Emotional Damage

 

    As most all of you know, I am a Monetary Exchange Specialist at a store staffed by helpful hardware folk.  Trust me, there is an abundance of source material to be had working there.  So much so that my next book (rather cleverly titled Adventures of a Monetary Exchange Specialist) is based solely on my experiences as a Monetary Exchange Specialist.

"WE GET IT! YOU'RE A CASHIER ALREADY!!!"

    Since I like to commiserate with my fellow Mone...cashiers, I joined a Facebook group, "Working Retail."  Many of the instances there echo quite a few of the experiences that I have.  Some of them are quite funny, but I would never think of plagiarizing them.  As far as you know.  Who do you think I am?  Joe Biden?

    One entry, though, broke my heart because it made me think of the real damage that a parent can do to their child.  In fact (I hope) the mom or dad will probably just forget about it.  Unfortunately, though, that child may never forget what was said to them in what could only have been a temporary (hopefully) bit of crankassery.

    I've copied the post completely below. 

"PLAGIARISM!"

    Actually, I did it so you can understand more clearly what I'm trying to say.

    Or, I'm too lazy to write anything original and chose to sashay (or mosey) down Plagiarism Avenue.

From "Working Retail"...

I don't understand why parents feel the need to shame their kids in the checkout line. It happens quite often but today, I witnessed a particularly stark example. This teenage boy (probably 17-18) and his mom were buying a lot of home decor items, and also like 7-8 cans of paint. The mom was speaking in a very loud voice about how he was spending too much of her money on paint for his "little project." The boy was very respectful, saying "Yes, ma'am," and "No, ma'am," to his mom, and he said repeatedly that he would pay for the paint with his card. She seemed that she'd rather complain about the hole he was burning in her pocket than actually let him buy his own paint. (He did have like $40 worth of paint). In the end she paid for it, announcing loudly "I'm not taking any of the flack from Dad for all of THIS. It's all on you." All she succeeded in doing was making everyone in the line and the cashier (myself) feel quite uncomfortable because of the volume, tone, and attitude she was using towards her rather demure son. I don't know; I don't know why you'd tell your kid you'd pay for something and then make them feel bad about it. It happens more frequently than I would have thought before I started working retail.

  

  I hope to God that I haven't said anything similar to either of my children.  I pray they don't hold on to what I said to them when they're deciding whether to pull the plug or not.

    Although, there was this one time...I didn't say anything harsh but....

    One weekday, I had risen at about 4 am because I needed to be at work early.  After showering, I noticed that I didn't have a towel.  Since it was still dark outside, I figured nobody was awake.  

I normally have a towel. 
Get off my ass.

    So, I waddled, dripping wet, and completely naked, to the kids' bedroom to get something with which to dry off.

   As I reached the door, I noticed light shining from within.

   Before I could finish my thought of "Well, that's odd," my teenage son opened the door and beheld his bareass father.  Choking back revolted bile, he retreated to his bedroom.

   At the same time, I fled in mortified embarrassment to my room, where I dried off with a tee shirt.

    He, on the other hand, is saddled with the mental image of a wet, naked father.  I mean, how gross is that?  Surely, it's an emotional damage which can last for decades.

In other words, I had better keep an eye on the plugs next to my hospital bed.