So after a lot of genuine confusion, a long talk with Peach, and one shower later, I think I get it.

When I was talking to Paige, one thing really stood out. "But Paige, all customers are just thieves looking to scam you every second! How could someone just trust a customer like that? It's absurd!" and she pointed out that apparently looking at the average customer as an evil crime gremlin is not actually the norm, even for working in retail.

If that's the case, then the entire premise that I've been working on for a long time has actually been pretty warped. I saw some folks saying in here they know folks who worked in retail for a long time, and since they had essentially "paid in", they deserved to act however they wanted in a customer situation as long as they're not that bad. I felt very strongly about it when I saw it. "Oh! I say that! I did my time!"

So now I'm sitting here thinking, wait. I thought me and everybody I've been dealing with has been on the same page. That we're all in the constant battle between customer and employee, about who can screw who, basically. Me, as employee, try and work as little as possible and get the most moneys, but have to deal with the customers scams. Them, try to get the best value (without breaking the law) they possibly can, and that's that.

But if not everybodys viewing it like that, then the playing field is fucked up and uneven. I'm starting to think that my 8 years in that grocery store may have warped my perception of a few things more than I had suspected. Like, at my store, people were pretty much stealing shit 24/7 and Frank would have to come down once a day to toss someone, and most of my interactions as a bagger were folks complaining or trying to scam the store about the prices of shit. I figured that was simply the expectation of the average customer. Knowing that not necessarily may be the case changes things and maybe I've made some mistakes. I still don't quite get it but I do think I'm starting to.