For my final blog post, I want to talk about my true feelings of working at Publix. As much as I dread going to work every day and how much some of the customers drive me crazy, it really is a great place to work. I even own a shirt that says that ha-ha. Publix has been voted on the Fortune 500’s top 100 places to work for the past 10 years. I would say that is quite an accomplishment. I have worked there for just about 4 years now and I cannot think of any of my friends who have part time jobs that they have stuck with that long. I basically get to create my own schedule. I put in an availability form where I let them know the days and hours I can work, and can resubmit it at any time. I can request off and actually get time off any time I would like. I’ve gotten a raise every 6 months since I have been working. I truly do not think it can get better than that. Publix focuses on their customer service and the people they hire really are great in the aspect. It is my co-workers that get me through each shift. Some of them have become my best friends. The majority of the people are awesome. I do not want to, but I could honestly see myself working there for the rest of my life. My goal is to get into marketing and if I continue to advance, I could get there. It is not easy to get into Publix but once you are you are set for life, I would definitely advise anyone who is looking for a job to apply.

CLUB PUB!

The Publix on Ocala rd in Tallahassee, where I work, was voted in a Playboy poll as one of the top 10 places to meet someone, giving it the nick name of ‘club pub’. I have been observing this for the few months I have been working there. Just yesterday I witnessed a guy come up to a girl and say “Hi, my name is Ron” She responded with her name and shook his hand. He then asked if he could call her sometime and unfortunately for him, she declined. I do not see interactions like these as much as I would have thought for a place that made a Playboy’s Top 10 list. When it really seems like ‘Club Pub’ is on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Publix gives cash back after making a transaction so everyone comes in to get a little cash so they can pay their cover wherever they are going. These nights are my favorite to work. We know that college students like to pre-game before going out so it is not uncommon for a group of drunken girls coming in the store to get a little money. I have seen people dancing through the aisles, singing, and just being obnoxious. Everyone is all dressed up in skimpy little dresses and high heels. Sometimes the guys working will try to hit on these girls and help them take their groceries out to their car even if it is just a single bag. If it’s a weekend night and I can’t enjoy going out myself, Publix is the place I like to be!

shooting at publix!! =o

One week ago, March 30, 2010, I was informed of a shooting at a Publix in my hometown. No, it was not the store I used to work at but it was less than 10 minutes away. There have been a few different stories of the incident, the truth I do not know. I have been telling you about some of the crazy customers, but after this, I think I need to start paying closer attention to the employees! The story off the news said that one of the employees was fired on Tuesday morning. Around 12 in the afternoon, she came back, shot, and killed a former coworker in the parking lot. After shooting him, she went inside the store and headed towards the manager but by that time police were there. She then shot at the police officer but the bullet missed him and winded his belt. The police officer then shot her and took her down. She was taken in a helicopter to the hospital and then later charged with first-degree murder. So moral of the story is, be careful who you fire. The manager would not discuss why she was fired but the news report said she held a grudge against the man she killed. The story I was told was she was stealing meat from Publix and the man she killed knew about it. She had told him that if he told on her then she would kill him. Sure enough, he told on her, she got fired, and she came back and killed him. No matter what, threats should not be taken lightly. I do not know if this story is true but it was a very sad, unfortunate day at the Tarpon Springs Publix.

I hate food stamps.

Today we are going to change gears just a little bit and talk about food stamps, more currently known as EBT or electronic benefit transfer. Low-income individuals are deposited cash money or food money into an account every month. Publix accepts these EBT cards, which allow users to buy any type of food in the store, excluding hot items like the fried chicken for example. My initial complaint is that these dumb cards never swipe, or our credit/debit card machines do not read them. The cards are very poorly made and the tiniest scratch will deactivate it. They will look brand new but the customer will not even attempt to slide it and will hand it to me saying, “It don’t swipe.” This makes my job harder, I then have to manually enter the card in, trace the card number on a carbon copy paper and enter a specific receipt into the machine. Now, that isn’t that big of a deal, I can handle it. What drives me nuts is the way people use this money given to them. They will come in and buy Publix subs chips and candy bars for them as well as their five other friends. They buy crap, junk food instead of using that money given to them by the government to get their essential grocery needs. This, might I add is only the situation from my experience in Tallahassee, it was not this bad at my store at home. By now I can just tell by the groceries on the conveyer belt, the customer will be using food stamps. It is ridiculous and frustrates me how much people take advantage of what the government is doing to try to help.

The Crazies!

People who come shopping at Publix are CRAZYY! Sometimes it really scares me to think that they got in a car and drove themselves to the store. Just yesterday while I was at work there was an old man, probably in his seventies or eighties sitting on the bench up front with a razor, dry shaving his face. He cut himself, blood was dripping down his face, and he continued to shave. I think I saw him even stick out his tongue and run the razor down that as well! Of course, all the employees and customers noticed but it still took a good fifteen minutes for any of the managers to do something about it. It was very disturbing and I was quite thankful that my register was not near him. Besides the crazies, we have paranoid people. Once a boy I work with was checking a customer’s credit car when his phone rang in his pocket. He forgot to turn it on silent that day so he took it out to turn it off. The customer then freaks out and causes a huge scene because she thinks he is trying to take a picture of her credit card number. She complained to the store manager and then the boy was fired. Personally, I don’t think that’s right at all because he was not trying to steal the credit card number and now he is out on the streets looking for a new job, and that is not the easiest thing to do these days. As long as it’s not me getting fired, I love to see these crazy, paranoid people. Makes my job a little more interesting.

The Beginning..

Almost four long years ago I was hired at Publix Supermarkets in Palm Harbor, Florida. Then, it was a very depressing day but now I look at it as the beginning of a very interesting experience. The thing that gets me through work every day is the customers that come through my checkout line. I never truly appreciated my customers until i transferred to the Publix in Tallahassee, Florida. Now, I must point out that in the little town of Palm Harbor where I grew up was a headquarters of the KKK years ago therefore, probably 90% of Palm Harbor is white. Tallahassee is a little bit different. Unless you are a college student my customers include ghetto African-Americans, or redneck white people. My favorite thing for customers to do is "forget their wallet". Probably at least twice a shift someone comes through with $100 worth of groceries, I ring it all up and at the end they realize they left their wallet in the car and will be back in a second. "Okay, I can save your order." I tell them. Thirty minutes later they are not back and guess who gets to put their groceries back into the store, yours truly. Throughout this blog you will hear some more of my favorite customer stories and trust me, they are good.