As I was walking between all the customers and shelves, the assistant manager had spotted me. He confidently strided (sic) over, and tapped me on the shoulder. It was startling, almost like winter’s hand freezing your shoulder. I spun around, narrowly missing one of the customers and her packed trolley of goods. I mumbled an apology, but I doubted it was heard above the noise and chaos the many customers produced in their ordinary purchasing spree. The assistant manager, Gavin, then hoarded me to the front of the store, where all the cashiers were, and called through the intercom for another worker.

His loud echoing voice through every speaker was unnerving. My brain felt like jumping out of my skull. Then, the worker came, and she said that she had no work for me. I was relived, because I didn’t really want to do any work, but Gavin escorted me through the bustling bodies to the Deli, where he asked the Jo, the most senior employee there, if she had any work for me. Apparently there were, and then I was taken in there, as Jo tried assimilating the rules and regulations within ‘her’ Deli. Stuff like wearing a hair net, an apron, and gloves when handling almost anything. It was quite basic, since it was just to keep the foods clean and fresh. However, the first thing that hits you in the Deli is the smell of raw meat, as it just washes all other smells away, but everyone else working alongside Jo seemed unfazed by the smell.

My first task was quite boring; I just had to refill the salad tubs, but I made lots of mistakes. First, I accidentally dropped a tub of salad on another, so the bottom of the tub was all messy. Then, I put the fresh salad on top of the older salad, which also was a mistake, because when selling stock, it was conventional to sell the older stuff first, so the new stuff becomes the old stuff and etc. Jo then told me off for my mistakes, and showed me the right way, by giving me an example. There were no more mistakes after that.

Outside the Deli glass, customers were starting to amass for the meats. The Deli then became a massive chaotic rush, with employees trying to serve as quickly as possible. I watched while washing the dishes, as that was what I had to do at the moment and the speed in which they operated the weighing machine and wrapping up the meat was unbelievable. This was the state in which the Deli were in, but it only lasted 5 or so minutes, and then everything was peaceful and slow. The masses of customers had all been served and satisfied, and they moved on. I had finished washing all the equipment, and after stacking them on top of each other, I asked Jo for any other jobs. She then told me to get the box of chicken drumsticks from inside, and to stack them inside the showcase window. Since the chicken were on sale, for $2.79 a kilo, customers generally bought 2-3kgs in one go, and so the chicken slots had to be refilled almost every 30 minutes. However, since it was a tricky job, most of the crap jobs were given to us, and so I had to refill the chicken drumsticks.

I stuck my head in, and realized how cramped the space were. I slowly placed some chicken inside the showcase window, and then withdrew myself to get some more. Sometimes, when I pulled myself out, I would hit my head on the roof of the glass, and the ice cold water that keeps the compartment cool would drip on my shirt. In short, it was tiring, irritating, and freezing cold. I was glad when I finished it, but when it was time to fold the boxes to chuck away, the plastic bags that housed the chicken drumsticks would be so full of chicken blood, and it was putrid and disgusting. It also made the drumsticks in the showing case shine a bit.

After these small boring jobs, I finally got to serve some customers, and Jo told me how they worked. There were 4 digit numbers hidden at the back of the price tag, and all I had to do was enter those numbers, and press ‘Print’, then the sticker with a logo and price came out. Folding the produce was just as easy, and I quickly got the hang of it. It was quite fun and talking to some of the customers was relieving from the solitude of stacking raw meats in the glass. The deli was an alright place, but Jo had taken me under her wing and it made the job a bit easier.