Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday...the most dreaded days of my week. I spend the majority of them waiting until 5:30 and the remainder waiting until 9:35. It’s not a particularly large amount of hours per week but at the age of 17, its pretty much the bane of my life. Working in a supermarket is different from other part time jobs; the fact they are such large companies makes you feel as if you’ve been thrown into the deep end of the world of work. Such responsibility as a supermarket employee is best suited for the people who have tried as life, but pretty much failed.

It’s 5:25 and my shift is about to start. After changing into my beautiful uniform designed in the very complimentary colours of burgundy and orange, I enter my place of work. As I proceed on my journey through the aisles, with the intention of going up stairs to clock in, I am usually stopped by a customer, curious of the location of a particular item. I find this rather offensive as its 5:28 and I’m not currently being paid to answer the question. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever try and explain this to the customer, but the majority of the time I come to the conclusion that it would probably just be easier to help. I keep one iPod headphone in of course. Just to rebel.

It feels good to know that I am contributing to the company… with my 20p’s. So after enjoying my ‘complimentary’ cup of water, I begin my shift.

No matter who you are or what you’ve been through, when stepping into a supermarket the nectar card becomes the most important thing in the world. As a young worker behind the checkouts I’ve witnessed the perils, the crowd rage and the sheer anger evolve from not being awarded an extra point for using your ‘bag for life’

Clearly absolutely no one, anywhere, enjoys the experience of going to the supermarket. And this is usually very well reflected in their behaviour- particularly directed towards the car park and coupons. To anyone thinking parking in a supermarket car park couldn’t be easier, think again. The main reason is smart-cars. A smart-car is, essentially, an illusion. Just as you think you’ve finally found a space there it is lingering at the end, out of sight like- some kind of horrible parking space troll.

The second of people supermarket hates is coupons. If a coupon has no immediate usage then it’s an instant hindrance. The fact that there is no petrol station to use the 5p off a litre at this particular supermarket seems it irritate people. Even if the coupon is free.

As my shift comes to an end I make my way over to the trolley full of unsold free DVD’s from The Times. These often include the popular titles such as: Raising The Titanic, Uchu Kaisoku-sen and Lethal Weapon 4. Still recovering from the four hours of misery I’ve just been through, I usually treat myself. Well apparently John Hurt went through 5 hours of make-up to play The Elephant Man.