Well, I got some anyway.
Kamilah and Zoey were working. Kamilah rang me up and was charming. Then I went into the back to see Zoey, who was taking her lunch. She was very happy to see me and did the sweetest thing ...
She got the other girls to join her in saving sale receipts for me. Our neighborhood business district has a holiday promotion every year: Collect $500 in receipts from participating stores and get a $50 coupon book. I am passionate about this program. Obsessed, if you will. There's a limit of three books/household and I wanted Christmas 2025 to be the first year when I earned all three. Zoey found my enthusiasm endearing and promised that, if a customer refused a receipt after it printed,* she would save it for me. She then went on to enlist two other salesclerks to join her and right before Christmas, she texted me a photo of her perfectly manicured fingers holding a thick stack of receipts. She was so proud, and I was touched. So when I saw her yesterday, I thanked her – for both the receipts and for her avid support of me during the mess with Caroline. When I got home, I discovered there were $306.71 in receipts! (She tallied them for me.) There was also a handwritten note in which Zoey told me I am "one of the sweetest souls" she's ever met and she hopes she will be like me "when she grows up." How dear!
But then there was this: Zoey told me Caroline is no longer working at the store. Nothing has been formally announced, but our manager Helena has revised the published schedule through January 17 and Caroline's name no longer appears. Instead there are holes, shifts that have no supervisor on duty. I checked the scheduled and damn if Zoey isn't right. Next time I work – Friday, January 9 – I am no longer working with Caroline as had been originally scheduled.
I am conflicted about this. Zoey told me how awkward the last few weeks have been. Every sales associate was contacted by HR like I was on the 18th, and some of them were on the sales floor when their calls came. Helena was often there and aware when they had to go back to the office for privacy as they answered questions about how she's been running the store during Caroline's reign of terror. Gulp!
I didn't make any of this happen. I didn't even sign the 5-page complaint that HR was responding to. Also, only two bullets of the document pertained to me. But I am still sorry that any of it happened.
I was going to quit at the end of this month. But now I don't know that I will. Maybe with Caroline gone, the vibe at the store will be restored and I'll enjoy the job again. For reasons too complex to go into here, I suspect the store will be closed by Corporate this summer anyway. I make an average of $375/month. It's an attractive notion to stick it out until after Memorial Day and earn more than $1,000.
No matter what happens, I'll have that note from Zoey and her assurances that, when she told the other girls to save receipts for me, they said they'd do anything for The Gal.
I just wish there wasn't so much drama!
PS I didn't receipts anyway to reach the $500 threshold. But I loved the gesture so much.
*This happens a lot. I don't know why a consumer would trust us with their sales receipt for a charge purchase. Even if I didn't want it, I'd take it home and shred it.