The Breakroom

I work about eight hours, three days a week at Kohl's. On the sales floor you have to become this programmed machine to smile and say hi to every customer, drop everything that you are doing and do exactly what the customer asks you to do, and you do not carry on with your previous task until you know your customer is completely satisfied. Oh, and you have to look happy the whole time you are doing it, regardless if the customer is polite or irate. While the associates act like they enjoy doing this on a regular basis, they express their true feelings in the break room. The break room has no boundaries for self expression. I learned a lot about my co workers sitting in the break room listening to everyone complain and socialize. Once you open the break room door, that machine is turned off and the real fun happens. I learned why one of my coworkers never walks down tight aisles; she has panic attacks. A woman wanted her to climb a latter to retrieve a bath towel about ten feet up in a small aisle. Another one of my co workers eats food right off the tables, no plates or napkins but he bugs people about sanitizing their hands at the registers after touching all the money. I've learned new curse words from listening to the rants and raves in the break room. What really amazes me is how fast the personalities change once you step in and out of the breakroom. I look forward to my breaks more than I do my paycheck, and that's a shame.