Working in supermarkets

I'm always interested in reading about other people's work and I can't be the only one as there seem to be quite a few books published featuring people's working lives. I've come across Anna Sam's book Checkout: A Life on the Tills before but for some reason had not bothered to buy and read it. Possibly because it is translated from French and sometimes translations can be a little clunky in my experience.

But I overcame my prejudices and decided to get a copy. I started it last night and have almost finished it. I found it probably one of the funniest of the books I've read about supermarket life. Her experiences with the customers and their purchases are very well drawn with a wry understated humour which comes over very well in translation. It is very well done and if you want to know what working in a supermarket is really like you will find this book worthwhile. It will also teach you how to be a better and more considerate customer!

Men, women and jobs

On a similar theme to yesterday - MJR was watching a TV programme about plane crashes. There was one crash in which the pilot had taken a risk and flown through an area of severe turbulence when he could have avoided it - trying to be the big macho man who could do anything - MJRs comment not mine! MJR then asked me if I thought if there were more female pilots there would be fewer crashes because women would be less bothered about their image and more concerned with avoiding risks to the plane and their passengers.

It made me stop and think and I wonder whether anyone has done any research on the subject. Do female airline pilots have fewer crashes? I haven't tried Googling.

Supermarket checkout operators - following on from KCM's comment on yesterday's post. It can be an interesting job - if you make it so as several books about the subject have shown - The Checkout Girl by Tazeen Ahmad; Checkout: a Life on the Tills by Anna Sam; Shelf Life: How I Found the Meaning of Life Stacking Supermarket Shelves by Simon Parke. I've read the first and the last of these and they were both interesting and entertaining reading. Both books showed how the job could be inteesting however mudane it might seem.

The Rehearsal

After my - sort of - rant yesterday it is actually improving. I read 100 pages so I'm now two thirds of the way through. I do wish authors with pretensions to being literary novelists would realise that they don't have to mess around with the conventional novel structure in order to be well thought of/famous. There is some excellent characterisation and some very well written scenes - all spoilt by the mix and max attitude to plot and timescale. Maybe a definitive review tomorrow.

As light relief I started reading The Checkout Girl by Tazeen Ahmad. I love books about people's jobs and having worked in a supermarket - as a shelf filler rather than a checkout person - I'm finding this interesting. The author, a journalist, took a job at Sainsbury's in order to improve her own finances and has written the book about her experiences. She decided to use it as a means to find out how the recession is affecting people and her descriptions of customers and their purchases are a real slice of life. If I ever decide to write a novel set in a supermarket I shall have plenty of material!

Today's thoughts

I am reading a book by Judith Levine called 'Not Buying It: my year without shopping'. It gives a fascinating insight into how we are all led to spend money on things we don't actually need. The author decided to try living for a year without spending money on anything other than necessities. Difficult in today's consumer society. The book is American so not everything is relevant in the UK but it still makes interesting reading.
Why do we feel the urge to go out and spend money on things we really truly do not need? A simple example. Where I live there are no coffee shops such as Starbucks or Cafe Nero etc, so I have no temptation to get a takeaway coffee on the way to work, or when I've been out at lunchtime. I am saving myself an absolute fortune! Assuming you might spend £3.00 per day on takeaway coffee - that's £15 per week and assuming you work about 45 weeks each year that's £675 per year. Admittedly if everyone stopped doing this then all the coffee shops might go out of business - but that's another topic entirely, and maybe one for another day.

Again thinking about food and drink and work. If you take yoour own sandwiches from home each day how much money can you not spend? Where I live sandwiches are relatively cheap and £3.50 will probably get you a freshly made sandwich, a cake or yoghurt and a drink. Other areas are more expensive. I mainly keep the wherewithal to make sandwiches in the communal fridge/freezer at work. Loaf of granary bread - £0.59, butter perhaps £0.69 - between them enough for at least two weeks' worth of lunches; cheese, ham etc to put in them - say £1.50 per week; youghurts £0.29 for 4 from Lidl. Then you can have fresh fruit - 6 apples for about £0.50. I have a reasonable lunch each day at work for probably about £3.00 a week.

In case you're wondering about the prices I try and shop at places like Lidl and Aldi. They are at least 30% and frequently 50 - 60% cheaper than Tesco or Sainsbury. Quality is as good if not better than the big ones. As an example. I buy unsalted butter - usually hovering around the £1.00 mark in Sainsbury. Same product - not a recognised brand - £0.69 - in Aldi. Every bit as good as its more expensive cousin.

There are plenty of ways that you can live well without spending a fortune.

Watch this space for further thoughts on the subject

Slogan for today - don't be a sheep - think for yourself!

jillysheep