LUNCH TIME

When running a store alone during the day there is no such thing as "lunch". At least not in the sense of sitting down, eating food, and getting back to work. The foot traffic through the door is unpredictable... sometimes we will go an hour without a single customer and at other times we will have a dozen at once. Whenever I bring my lunch to work with me I have to pick my moments carefully before I can eat it. A 20 minute break between customers is the logical time to start eating but the moment I take a bite, someone is guaranteed to walk in and demand my attention. It's a law of retail and I'm used to it. Today, however... Arrgggghhhh! I didn't bring any food with me and by the time noon had arrived I was starving. With the cold weather set-in we are busier than usual and trade is great. Finding a moment to get food proved to be tricky. Finally the last customer in the store left and I quickly seized the opportunity to lock up and pop down to the bakery. A meat pie was the order of the day and as I walked back to my store my face dropped. Waiting at the outside like loons at a boxing day sale were 5 people all anxious to get in. The chances of me eating straight away were slim to none. I greeted them all with a smile, unlocked the door and let them inside. One woman said to me "I bet you hate it when you try to eat lunch and people interrupt you". I smiled and thought to myself "yes I fucking do". I rested my lunch on the bench and waited for these people to do their thing... all of them had chosen films and left within about 10 minutes, HOWEVER, the lady who made comment upon entry took her sweet time. Yes... 45 minutes of sweet time to be exact. I am not the type of person to eat in front of customers (especially a meat pie) because it's a terrible look and so I went about some jobs and tried with all of my might to will her out the door. No such luck. And so after forty five minutes she selected a movie (just one) and finally came to the counter. I feigned an upbeat smile, completed the transaction and wished her a good weekend. Finally, the store was empty and my lunch awaited. With my stomach in knots I bit into the chunky meat pie, which was stone cold and now disgusting... and didn't get a single customer for another hour. 

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