Staff wanted

I don’t go to the Intermarché in Soure very often, but they have the sausage Mira likes, a real butcher, a nice senhora at the charcutaria, and their own brand of blue cheese that I like.

I hear they’re having trouble finding staff

Many young people are leaving the rural areas. There’s not much work. There aren’t many choices. So they go to the big city. Life is much more exciting there. A familiar story, isn’t it? It’s the same everywhere.

I don’t go to the Intermarché very often, but every time there’s a different face at the checkout. Now there’s a young man, I suspect freshly flown in from Brazil. He clearly hasn’t been behind the cash register for very long, because things aren’t moving very quickly. He hasn’t got the routine yet.

I don’t mind, I’m in no hurry. And you know: if you don’t have patiência in Portugal, then life is rough. I think it’s quite impressive that it all works out, because if I had to do it, I’d make a mess of it. You’d constantly hear over the intercom: “Would the manager please come to checkout 3?”

The old man in front of me needs a little time to pack his groceries. The new staff member helps him put them in his newly purchased plastic bag. Then he still has to find his wallet, and he also wants to pay with the exact change. Another question you often hear: “Do you have change?”—when you want to pay cash, which I always do. He carefully counts out the coins.

I hear the old man behind me thinking: “Darn, I wasn’t even allowed in front of that tower (he’s about half my height) with my two little things, and then we have to stand here waiting for that old man (he’s maybe ten years older), and that black guy isn’t fast either…” Oh well, old man (I’m maybe ten years younger), you can sigh all you want, but it won’t make things any faster.

New staff just have to get used to how things are done

At first, I’m worried I don’t have enough cash on me, so I’ve already pulled out my card. New staff already has that routine, asking: “Card payment?” – but then I see it’s 24.76, and I have 25 on me. So no: “Desculpe, não, with cash…”

Ah, okay, okay then. He protests slightly when I hand him my notes: “I might not have cash back…” and starts taking a tenner and a fiver out of the drawer. It quickly dawns on me what’s happening, and I point: “Nonono, look, I gave a 20 and a 5 — see?” He’s momentarily confused, then understands what almost went wrong.

He wanted to give me back from 40, and then he should have been short 15 euros. He thanks me with a shy expression, and I reply: “No problem, can happen to anyone. I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble for that.” Supermarket cashiers probably don’t earn top salaries, so 15 euros lost is money, right?

The man behind me is now standing next to me, smiling somewhat benignly. Would he have done the same?

I don’t care. I’ve done my good deed for the day.

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(Disclaimer: I’m a bit tired of the keyword stuff and Google’s dictatorship. So here they are, and I’m also hoping for the cleverness of AI in this matter that it will still be found and read, but that I don’t have to force myself to use the right terms in the title and headings.#staff #supermarket #gooddeed )

We moved here in 2000 from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to the Termas-da-Azenha, Portugal. We started to rebuild one of portugals cultural heirlooms: Termas-da-Azenha, an old spa.You’ll find mosaics and paintings everywhere. Since Covid we rent the houses for a longer period of time, not as holiday houses anymore.

Each week a little blog about what is happening around us. An easy read. A few minutes in another world. A little about what it going on in Portugal. If you plan your holiday to Portugal, it might be a nice preparation.

In the weekend we publish it on Bluesky, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.