold together long enough to get the stain off before her nail went through and she was scraping at some stranger’s spill with her own bare finger. The offending brown spot finally disappeared. She looked at her thumbnail. It was worn down with a flat line across the top. No need for nail clippers anymore.
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The bell in the back of the store rang, she glanced to the front. A new line of customers was waiting at the register. Her coworker was making a valiant effort to get through the crowd fast enough to keep less than three people there at any one time, but losing.
She pressed her lips together, it was probably a safety hazard to leave the coffee spills puddled up on the floor, but, not time to go in the back and get the mop bucket filled to get this cleaned up the right way. Who knew how long it would be before the next lull when one of them could come clean over here again.
It just had to get done now, and the fastest way possible.
She bent down, her back muscles all complaining at the added movement almost as much as her aching legs and shoulders. She wiped up all the coffee from the floor with the counter rag. Letting out her breath on a deep blow she surveyed the coffee area. It looked good again. She tossed the cleaning rag into the dirty bin. That should probably get washed before it was used on the counters again.
Working at a gas station is usually physically demanding work. You run the register for people who come in to buy items, stock the shelves, and clean, and clean and clean. Because strangely enough, people are messy when they’re buying coffee. Next time you spill, try to clean up after yourself. And, don’t put your food directly on the counter and then into your mouth. Not every person who works there is going to think about putting that cleaning rag into the dirty bin after a quick wipe on the floor.
— Community Columnist Kristin Slater is an Allegan County resident. Contact her at kristinslater@yahoo.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Kristin Slater: Workers do the best they can to keep up
