Cashier with a bad cold (F)

[Coldsneezes]

I’m fairly new here, so I’m not 100% sure that I’m doing this right, but I’ll give it a shot.

It was a windy, rainy evening in late November or early December. On my way home from the days lectures at my university, I went grocery shopping at a supermarket nearby. Having picked up everything I needed, I quickly headed for the checkout. When I got there, though, there were about 10 people ahead of me in the line. With a sullen look on my face, I braced myself for the long wait.

My face turned into a smile as soon as I saw the cashier. She was a pretty, somewhat plump young woman, with a light complexion besides her dark hair, pulled back in a lazy ponytail. However, a quick look was enough to tell that something wasn’t right with her that day. Her cheeks were a bit flushed, her nose was a shade of bright pink, and she looked awfully tired. She were in the early stages of what would probably develop into an awful cold.

She seemed pretty miserably already; I could hear her sniffles all the way down the line, and I could tell that she was a bit embarrassed about having that many people seeing her like that. The minutes passed by, and the line grew shorter. When there was only five persons ahead of me, she seemed unable to keep her nose under control by just sniffling; she apologized to the woman waiting for her receipt, and turned around to blow her nose into a tissue with a discreet gurgling sound. It didn’t seem to help for very long though, for as soon as she started scanning the next customer’s groceries, she started to sniffle again. Soon, she had to sniffle every few seconds to stop the clear liquid from her nose from pouring down onto her upper lip. The cold seemed to get worse by the second, and within a minute of the first blow, the turned to blow again, this time without an apology; Some of the clear liquid had nestled on her upper lip, and she seemed unable to sniffle it back inside.

This blow wasn’t discreet at all. The first tissue seemed to melt on the first blow, so she had to gather two more of them before she could continue. The second blow produced a wet, gurgling sound, but her nose still seemed as filled and wet as ever. As she was about to blow a third time, we all heard someone clear their throat loudly; the next customer in line was an angry-looking older man, and he was obviously impatient enough to disturb the poor cashier. Reluctantly, she threw away her tissues and went on with her job. She managed to get the old man going without any incidents, but as the next customer (the one before me) went forward, she got a confused look in her eyes, then sneezed two huge, wet sneezes into a hand shooting up just in time. Those first sneezes seemed to trigger something in her nose; she started sneezing every couple of seconds after that. She tried to muffle her sneezes in the tissues she now kept in her hand, but every so often one would come as a surprise, leaving her with no option but to turn her head and let it out clear.

When I got up to the checkout to pay my own groceries, the poor woman sneezes and sniffled so much she had a hard time even saying a simple “Hello” to me. I just gave her a sympathetic look, and she gratefully finished scanning my groceries. Just as she was about to hand me the receipt, a huge sneezing fit overtook her, and she let out five or six wet, congested sneezes into the tissues in her hand. I got my receipt and started to leave. Just as I was about to go outside, I heard a colleague tell the poor, cold-ridden woman to go home and get some rest. I hope that she did, and that she got well soon after, but at the very least she turned my waiting into a very good time.

Thoughts?

[NoV]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Great observation - cashier obs are usually good as they are in a situation where the option to run off and hide their sneezes is not available. You have provided plenty of detail which always makes observations posted here especially readable

[haymaker]

Awesome obs - in fact you could say it's right on the money

[AnteatersOnParade]

Nicely done! Welcome and thanks for sharing! Let us know if she decided to share her cold ;-)

[cracked skull]

Great obs! Thanks for sharing!

[poiub]

Very nice indeed!

[TouchOfGrey]

Wow... this is a scenario that goes through my head a lot Wonderful!

[Coldsneezes]

Thanks guys!, I'm glad that you all seem to like it, and hopefully there will be more to come!
Might even be more of the same women this fall, if I'm in any luck, I see her almost every time I shop for groceries

[zorakio2]

I worked as a cashier for about a year in high school. Let me tell you, being sick and being a cashier is terrible. Your on your feet the entire time, your looking down the entire time (makes your nose run) and your talking to people the whole time which either results in them complaining about you being sick and working or asking what is wrong which is annoying. In my case I had broken my finger playing ball during this fun time in my life which led to it being an even better experience.

[stifledsneezelover]

Welcome to the forum!!! This is an excellent obs, thank you so much for sharing! Very well done and I can't wait to see more

[forbiddenlove1]

Great obs keep it up

[Eights of Spades]

Great detailed obs!  The descriptions are fantastic.

[bluemoney]

I'd be too turned on a fit of huge sneezes??? Omg I would of got her number if I could or I definitely would record them!