Grocery Store “Journeyman”

I discovered fellow WordPress blogger Heath Brenan recently through a great post that he wrote about his job and the less than polite customers he sometimes interacts with.  You can learn proper Grocery Store Etiquette (and have a good laugh) here.   Heath’s work at the QFC store in Seattle, WA may not be as exotic (or as controversial) as some other careers that have been featured on this site, but he is definitely a Cool Jobster in my book.

While this blog does tend to focus on extraordinary jobs most of the time, keep in mind that there are a lot of folks out there working every day at “regular jobs” that ensure the rest of us have easy access to fresh food, sanitation services, gas for our cars and clothes from Abercrombie & Fitch.   I’ve got nothing but respect for anyone who goes to work every day, works hard and tries to make a difference no matter what his or her job title might be.

Thanks to Heath for helping My Cool Job to keep it real!

When people ask you ‘what do you do?’ how do you describe your job?

Well as for job title, if I could be called anything I suppose it would be a “Journeyman”. Most employees at QFC have set departments and tasks but mine is somewhat unique in the sense that I quite literally work almost every department in the store. My duties have spanned everything including cutting and arranging fruits and vegetables, filleting various kinds of fish, operating a checkstand, counting down all the money in the store to make sure everything adds up, being the closing manager and being in charge of up to ten checkers, subduing shoplifters (Frowned upon by the company I might add), ordering product for the entire store etc.

What do you love about your job?
Honestly there is a lot of upside to the job, no matter how much I complain. I get to meet different kinds of people on a daily basis, if you’re not a people person this job definatly isn’t for you. I really enjoy being trained in almost all the departments, keeps me doing different jobs and changes things up a bit. But most of all I would have to say, the people I work with are the part I love the most.

What do you hate about your job?

Having worked this job for so many years I could go on an absolute tirade about what I don’t like, I’m sure most jobs are this way but I digress. Every once in a while in a job dealing with the public you meet those customers that are never happy and determined to completly ruin your day. That’s probably my biggest complaint. The second most would be upper management. More often than not it’s a “Do as I say, not as I do” ethic which drives me crazy at times.

What education, training, experience or just plain luck someone would someone have to have to get a job like yours?

Well education wise you really don’t need a lot. It’s a fairly blue collar job that pays pretty well at the same time. Computer knowledge helps, as well as experience in a customer based field probably dosen’t hurt either. Unfortunatly it’s a “Who you know, not what you know” hiring stradegy sometimes and qualified people can get passed over for “friends”.

What is the the funniest story you can think of connected to your professional training or your employment?
I used to work the night shift. One night I noticed a teenage kid stealing beer. Standard operating procedure is you call for backup when you’re going to approach a shoplifter. I grabbed the phone and called for security over the public announcement system. The kid clearly noticed it was about him and instantly began bolting for the door, twelve pack of beer in hand. However our floors were being waxed at the time and he stepped on a very slippery section of tile. His feet came out from under him and he slid a good 20 feet into the sliding doors, the pack of beer falling on him, breaking and covering him in it.