Fired...Almost

EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. - Omigod! I think I just averted getting fired today at Megamovies.

At Megamovies, we have a policy in which everyone---and I mean everyone, including 3-month-old babies---must have a ticket after 6 p.m. I knew this...and yet, for some reason, when a lady come up to me and asked for two tickets to see a movie, I didn't ask her about the baby she was carrying around her...well, around her bosom, really...until after I started printing out a receipt for a credit card purchase. When I asked her about whether she was taking the baby into the theater too, she responded in the affirmative, and of course I had to tell her about our policy. She went nuts and made such a big stink about it that we had to get three managers on the scene---including the ranking manager---to try to discuss the problem with her.

Eventually, she ended up asking for a refund of the $18.50 I had already punched into the credit card machine. Obviously, we had to give it to her. But it could have easily been avoided if I had asked her about the damn baby she was lugging around her chest in the first place. Damn, what the hell's the matter with me?!! I knew the fuckin' policy; why didn't I say anything? Was I subconsciously afraid of causing her ire that I shied away from the question at first before being forced to spring it on her after printing the receipt? (If I have such subconscious fears, should I really be working at Megamovies, heh?)

It's one mistake, of course, and probably the biggest one I've made so far. (And I had to make it after I had gotten the shirt.) But a few days ago, a recently-hired employee got fired on the spot after forgetting about the same policy and allowing a bunch of people to get their babies in for free at 6 p.m. and then getting stopped by theater ushers. Fired! Because it was the ranking manager himself that had fired her, I was rather nervous that he might do the same to me, after seeing me screw up with the same policy (although at least I caught my mistake kinda in time). Turns out, he was rather nicer to me. As he left for the day, I apologized to him for the mess-up and he simply said, "That's okay. Hey, at least you learn."

But boy, that mistake made me nervous! It wasn't helped by the fact that my fellow cashier said to me, "You lucked out big time, man. You could have gotten fired for that!" Guess I must have gotten Mr. D. (the ranking manager) on a good day. I just hope he doesn't change his mind tomorrow or anything...