I had worked at the grocery store for a while, I had somehow impressed the manager and so he added training new people to my list of things to do. On this particular day I had seen him coming for me before he even got across the store, he had with him a new employee and I knew the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
“I need you to train her,” was the only thing he said before he turned to take care of another customer.
The girl and I smiled at each other in awkward silence. My line was filling up so I made the suggestion that she bag while I rang up customers. She could watch and learn for a little while and then we’d trade places. She agreed and began to bag as I scanned.
The first twenty minutes or so she was spot on with watching me and bagging but I noticed she was slowing down a bit. I didn’t want to say anything, it was her first day and maybe she was just nervous. I however couldn’t slow down because customers wouldn’t have it.
The more time went on (about five to ten minutes) the slower she got; I would glance over at her quickly but continued to scan. Finally I noticed her moving towards me, which made me uncomfortable; I’m a big fan of personal space. It wasn’t really noticeable I suppose, she’d only take a small step towards me at a time. I had never had this happen before, I had trained lots of people and they just seemed to take off with it. I wasn’t sure what to do, plus I realized that this girl was someone I had gone to school with and she didn’t particularly like me.
Which made it even more uncomfortable when she pushed up against me and laid her head on my shoulder; I froze. She had stopped bagging entirely at this point. I managed a startled, “What are you doing?”
She pulled her head off my shoulder and whispered, “I don’t feel good. I’m really dizzy.”
That took some of the awkwardness away and I told her to go to the office and sit down for a bit. I glanced up at her as she nodded and I noticed her color wasn’t particularly great. It wasn’t until she was turned fully away from me that she dropped like a ton of brick towards me. Still to this day, I’m not sure how I managed to catch her under her arms but I did. I was struggling to hold her up when I realized she was white as a ghost and his lips were turning blue.
I don’t handle medical emergencies very well so it’s no shock that I panicked. I was afraid to lay her down, so I kept this girl dangling in my arms. I glanced up and noticed one of my managers was on the register behind me. I kept remembering people telling me on numerous occasions to never panic in times like these; I didn’t listen.
When I shouted my mangers name it came out more alarming than I meant it to but it sprung him into action. He shot away from his register to my side. Only I think I scared him too much, when he went to grab her around the waist to help me, he actually grabbed me and her. He lifted us both in the air for a split second before he said, “Will have to put her down, she’s out.”
I thought, put HER down!
He sat us back down and helped me get her to the ground, all the while my customer watched on. Someone—somewhere called 911 and the EMS arrived. She started coming around when they put her on the gurney.
NOT EVEN a week later I was working the self check out station when someone asked for a pack of cigarettes. I had to go to the office to get them. When I opened the door there was a different cashier standing there, almost in a daze. I was startled at first because no one just stands in the doorway. As I took her in I realized something was wrong.
I was only able to get out, ‘are you’ before she too dropped like a ton of bricks backwards away from me. In my shock I reached out and grabbed her arm, thinking I could do something about it. I couldn’t. I ended up landing on top of her as she catapulted us into the office. A manager was sitting there working on something when we came crashing in.
She screamed, “Oh my—what’s wrong?”
Exasperated I yelled, “Just call 911!”
The cashier was already coming to when I yelled. I scrambled to get off of her because wouldn’t that be weird to wake up with someone sitting on top of you.
I sat there in the floor beside her as the EMS checked her out, simply amazed at my luck. Not one but two cashiers fainted on me in a week. Swell.
“I need you to train her,” was the only thing he said before he turned to take care of another customer.
The girl and I smiled at each other in awkward silence. My line was filling up so I made the suggestion that she bag while I rang up customers. She could watch and learn for a little while and then we’d trade places. She agreed and began to bag as I scanned.
The first twenty minutes or so she was spot on with watching me and bagging but I noticed she was slowing down a bit. I didn’t want to say anything, it was her first day and maybe she was just nervous. I however couldn’t slow down because customers wouldn’t have it.
The more time went on (about five to ten minutes) the slower she got; I would glance over at her quickly but continued to scan. Finally I noticed her moving towards me, which made me uncomfortable; I’m a big fan of personal space. It wasn’t really noticeable I suppose, she’d only take a small step towards me at a time. I had never had this happen before, I had trained lots of people and they just seemed to take off with it. I wasn’t sure what to do, plus I realized that this girl was someone I had gone to school with and she didn’t particularly like me.
Which made it even more uncomfortable when she pushed up against me and laid her head on my shoulder; I froze. She had stopped bagging entirely at this point. I managed a startled, “What are you doing?”
She pulled her head off my shoulder and whispered, “I don’t feel good. I’m really dizzy.”
That took some of the awkwardness away and I told her to go to the office and sit down for a bit. I glanced up at her as she nodded and I noticed her color wasn’t particularly great. It wasn’t until she was turned fully away from me that she dropped like a ton of brick towards me. Still to this day, I’m not sure how I managed to catch her under her arms but I did. I was struggling to hold her up when I realized she was white as a ghost and his lips were turning blue.
I don’t handle medical emergencies very well so it’s no shock that I panicked. I was afraid to lay her down, so I kept this girl dangling in my arms. I glanced up and noticed one of my managers was on the register behind me. I kept remembering people telling me on numerous occasions to never panic in times like these; I didn’t listen.
When I shouted my mangers name it came out more alarming than I meant it to but it sprung him into action. He shot away from his register to my side. Only I think I scared him too much, when he went to grab her around the waist to help me, he actually grabbed me and her. He lifted us both in the air for a split second before he said, “Will have to put her down, she’s out.”
I thought, put HER down!
He sat us back down and helped me get her to the ground, all the while my customer watched on. Someone—somewhere called 911 and the EMS arrived. She started coming around when they put her on the gurney.
NOT EVEN a week later I was working the self check out station when someone asked for a pack of cigarettes. I had to go to the office to get them. When I opened the door there was a different cashier standing there, almost in a daze. I was startled at first because no one just stands in the doorway. As I took her in I realized something was wrong.
I was only able to get out, ‘are you’ before she too dropped like a ton of bricks backwards away from me. In my shock I reached out and grabbed her arm, thinking I could do something about it. I couldn’t. I ended up landing on top of her as she catapulted us into the office. A manager was sitting there working on something when we came crashing in.
She screamed, “Oh my—what’s wrong?”
Exasperated I yelled, “Just call 911!”
The cashier was already coming to when I yelled. I scrambled to get off of her because wouldn’t that be weird to wake up with someone sitting on top of you.
I sat there in the floor beside her as the EMS checked her out, simply amazed at my luck. Not one but two cashiers fainted on me in a week. Swell.
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