The "Old Girls" at the Grocery Store

Some cashiers have been on the job for quite a while! So long as these girls are feeling alright, customers are often greeted with kind words and perhaps even some conversation - if there's not a line waiting, of course. For individuals who are no longer working, this grocery store stop may well be the only social interaction of the day. Of course, there's plenty of other reasons why cheery dispositions matter, for jobs with direct public engagement. Just the same, some days it's hard to smile, when achy muscles are asking for a break, yet no break is possible.

In the U.S., few stop to consider that cashiers (at least those who are not self employed) are expected to stand through the entirety of the shift. Generally that aspect of the job is easy to overlook, so long as one is in their twenties or thirties. Only in one's forties or fifties, does standing all day long start to create problems. Even a job which requires walking through a full shift, can be easier for someone "counting the years" to retirement.

Martha White at Time, recently wrote that work life balance isn't everything it's cracked up to be. That's especially true, when we aren't the ones responsible for primary scheduling decisions. In part because it makes coordination more difficult in most workplaces, flexible time schedules are not common in the  U.S. - just as sitting down on certain jobs can be problematic. How would a company allow older workers to sit, yet still expect younger workers to stand?

As a result, a wide gulf can exist between what workplaces expect and what our bodies "tell" us they are capable of, as we age. Even so, older people in many instances either want or need to remain in the workplace. But sometimes that is not possible, when people of all ages now compete for lower skill work which tends to have more physical demands. In places where work opportunities are few, older individuals will often attempt to do whatever is necessary, to stay with the job they have as long as they can.

Even though less physically taxing (and more financially rewarding) work in healthcare and education are services options, they require levels of formal education which are not always possible for older workers to embark upon, after a certain point. And while standing up all day can be daunting as one approaches retirement, the chance to remain close to the public remains a tremendous motivator, nonetheless.

This is why one sees so many "old girls" still on the job, at the grocery store and other retail locations. Retail work certainly does not pay a lot, but there are other tangible benefits in this instance which go beyond pay. In spite of legs that ache at the end of the day, just being with other people in a social setting on a regular basis, can be its own reward.