JD10367 |
10-09-2009 10:12 AM |
Mid to late 1980s. Teen. Massachussetts instituted the Bottle Bill for recyclables. I worked in a liquor store, where we had to take back any product we sold, which meant empty beer cans and bottles, soda cans, and soda bottles.
Oh, let me count the ways:
- Stinky cans and bottles that weren't washed out. Ever smell moldy beer? Not pleasant.
- Stinky people bringing in the cans and bottles. Homeless street people. By law, we had to take 'em.
- Cockroaches. Everywhere. Especially in bottles from (not to stereotype, but) Asians for some reason. Nothing like having to check your cuffs and pockets for tiny hitchhikers. People would slam a case on the counter and the little ****ers would literally run OUT of the case AT me.
However, the job did have its perk: as much booze as you could drink without getting caught. :D
Luckily I only worked the bottle return counter for a year. Then I left and came back a year later and worked in the beer chest, stocking the shelves and filling up the chest. Even MORE free booze, and the cockroaches moved verrrrrrry slowly in there (mental note: cockroaches DO NOT like it when it's 45-55 degrees).
Left again, came back again, this time as a shelf-stocker/pricer/cashier. Best job of the three there, since I got to hang around the coutner and flirt with the MILFs who also worked the register.
Since that liquor store, I've worked for store chains (Underground Camera which later became Ritz Camera; Electronics Boutique), science musems (Boston, Tampa, Syracuse), and now a movie theater chain. And let me tell you, every single one of those treat(ed) me like shit. Few if any bonuses, no Christmas cards, no "thanks" for a job well done. The liquor store? Every employee got a free bottle of booze, a free turkey, and $50 on Thanksgiving, and a free bottle of booze and $100 on Christmas. For the mid to late 1980s, working a shit job for shit pay, that was pretty damn nice.
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