This was going to take not giving a shit to a new level. Fred looked at the orders sheet from corporate. It looked like they wanted nothing more than to pretend that the economy was still in one piece and they still made some money.
Sighing, Fed set the sheet down. The office he was standing in didn't really belong to anyone, but the staff was required to come in and do some reports every day. On yet another day, the store was understaffed by people who didn't know how much effort was required to do the jobs they asked for. He hurriedly filled out some reports, showing he did close out the safe correctly, watch the cameras, and pulled some boxes from the back. Finally, he went out and pulled the lever behind the counter. It was big and silver with a red handle. It could have come from a cartoon, it was so out of place on the wall. Fred hung out while registers came online, avoiding the eyes of the customers outside the store.
"The store opens at 10, they can just freaken wait." Fred mumbled to himself. It probably wasn't smart, the systems were coming online, and the mics could come online at any point. The high-pitched dings of the registers sounded as they came online one after the other. Fred quickly wound his way out from behind the counter, it wasn't goo
d for him to stay back there. He checked his watch, looking to see how much time he had. The time said 9:57, just enough for him to run down a few aisles making sure there was nothing on the floor. He would never hear the end of it if a customer got stuck halfway through the store. The loss in profits alone would endanger his job.
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Rushing back to the front, Fred looked out at the cashiers. They stared at him blankly, as usual. The lights from the register screens illuminated the counter in front of each cashier, ready to be used when ever. He sighed, ready to open the store. He walked up front and popped the door open with his key. The customers rushed in as a single file, each stopping at a seemingly random spot and grabbing the weirdest things. Fred sighed, heading into the aisles proper. At least the customer's would only bother him around the front desk, which was how corporate wanted it.
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He was half way through housewares when the intercom started dinging. "Supervisor to Register 3, Supervisor to Register 3." The prerecorded messages set his teeth on edge, but it was Fred's call to action as it were. He turned towards the front end.
As Fred arrived, he saw the mess building at the register. The customer just kept putting products down on the counter, without regard for what the cashier was doing as normal. The cashier's hand was not functioning, and was struggling with a large box of diapers as it turned out. The tone deaf cries of "Please forgive me, a supervisor will take care of you when he arrives." and "Please hurry up, I have other places to be today." were blaring from the the pair of them, while the rest of the store ran like clockwork.
Fred swung around the counter, grabbing the box of diapers out of the cashiers hand while inspecting it. The hand would need to be repaired quick or he would be in trouble. Quickly, he processed the customer's transaction. Finally, he turned the lights on the register off. signaling the other customers to find another register. The customer thanked him while moving away "Thank you so much, Sir, you are much more competent than your staff." Fred watched the customer leave with its purchases, steel body moving quickly to the next store, along its track. He turned back to the cashier who now hung limply to the side. Pulling of the machines hand, he opened the drawer underneath. Pulling out another hand Fred attached it, and turned the mess back online. The Automation of everything was a pain but he at least had a job. Sighing, Fred headed back to the aisles to avoid work until something else broke down.