From the registers came a voice, “I need a bill check!” It was Hal Holstein, “Handsome Hal”, as Bonnie called him privately. He was medium height and build, with brown hair and fair skin and green eyes. He seemed to smile even when he was shouting.
“Alright!” shouted Bonnie, “I’m on it!”
As Bonnie ran away, Lisa shook her head. “That doesn’t really prove anything,” She mumbled to herself, “She would be on him if she wasn’t on the clock.”
Bonnie rushed over to Hal’s register. He greeted her with his usual open, friendly manner. “Hi Bonnie,” he said affably.
Bonnie pretended to ignore him. She looked at the bill against the light and declared in her most businesslike voice, “It’s good.” Hal finished the sale.
Just then Bonnie noticed the TV’s in the adjacent electronics department playing one of her least favorite interview clips with Ms. Infinity. Hal looked up from his register and watched with his eyes nearly glued, as he usually did. “A goddess” he mumbled, under his breath. For a moment it was if Bonnie wasn’t there.
Today we caught up with Ms. Infinity, the lovely lady who adorns our skies. Our own correspondent, Mila Merk, interviewed her.
“So Ms. Infinity, How do you find a man who can protect you when no man is your equal or greater?”
“Well, I don’t why that should be necessary. I’m not in a hurry to settle down, but when I do, he does not need to be stronger than me….”
What do you think, ladies? Afraid of love, or trying too hard to prove herself? You decide on our poll….
Bonnie hated that interview more every time she heard it, but Hal didn’t seem to care much about the content, as long as his crush was onscreen.
When Hal’s attention was back, Bonnie spoke in an annoyed tone, “Hal, you have to pay attention when you’re standing here. Make sure you address every customer as they approach.”
“Oh,” he said, “Sorry Bonnie.”
“And make sure you count the money every time. Remember, three times in, three times out.”
“Yes, I remember.”
“You need a pen?” asked Bonnie, “I saved one for you.”
“Oh! Yeah, I did forget it.”
“How did you go this long without a pen?”
“Lucky?” shrugged Hal.
“Yeah, lucky to have me around. You are one spacey cashier!”
Bonnie moved away from Hal, beginning backwards for her first steps. Failing to notice the next register behind her as she turned, she bumped into it hard and nearly fell. She tried to keep her composure as she rebounded.
“You okay?” asked Hal graciously.
“Just…fine!” she snapped. Her was face red as an apple, feeling the others staring as she walked away.
Hal’s neighboring cashiers began to whisper. A new cashier named Isha wondered, “So Nadine, is she the boss?”
“Nah!” said Nadine, “She’s not the boss. The customer service people are allowed to the do the bill checks and such, but she’s not the boss.”
“I’m in charge of this area,” said Maria, walking by with a clipboard, “I’m the runner.”
“So wait,” Isha asked, “Is she training him?
Nadine laughed, “No Isha. Hal’s been here a year or so. He’s just Bonnie’s hobby. That’s all.”
The phone rang in the customer service desk, and Lisa picked it up. “Hello, Big Box customer service. Oh! Hi Mrs. B! Bonnie’s right here!”
A middle–aged woman was waiting to exchange a pair of pants. “What was with that ‘Mrs. B’?” she asked Lisa, “Are you trying to be Fonzie or something?”
“What’s a Fonzie?”
“Oh, never mind. You kids will never get it, just exchange the thing.”
“So Mom,” asked Bonnie, “Why didn’t you just call me on my cell? Much simpler. I know, I know, I know. But everyone uses their cellphones here. No I am not texting on the job!” She put her cellphone away nervously.
“Look Mom, it was fine. No. I took care of it. Really! I did! No problem. I know what I’m doing. No big deal. Can we talk about it later?…Me? I’m fine. I promise. No. All right, We’ll talk about this later. No, later! I do not have a fever. I promise! Really. Look, Mom, I have a customer. I gotta go! Bye, Mom! Bye!!”
“Mom on you again?” asked Lisa.
“What else is new!” said Bonnie, “She’s convinced I’m sick for some reason. It’s not enough that I live with her. She has to check up on me here too. She really knows how to helicopter. But I’m not a kid anymore. It’s not cute now that I’m in my mid twenties.”
“Your mom’s cool! I love her!”
“Well of course she seems cool to you. That’s because she’s not your mom. She doesn’t watch you nonstop.”
“Nah. I have my own parents for that.”
“Well, we’re a fine pair of adults, aren’t we? When do we get to move out?”
“When we can afford New York City rent.”
“Yeah,” said Bonnie, “That might happen when we’re fifty.”
“Well,” said Lisa gingerly, “If you go back to school like I am…”
“Yeah, I know Lisa.”
“You don’t have to be on this treadmill forever.”
“I hated school! Hated it with everything I had.”
“I know Bonnie. It was hard watching you. But if the alternative is this…”
Bonnie sighed. “You know. I do think about it. I just don’t know what I want to do with myself anymore. I can’t even imagine where I fit in.”
“Ah, Bonnie. C’mon! I know you can do anything!”
“Anything?” said Bonnie, “I don’t know about that.”
Looking at Bonnie, Lisa noticed a nervous look in her eyes. She sighed, shook her head and corrected herself, “You know what I mean. You’re smart. I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
A man stormed up to the counter and shouted, “Maybe you could explain to me what the hell is wrong with the service here! These shirts are on sale but the cashiers don’t know it! Twenty percent off! It’s right there on the sign!”
Bonnie walked with him to the edge of the men’s department. It sat across a wide aisle from hardware. After looking at the area, Bonnie saw the mistake—if it could be called that. The sign was on the hardware side, at least five feet from the men’s department. It would have to have taken some imagination to think it applied to anything in the men’s department, and perhaps some suspension of disbelief.
“Sorry sir,” said Bonnie, “The sign is on the other side of the aisle from the shirts. That sale is for hardware.
“Well you should have made that much more clear!” Shouted the man. He then slammed on the hardware display. A few items fell off and he stormed off.
Bonnie began picking up after him. She had a small mini wrench in her hand when she heard a voice behind her, “Hey Bonnie!”
Bonnie stood up and turned and saw a familiar face from some years back, an acquaintance from high school. “Oh. Hi Kate,” she said.
“Fancy meeting you here!” chirped Kate, “I’m just here with Lila and Yasmin picking up a few things before we go out. You know how it is, long week at the office. Gotta blow off some steam! So what brings you here?” Apparently she did not notice the uniform.
“Well, the thing is…”
“Eight years since graduation! Can you believe it? Time flies so fast, and all of us have come so far! Oh! I just got promoted to Vice President of Creative at Splash & Jiggle Advertising…”
Bonnie felt a wound opening inside, and salt beginning to rub. This was not a conversation she felt like having.
“Oh! And Lila is now Assistant Director of Sales at Puppy Crush Publishing. She’s engaged. You know, her and Habib. They were always so cute together, right? He might go for his doctorate, but he’s making so much money at his law firm. You know how that is, right?”
Bonnie increasingly felt a knife twisting. At any rate, she was glad she didn’t have to say much.
/> “Yasmin!” called Kate, “You ready yet?” Turning to Bonnie she said, “Yasmin’s now a producer at Action Minute News. Her husband is running for Congress.”
Yasmin came up and talked to Kate. “Sorry, I can’t find a decent purse to go with this dress. Oh! Hi Connie.”
“That’s Bonnie…”
“You remember Bonnie,” said Kate, “Why don’t you try and get someone here to help you?”
“They’re idiots here,” complained Yasmin, “It’s like they barely know how to talk. Lila was trying to get some help before, and they were just making her wait, like she has time on her hands. I mean, do we look like people who want to spend Friday night in a big pathetic store?”
“Yeah I know,” said Kate, “I feel sorry for the people who work here!”
“I know! Right!” laughed Yasmin, as the two left without saying goodbye.
“Lila!” called Kate as she departed, “Where are you?”
Bonnie’s eyes were closed, teeth clenched, her hand in a tight fist, a look of complete and utter pain on her face. When she opened her eyes, she noticed that her fist was the hand holding the mini wrench. She opened it and noticed that she had just ground it into a fine metallic powder. She quietly dumped it into a garbage can and headed back to the customer service desk.
With the store somewhat calmer, the loiterers struggled harder to be blend in. Meanwhile, Hal found himself in a spot with a customer with expired coupon.
“I’m sorry, Miss,” said Hal. “The system won’t take the coupon. It’s expired.”
“You mean you won’t take it!” snapped the woman, “They can do this for me. I know the guy who was here yesterday did it. Why can’t you?”
“I’m sorry. I can’t. The register rejects it. And the rules are against it.”
“So what? It only expired yesterday. You can do it, so why don’t you? Why can’t you take it? You don’t know how to do your job!”
“I’m sorry Miss. I can’t…”
“No! You’re lazy!”
“Look, I’m sorry…”
The woman looked Hal closely in his face and screamed, “I’m going to tell the manager about you. You have no idea how to work with people! You shouldn’t even be working this kind of job at all! You should be in the back with the rest of the losers!”
Bonnie was already standing next to Hal. “Excuse me Miss,” she said. “I’m in charge here. That coupon is expired. We will not take it and that is final.”
“What’s the matter with you?” she whined, “You can’t do a simple thing for me?”
Bonnie stood up straight and spoke clearly and forcefully, “This has nothing to do with you. We don’t take expired coupons. We never do. Not for you, not for anyone. Thank you.”
The woman left in a huff. Bonnie gave Hal a knowing look. The other cashiers stared once again.
Ahmed, the cashier next to Hal, remarked, “She never does that for me.”
“Right,” answered Maria, “I’m supposed to do that for all of you.”
Lisa whispered to Bonnie as she returned, “You know, you’re not really in charge here.”
“Shhhh!” snapped Bonnie.
“Take your break,” said Maria to Hal. She had just noticed that Hal had little to do but sit on his knees and play with a baby in a stroller.
“Thanks Maria!” called Hal, “And what do you think, baby? Fifteen minutes of break time. Should I eat something or talk to the girl I like?”
The baby kicked his legs.
“You’re right! It is worth a try. Thanks you little smarty!”
Lisa and Bonnie were so deep in discussion, they scarcely noticed Hal approaching the customer service desk.
“Look,” snickered Bonnie, “Can you blame me for smelling bad? I spend all my time with you, Fart Girl!”
“Don’t pick on my hobbies, Stinkita!” said Lisa, “Oh! Hi, Hal.”
Hal shot Bonnie a smile. “How are things over here?”
“Fine,” said Bonnie.
“So, what do you girls do on the weekend?”
“Weekend?” laughed Bonnie, “Same as you. We’re here. What did you think?”
Lisa gave Bonnie a strange look.
“Oh, yeah right.” said Hal sheepishly.
“Hal,” said Bonnie, “I hope you don’t feel too bad about getting yelled at by that customer. You were obviously in the right. You could have done the same thing I did. Just a little more confidence, alright?”
“Oh!” said Hal, “Thanks.”
“You’re a good guy. Just remember that when someone picks on you like that.”
“Thank you.”
“Later Hal.”
For Lisa, it was a strange but frequent confusion she felt when she was around her friend. She wasn’t sure whether Bonnie had just messed up an opportunity or actually seized one in a unique way.
From early on, Bonnie loved to work. That was a consistent thing about her.
It may have taken Betty time to teach her daughter the larger lessons of responsibility. However there was one caveat in that Bonnie already valued work. She also strived to improve herself in the process. If anything, she was frustrated that she could not do more, with all the abilities she was holding back. Nonetheless, there was no kind of work that was beneath her. If there was anything Bonnie could do that helped someone else, she was happy to oblige.
Indeed if there was one pill that was hard for Bonnie to swallow, it was when she was doing too much. She sometimes had a habit of stepping on other people’s feet. Indeed at this job, she sometimes had to fight the feeling that she could do any and all of the jobs better than anyone else there.
However she had mostly learned how to do her own job within appropriate parameters. After all, Betty had spent many years reminding her of the importance of teamwork. And with this job, Bonnie had learned to enjoy being part of a larger unit. While retail jobs can be taxing (and low-paying,) nonetheless they do have the advantage of team building. There is something about the garish uniform that reminds each worker that they are all in the same boat. When the hours are long and tiring, and the customers abusive, reminders like this are a great comfort.
There was also flipside to Bonnie’s occasional overstepping. She also knew how to lead. She was always alert in discovering and filling voids when they occurred, and would step in to help just about anywhere it was necessary. She would also encourage others to do so to, unofficially delegating authority in the process. Her coworkers frequently stepped right up with her. Such was her charisma, and the power of her example. And so despite her occasional disappearances, Bonnie Boring was one of The Big Box’s best workers.
As the calm persisted, the loiterers spoke quietly.
“Now?” asked the tallest of the three.
“What do you think Mike?” said another.
“You know Joe, It looks like the perfect opportunity,” said Mike, “I was sure by now someone would catch us on the camera and pull us out of here. It looks like nobody’s watching. So it’s a go.”
“Okay Derrick,” said Mike, “Wait for us to get outside. We’ll be waiting in the car.”
“I’m counting on you. You’re gonna be there when it’s over, right?”
“Of course, Derrick,” said Mike, high-fiving him. “You know we’re cool. You’re our pal…”
“Yeah,” said Joe. “We love you.”
They started to move, but then they noticed a tall man approaching in a suit. They scurried back to the clothing aisle.
It was Denny. He was on his cellphone, talking loudly, “Yeah so what? You think they know what the hell they’re doing here? Yeah right!!! These girls don’t know crap about working a real job! You should see what I’m putting up with here!”
In the quiet, Denny called a meeting of the cashiers and customer service. “Everyone over here right now! Maria! You can take care of the checkouts in customer service.”
Bonnie, Lisa, and the cashiers gathered around. There was whispering between them. Hal
and Ahmed were the last to arrive, being physically the farthest away, and also because they had remaining customers. Denny did not notice this detail, or just didn’t care. He shot them a look of contempt and snapped, “Hey! When I call, I expect you to come! No exceptions!”
“Sorry,” said Hal. Ahmed just rolled his eyes.
“Listen,” he announced, “We have a problem. Something is not matching up. The profits are not what they should be according to the sales. I don’t know which one of you cashiers is the problem, but someone’s been either stealing from the registers or defrauding them.
“We’re going to be watching you extra carefully. This is your warning. You are on camera the whole time you work here. We will know if you try anything, or even if you are goofing off.”
Both Bonnie and Lisa tried to keep their faces from showing the dread. Neither one of them had ever done anything to deserve that tone of accusation.
Denny continued, “Also everyone one the front end is on cash control. Your tills will be counted at the beginning and end of each shift. And your transactions will be spot-checked using the cameras. You are dismissed.”
Everyone returned to their respective posts, showing various signs of anger and disbelief. Denny pulled Bonnie and Lisa aside.
“Right now I have a job for you girls. We got a shipment of handbags delivered up here by mistake. You two honeys can go bring it downstairs to the storeroom and put them away. I’ll take over customer service”
As he walked away, he called, “I expect this done immediately…”
“Ugh,” said Bonnie, “I dread him more every day.”
“Something is weird here,” said Lisa, “That’s not our job at all. I don’t even think we’re allowed to be there. Besides, does he really need both of us to do a simple job like that?”
“You’re right,” said Bonnie, “I don’t even know where the storeroom is. What do you think that’s about?”
Ms. Infinity (Book 1): Earth's Greatest Hero Page 3
