The Worst Job I Ever Had

My Misadventures With Stray Carts And A Pothead

By David Teeples

The worst job I have ever had began the summer after my freshman year in high school. It was nearing the end of the summer break and I realized my annual birthday and Christmas gifts would not provide financially for the needs of a teenage male. At the time of this revelation I was living in Whitefish, Mont. After a few days of searching I decided to apply for a job at the local Super One grocery store.

I obtained the position of courtesy clerk with no difficulties and soon was regularly asking grocery shoppers “paper or plastic” while hurriedly stuffing items like baby carrots and Lucky Charms into the bags of their choice.

At first, this was not my worst job ever. Actually it was a pretty good job, but there were times when I could not handle it. At Super One I would often work shifts from 6 to 10 p.m. This shift was the last one worked by courtesy clerks, such as myself, so extra responsibilities were required. These included emptying the trash cans, putting back food customers had chosen not to purchase, and making sure all the carts in the parking lot were brought back to the designated cart areas. I did not mind putting away the trash; I would often tell the 5-9 worker to do it. Putting away food did not bother me either because it made my last hour go by faster.

The job that really made me angry was fetching the lost carts. The grocery store was attached to the Mountain Mall in Whitefish. Therefore, the parking lot was extra large and wrapped around the building. Super One Foods was on the far northern end of the building, and from there the mall moved in a southeasterly direction. So the parking lot was a large mass of concrete that ran from north to southeast with a McDonald’s in the northeast corner. The last carts to be shepherded in by me, the humble courtesy clerk, were the farthest away. On numerous occasions I would have to walk to the other end of the mall just to retrieve one lost cart. In the process of doing so, I was still hungry from only consuming a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner and smelling the delicious odors of greasy french fries and mediocre burgers would make my stomach gurgle. As much as I hated the sore feet and cold hands I got from herding in the carts, this aspect of my position was not the most terrible part of the job.

We acquired a new employee at Super One Foods who made my life miserable. He did not mean to get under my fingernails and pry them from my skin, metaphorically of course; he just was always under the influence of marijuana. Usually I could avoid him and get lost in my tasks at hand. On some days, however, when it was slow, we would have to work together stocking shelves. He was not a bad person but he lengthened the time spent trying to get something done so I could go home. When reshelving our conversation would usually go like this,

“Whoa! Dude what does this say?”

“Cut green beans,” I would graciously reply.

“Oh my god!” He would laugh, “I think they printed this smaller!”

“No, no they didn’t."

“Yes they did man!” I could see the frustration growing in his face, a confused look in his eye.

He would than quickly look away and then back at me, “Do you want to smoke with me at lunch tomorrow?”

“Not really, but thanks.” The conversation would continue like that until I finished putting the cans on the shelf.

My job at Super One Foods was my first job and my worst job. But overall, it was a good job. I made more money than I ever did before and started my savings account. Today I am proud to say I was a courtesy clerk at Super One because it gave me good work experience. I am also content with being done with that job for good and moving on to better experiences in my life.