Live thru the shit, don't ever quit

As usual, loads of shit happened to me. Apparently, i'm a magnet for shitty-assed, snobbish, difficult, stubborn pieces of meat called CUSTOMERS. I know i sound horribly harsh, but i cannot take these people! What the hell is wrong with treating us, cashiers, with RESPECT, DIGNITY, PATIENCE, and above all, POLITENESS? Is it sooooooo hard to smile a little, forgive our mistakes, forget that we're stumbling all over to let them go quickly, and thank us for not making them wait three minutes longer than they expect? Sheesh! You're not as privileged as you think, all right!? Just because you earn hundreds of dollars MORE than what i earn A DAY, doesn't give you ANY sort of right to boss me around, to point out my stupidity, and BLAME EVERYTHING ON ME OR LACK THEREOF. I mean, goodness sakes! There are LOADS of people like me out there who'd treat you TERRIBLY if you were served by them. My God, you should thank whoever that i am DECENT enough to SHUT MY MOUTH! At least, i am wise enough to actually have shut my mouth. What about you, Sir? I'M NOT YOUR MAID YOU STUPID PIECE OF SHIT! "Lesser bags please, wanna save the earth. He-he." I about puked in your groceries. Arse-hole.

Well, like i told myself. I face these crap for a reason, and that is to train myself to be a thick-skinned employee. Fully-equipped with experiences with snobbish customers, and utterly aware that we, Singaporeans, are getting more and more kiasu by the SECOND. But the worst part, i'm a Singaporean too. And unfortunately for me, i can relate, in some way. Although, not all Singaporean's are as bad-ass as those i've met in the flesh. There are nice businessmen and women out there who aren't out to whiplash me for no reason at all, or to stomp me down with their expensive leather shoes just so i could feel smaller than them. I like nice people, and i treat them with sincerity when i serve them. I meant what i say when i thanked them. I meant it when i smile at them. I meant it when i serve them. But darn, i think my workplace holds a huge neon sign saying "ALL SNOBBISH, IMPATIENT, DIFFICULT, SPOILT, STUBBORN, INSENSIBLE PEOPLE PLEASE INVITE YOURSELF TO OUR STORE AND HURT OUR CASHIERS TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT. DON'T SAY THANKS OR SMILE!" I mean, really.

Sigh. Well, i'm not gonna dwell any further of how my day went yesterday. At work, i mean. But i think i don't wanna care about how they treat me, because i know well enough they will be treated the same way one day. Hopefully, much more worst. I hope he realised that i was nice enough to not fight back, or give him the leverage to tell my bosses to fire me. WHO'S THE STUPID SHIT NOW, HUH!!?? *sticks out tongue* Arse-hole.



Me and Magdalene (future schoolmate) =)



My younglings =p



We will miss you so much, Yee Heng!! Take care =)



Me, Mag, Pamela, Hwei Shyan

Haha! I rmbr taking these pictures with them. I was in a rush yesterday after my supervisors counted my money. I was planning to take the transport van home and get my bicycle. But my dad called me up at the last minute and asked me if i wanna hitch a ride. 'Course, i obliged and hurriedly snapped piccys. Especially with Yee Heng, since he's leaving. Actually, today's his last day. Sad but true. He's a nice guy, very funny and supportive. =) Hwei Shyan's leaving too, tomorrow that is. So i promised a piccy with her as well. Oh, and i'm getting my first pay tomorrow!!! Yay2. But i'm not entirely certain of the amount, but i hope its more than 500. I soooo hope it's more. Haha.

XOXO

Lana

this is reality; this is WORK

Well, well, well. Good news and bad news, and worst news. First off: I AM FREE FROM SHORTAGES!!!!!! I think. =) Lol. And since i am cleared of it, i will tell you how it exactly happened. It all happened like it was yesterday - well actually, it WAS yesterday. =p

YESTERDAY: Evening (Shift: 11am - 11pm)

It was time everyone cleared up their counters to make settlements and tally with system's records of our transactions in total. So when it was my turn, my supervisor for the evening shift counted as i looked over her shoulder. I picked up my total transaction report, and lo and behold i have SHORTAGE. And it ain't the measly $2.40, of $0.40, or $5.00 kind of shortage. Oh no. You'd be dead surprised when i told you, it was...
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..... *drum roll*
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$103.90

Yep, that was the cost of my shortage. For the day, not in total. FOR THE DAY. My supervisor, named Shok Lang, looked at me and asked how come my short is so much. I told her i can't rmbr this huge mistake. I cracked my brain as hard as i could but i still couldn't rmbr anything. So she counted again, came up with the same conclusion, told the bald guy across her and passed the problem to him. He counted my credit card transactions, said it all tallied, and counted my cash. Said that it's still short of $103.90. And then Sheila, supervisor for the afternoon shift, came over to look at us and asked what's wrong. I whispered and her eyes grew wide like saucers. Truly, no shit. Then she looked at me and asked how it happened, i wanted to scream and tear my head apart to rmbr most of the problematic customer cases with difficult transactions, but came out with nothing. Na-da.

So Shok Lang told Wen Xing, the 2nd head honcho of all us cashiers. She counted, spoke chinese to Shok Lang, and told me to come over. She gave me 4 options:

1) She goes up to my counter, checks for loose cash. If none,
2) She cross-checks with Cashier Centre's money in total. If excess, goes to my report. If not,
3) She cross-checks with HER system. If still no signs of missing $103.90,
4) CUTS $103.90 FROM MY VERY FIRST PAY

I agreed with her, felt horribly tempted to just scream at her to take it from my salary without making a big scene out of my mistake. But since she seemed keen to find out, which i love her for, i kept my mouth shut, whispered to my closest colleagues, received equal reactions - of shock - from all, and shut my eyes from tearing up. Told myself to keep the waterworks for home - which ended up, not happening. LOL. Then on the way home in the company bus, Yee Heng, lovely, lovely Yee Heng who stays nearby, talked it out with me when i told him about it. He was shocked as well and told me not to worry too much, "because definitely something wrong, not your fault". I kept thinking it was, and the more i thought about it, the stupider i felt. And it just got worst, and worst.

And by the time i reached to workplace today, my heart grew heavy and my mouth stayed straight and firm. I suddenly got depressed and hardly spoke to anyone, but because i couldn't help being so gloomy when Yee Heng advised me not to, and everyone else was being happy around me, i couldn't help but forgetting that yesterday ever happened. But in the end, it happened and in the middle of work, Wen Xing walkie-talkied Shok Lang and told me to meet her immediately. It's pretty serious if Wen Xing wants to personally speak to any of us, so i was frightened shitless. I kept thinking: "Oh no, my pay's gonna be $103.90 less than i counted..." So i ran over, ignored everyone who i passed by, stepped in CC and saw Sheila looking over at Wen Xing. I wondered why Sheila was here, and when they realised my presence, i came over and Sheila showed me a print of a receipt with the EXACT amount to my SHORTAGE. I know y'all are like: "WHOA!" or maybe "WHAT?!" or maybe maybe "So?" But when i realised what was going on, Sheila was beside me saying: "you remember or not, the declined credit cards and then customer in the end said she wanna cancel everything." It finally hit me of a woman's face with two credit cards and one NETS card DECLINED. And then Sheila said that it might be because she forgot to ask for my PIN number to my ID and didn't do any POST-VOID - which is a NO-NO for all cashiers since it's inconvenient and troublesome for EVERYONE.

And so i looked at Wen Xing and i asked: "So i don't have shortage?" Then she checked some stuffs on her table and said: "No." I almost cried and screamed with relief. Sheila slapped a hand to my shoulder and said: "You can finally work in peace." I was so close to tearing up, i'm telling you! I kept saying to her and Wen Xing thanks, thanks and thanks, and told everyone whom i've told about my case that i am shortage no longer. =) So there i was, happy as a bird, free, free, free, when a family came. I scanned everything, set aside stuffs to get checked, and Sub-Totaled to an amount of $4047.35. Eddie, the Roller boy of the night, was busy calculating refunds, and when he was done he straight away minused the original amount with $23.00. Sub-Totaled again, came out BALANCE $40++++ (can't rmbr). And we had a promotion so we pressed a button to get the discount when...

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KEY NOT ALLOWED

My heart stopped. Oh my God, what did i do wrong this time!? I looked at Eddie, Eddie kept pressing the button, and eventually called Shok Lang to solve the problem... and runs away. Darn it. So i told Shok Lang, she looked pissed off, told me to key discount first then minus off, and discussed with another girl. They spoke chinese in front of me again, i looked from one serious face to another, and found them calculating stuffs. They mentioned "RE-SCAN" and i went about fainted. Shit, not another serious case: but with 4k. And so, they agreed to RE-SCAN while the father of the family, with crossed arms, complains non-stop such as "ridiculous one hour wait. Ridiculous." Eh dood, WHERE GOT ONE HOUR!!? And then he can cheekily say, "because of this gimme 10-15% discount." All of us IGNORED the blardie BOZO. And thank God, his wife was patient and said "nevermind, they tried their best". Thank God. And finally, the whole thing was resolved with Wen Xing came up and explained my mistake to him. I wanted to say sorry to her, but i was afraid because after yesterday i cannot look at another pissed-off face. I'm feeling stupid enough as it is.

So it was time to close counter and this family comes. I scanned a total of $206+++, swiped the card and turned around...

Unreasonable Lady: Hold on, let me give you that small card... *digs wallet full of cards*
Me: Oh, the Lucky Charm? *she nods* Oh... *smiles* you were supposed to give it to me before you paid. (I was polite, mind you)
U.L: WELL, YOU SHOULD'VE ASKED!

((What the hell? WHY IN HEAVEN'S NAME ARE YOU YELLING AT ME FOR!? OVER A STUPID CARD!? SHIT, LADY, I DIDN'T DOUBLE-SCAN YOUR STUFF, I DIDN'T MAKE YOU STAND AND WAIT FOR HOURS, AND I BLARDIE SMILED AND STAYED POLITE TO YOU! HOW DARE YOU LASH OUT YOUR SHIT ON ME OVER A STUPID, FLIMSY, PLASTIC PIECE OF CRAP!!!!!!?????)) <-- Was what i was thinking in my head.

I kept my smile, felt my heart crack and ache, and panicked. And then...

U.L: Answer me; what're you gonna do about it now? I've paid for 200 dollars worth and didn't get to use my card, what're you gonna do about it?
Me: I'm sorry, Ma'am.
U.L: Yeah sorry, so what now?
Me: *still smiling* ... *and panicking* ... Sorry.
U.L: I can just tell you to re-scan everything, you know. *still digging into her wallet*
Me: *praying it's gone* ... *looks at my counter and sees it empty from her stuffs*

((WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SCAN, YOU INSENSIBLE, STUBBORN, SPOILT, DIFFICULT, SHAMELESS, WOMAN?!?!! THERE'S NOTHING TO SCAN, YOU *****!!!!!))

U.L: I won't go home until you answer me. You don't go home, i won't go home.
Other people trying to get home: *stares at me and the U.L* ...
Me: *calls Shok Lang and tells her everything*
Shok Lang: OK, Ma'am, i will key in your number... *writes number*
U.L: THANK YOU. At least someone can do something about it. *says some shit and walks off*
Me: *stressed out shitless, closes counter, opens cashbox, and BREAKS DOWN*
Shok Lang: Why? What's wrong? Over already, OK?
Me: ... *sobs sobs sobs*

With tears and snot rolling down my face, i counted my money with blurry eyes. I couldn't talk, i couldn't calm down. I was shaking like a scared cat. I breathed in and out, told myself not to curse or swear, breathe, breathe, breathe. Then lovely Hwei Shyan - a girl who worked same time as me - and Yee Heng came to my counter and cheered my up. I told myself not to lash out, say thanks when i am cooled down, and smile when they made an effort to cheer me up. They were very sweet, even though they knew they would be late because of me. I thanked them and said in my head: "Let it go, Lana... Let it go..."

Yep, that's what happened in a span of TWO DAYS. Yee Heng said i was very unlucky, and i agreed. But i'm not blaming anyone. It was crazy on these two days and we made mistakes most of the time. Things like this happens, unfortunately it was a first for me. Everyone, especially Yee Heng and Shok Lang, were supportive of me and didn't seethe down my neck, yelling and scolding me. I really thank them for not being so rough on me. Truly.

Well, right now i'm cleaned out of tears and found out new solutions to solve such similar problems. =) And no, i'm not gonna quit anytime soon over this. I wanna be stronger and thick-skinned. Hehe.

OK. I'm done! Love y'all!

Lana

Yay piccys!

I've been wanting to write out a post for so long, but i have nothing to say. I want to say so many things, but i was afraid i might be deemed boring and a waste-of-time. Well, it's not like my life had been boring ever since i started work, though. Besides the long journey to work - which i don't mind so much, i actually had fun doing my work. But then again, if you really do ask me, i'd still keep on saying "ok2" on msn. You might never hear me say i love work, because i have no idea if i would or would not say "i do love work". Probably because i try not think about the flaws of work so much and just get my butt there, work as hard so people will see me as the truest hardworker they'll ever find, and never bad-mouth me - which i hope hadn't happened since i swung by.

But still, i guess deep down, i enjoy every minute of it. There are moments where i wished it was slacked and more joyous. No thanks to several nasty, stubborn, spoilt, and difficult customers my day can turn sour in a SECOND. Yes, it happened to me too many times and i pray to God that i've grown thick-skinned because of these experiences. But not all customers are darn right nasty, though. There are, of course, the most angelic faces, heavenly smiles i've ever seen and somehow, they actually made my day. Most of them were the foreigners, if not PRs, of Singapore. Hint: Caucasians, Americans, Australians, French - you get the idea. I'm not going to call them the way my chinese-aunty colleagues call them *coughANGMOHcough*, so i'll just call them 'foreigners'. They are not only polite, they actually meant what they say when they say "Thanks" and "Have a nice day", or "Goodbye" and smiled widely.

God, if only Singaporeans are born gracious, polite, and darn right angelic. And to think i am part of this ungracious, impolite, and darn right difficult community, i feel guilty that i am mad at those who treated me unjustly. I was not taught to be difficult, but then again we are looking for fairness, and we don't take things lightly. We don't play well when we're cheated on, or thought we are. Sigh. Well, overall, my work's better than i imagined. My mom keep telling me that whatever happens, just happens. It is work, right? It had always been hard for work, never easy, not even for the filthy rich.

I so can't wait to get my hands on my first-ever cold hard salary that i have earned by my sweat, strength, and perseverance. I do not want to brag, or show-off, but i'm telling you the smell of your hardwork paid off just smells better than getting things for free. You feel such an overwhelming emotion deep inside you, and you tell yourself: "Wow, my reward." Geez, i can't wait! And to tell you the truth, i had to admit i might've become ambitious when it came down to my list of "(Important) things to buy". But at least i'm not splurging carelessly! I really, really, REALLY am in need of new stuffs. Like another pair of jeans (BF bought me a new pair. Love him!), probably a watch (and another one i promised BF), three plain shirts to go to work with, five (maybe) new sets of clothes (cheap, of course), a pair of slippers, sandals, and sneakers (seriously!), and yes, GOTTA BLANJA THE FAMILY.

Oh, and probably spoil my mom with Starbucks one night. =D Hehe. Pretty planned out, right? I know! Ambitious? I hope not! Darn, i can't believe i have so many things i wanna buy. And i don't even know if my salary could cover it! I was hoping to withdraw some for my own POSB savings, you know. Hopefully, after i withdraw that all-important hundred, i can still manage to spoil myself without feeling the dreadful pinch of BANKRUPTCY.

Oh and finally, piccys to see! But unfortunately, they're of me. LMAO!



I just thought editting it will look purrdy goood. =)



2 hrs after coming back from work. Time check: 2.40AM



Random OK! pose =)

Hahaha! Not bad editting huh? Well, it does look amateur-ish but i dont care. It's my work, and i love it nonetheless. Oh, and those blue hearts you're looking at, has finally become my signature. LOL! [Blue heart] represents my all-time favourite colour: BLUE; and the heart represents how i see my life: LOVE. Cliche and cheesy, i know. But who cares? It's my signature, so bug off if you don't like it! *attitude* >=(

Lol! OK, OK, i'm off. Sleep time. Tomorrow's the remedial day, and i'm finally meeting Tassha and all! Yay! So miss them. Yesh, yesh.

Take care!

XOXO!

Lana

Don't wanna repeat!

Well, seeing a big fat F in my report card for my main exams is such a bummer - an expected bummer nonetheless. LOL. Weird isn't it? I already had a feeling i'm gonna miserably fail my maths paper and havta take Supp paper to redeem myself. The feeling of disappointment didn't seem that great since i did expect it to happen. Sigh. Now i have a feeling i might not pass my Supp paper too. Shit. I dont wanna repeat another 6 months of irritating maths! Urgh!!

Oh well... Shit happens. Oh and sorry, still no pictures. I can't take piccys at my workplace so y'all just havta bear wit my boring text-full posts.

=)

Lana

boring post

Sigh. I'm being told to blog again. LOL. I dunno why i haven't been blogging much. Maybe it's because i've been WORKING. HAHAHAHA! Yesh, yesh, however shocking it is. I am working!!!!! Hehe. But i won't tell, though. I'm gonna keep it quiet. But those who know where, QUIET!! Don't tell people! Please, please, please! Hehe.

I can't get piccys of my workplace, yet. Because they strictly prohibits wallets and handphones to be in possession while working. Yup, and i'm not fully against that rule. It's actually agreeable. Anyways, aside from working i have nothing else to report. But my brother had conveniently told me that my results will be out THIS COMING THURSDAY. Yes, thursday. Shit! Scream, my lovely friends. SCREAM!

XOXO

Lana

R.I.P Ah Meng

I know i blogged about Ah Meng's passing a little too late, but i just can't help writing this post out after reading 8 Days' entry about him. Well, it's more like a light joke about the number of movies he allegedly co-starred in, which was totalled to about 30 movies. We, the people who holds the pride and joy of owning Ah Meng, had no idea he acted in said number of movies. Therefore, being 8 Days, they wrote down a number of potential movie titles that Ah Meng might star in.

WARNING: You might have a total tummy ache once you've read all the titles. Trust me, i did.

Oh and... PS: These are not written by me, it's all by Mr Colin Goh of 8 Days Singapore Magazine.

1) Ah Meng PTE LTD [Ah Long PTE LTD]
2) Dirty, Hairy [Dirty Harry]
3) Monkey No Enough [Money No Enough]
4) Zoolander [Zoolander]
5) Lice Age [Ice Age]
6) Ah Meng Vs Predator [Alien Vs Predator]
7) When Hairy Met Ali [When Harry met Sally]
8) No County for Old Meng [No Country for Old Men]
9) There Will be Poo [There will be Blood]
10) Primates of the Carribean: Curse of the Red Butt Armagibbon [Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl]
11) Spider-Meng 3 [Spiderman 3]
12) Saving Primate Ryan [Saving Private Ryan]
13) Lord of the Flings: the Poo Towers [Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers]
14) Planet of the Humans [Planet of the Apes]
15) Ape Ape One [Uhh... I'm not sure...]

HAHAHAHAHAHA! Funny right? Right??? Right!!??? Hehe.

XOXO

Lana