I have not exactly been good about keeping this up have I? But here is the news since last I wrote:
I transferred from Truth or Consequences back to Temecula, so I am back in my old house. The Walmart here is very different from the other and not really in a good way. Firstly, all the registers are the newfangled touch-screen kind, which are nice because they list the items rung up on the screen so I do not have to print a receipt every time a customer has a question or I wonder if I accidentally rang something twice. On the other hand, the large computer screen gives me a headache when I wear my glasses, which I have to do to read the screen well unless I get real close and look like a weird hunchback, and they have this one stupid and somewhat dangerous feature: On the older registers like the majority of the ones in T or C, when the transaction is done the person can pay with Credit, Debit, Cash, Check, et cetera, but they do not have to put the full amount on one tender, i.e. they could put like $10 on one debit card, $10 on another, and the rest in cash. They can still do this on the touch-screen kind, but I have to be careful because I have to make sure to hit the button for Credit/Debit under the OTHER tab instead of the one that is on the main tab! Even if I type in that the customer wants to pay $10 on Debit, if I accidentally hit the Debit on the main tab instead of the other tab, it will charge the full amount to the Debit card instead of just the $10. This could potentially overdraft their account and that is not good. WHY DOES IT DO THIS?!?
Also the WIC stuff works differently here in California, or at least at this Walmart. In T or C, when a customer pays with WIC -- a government program that allows women with children under 5 to get certain foodstuffs for free -- all they have to do is insert their card, I hit the WIC button, then the computer takes all the eligible items off their total. It can be problematic because the parameters of what is and is not eligible are very strict (e.g., they can get a gallon of milk, but only if it is certain brand, and they can get bread, but only whole wheat of certain brands and sizes), and it sometimes takes a while for me to deduce which items did not work when the customer does not have any actual money and therefore only buys WIC stuff, but all in all it is very simple. Here the WIC is still on paper. This means that I have to take the paper from the person, check to insure that all the items match those that are on the list, make sure to hit the WIC button BEFORE scanning anything, scan the things, then hit the WIC button again, then write the date & total on the WIC check, then put it in the check machine like a normal check. CALIFORNIA! WHY U SO OLD FASHIONED?!?! On top of the extra steps, unlike in NM where it will take the eligible items off then make the customer pay for the rest, it SAYS it pays for the entire order, and the customer gets everything for free, but when the Walmart people send the checks into the government to get reimbursed, the government does not pay for the ineligible items and we just have to take the loss. Apparently, this is a big problem here as several cashiers mentioned getting lectured on letting people out with the wrong things.
Apart from those two big complaints, the store is pretty much the same except that I get little to no cell service in the break room, so I cannot call anybody while on lunch unless I go outside and there are so many more people, and it is like actually working for a big company because there are so many rooms in the back room and the managers do not seem as nice, though the Personnel people do seem nicer than the previous one, who was already pretty nice. But I am closer to (almost) everybody I know, and there is much more stuff that needs doing in this town and around this house, so when I am not at work it is altogether better. Perhaps once I get to know some people and adjust to the ridiculous registers it will be better, but only time will tell.
Random Fact: White Castle is America's oldest & 1st Hamburger joint.
Disclaimer: The above is the opinion of a single Wal-Mart Associate, and not the opinions of the company as a whole.
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