I worked full time at Trader Joe’s for about five months, some days good and some bad, there was never a dull moment there. Working at TJ’s was a great job due to the company going above and beyond when it came to taking care of their “crew” (that is what the employees are called). They prioritize employee and customer satisfaction above all else, creating an utterly delightful work environment. Not to mention, their unique and tactful hiring process ensures a diverse and enjoyable group of people to work with. While there have been many impacting factors from my five months there, the most notable has been the customers and the wacky interactions that took place. I have had a few customer service jobs, but never one with a clientele as broad as Trader Joe’s—you see old people, little ones running around, rich soccer moms, low income families, dogs; you name it and we see it! Since I no longer work there and am holding on to some real gems, I figured I would share some of the striking stories.
The Call
The interaction most vivid in my memory that will never be forgotten is when I received a call from a customer. This is by far the worst recollection I have with a customer. I was working the register and was suddenly relieved by a co-worker; there was a call waiting for me at the desk. Immediately, my mind got away from me and panic emerged. Everyone who knew I worked at Trader Joe’s and knew I was at work would know to contact me by my cell phone… so naturally I assumed there was some sort of emergency. I pick up the phone, “Hello?”
“Yes, Meghan?” A man’s voice responds.
“Can I help you?” Eager to know what he wants.
“Well… I just left the store and had been admiring you all day. I was also in the store two days ago and had been watching you…” he says as his voice slowly feels more and more inhospitable. I paused as he resumed, “I had to ask…Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Yes I do” I murmured and hung up.
I was vexed between bestowing my anger towards some cowardice stranger enforcing a state of discomfort and fear upon me at my place of work or by the fact that the only resolution was to lie and say I have a boyfriend, as if I have to belong to some type of penis.
Ganache
Occasionally, there was a very confused and persistent costumer who would often make my day. They would try and convince you and themselves that a specific item they are looking for exists and swear it was purchased previously at TJ’s, when, more often than not it was a creation of their imagination that Trader Joe’s had yet to create and sell. To ease their mind, you could walk them around the store to prove it in fact does not exist and during this stroll you might stumble across something they are satisfied with or something they were in fact looking for and simply could not articulate. One time I had an old female customer who comes up to me and inquired, “Where is the cauliflower ganache?”
As I try not to laugh, I take her over to the Cauliflower Gnocchi. It was what she was looking for.
TJ’s sees a lot of confused customers… regularly pedestrians wonder to the back room thinking it is a bathroom. In their defense, the brightly colored “employees only” sign on the door is probably too small… I also noticed a sense of confusion when I would find a deli product in the frozen section, groceries left behind in the bathroom, and garbage forgotten about in an abandoned cart. The average Joe needs a little guidance getting by in the grocery store. While confused costumers were by far the most fascinating, your average punk was also a nice spin…
Face Tattoo
While working the register I rang up flowers, chocolate and gum. He told me they were gifts for his girlfriend because he was in the “doghouse.” As we chatted up a storm, I couldn’t take my eyes off his large excessive tattoo. On his face. This man looked so sweet; how could he have ever ended up in trouble with his girl? Anyways, the face tattoo wasn’t the only questionable decision he made as he handed me a clearly counterfeit $100 bill. To give him the benefit of the doubt, I asked a manager to check it and they confirmed it was fake. He was extremely surprised and rushed out of the store to grab some money from his car. Never saw Mr. face tattoo again.
HarASSment
Immediately following my ‘training period,’ I was on register for the first time by myself. Two women come through my line giggling, behavior a bit odd for middle aged women. Right off the bat, “How old are you?” they demand.
“I’m 19,” I respond hesitantly.
“Yeah we figured you were young but you’re older than we thought…” One replies.
“Okay?”
“Yeah. We had been watching you from behind trying to judge how old you are.” She said harshly.
“We knew you were young because you have such a nice ass.” The other chimed in.
“Yeah, once you get older nobody has an ass that nice.” She tagged on.
I turned red.
“Appreciate that ass while you’re so young and have it. It won’t last long honey.” She topped it off.
Wasn’t sure if they managed to make me feel worse about my age or my derriere. Perhaps one of these women was Mr Face tattoo’s girlfriend?
Side note, I told my manager about this and he was very responsive and kind. About everyday following that incident he asked me if I had seen them again and said he would happily kick them out of the store.
Pepper spray
The final member of the naughty Nelly posse, a customer who stole liquor. A manager witnessed it and followed them out to retrieve it. As they observed their dilemma, she turned around and threw a bottle of expired pepper spray onto the worker and drove off.
If you are eager to seek out degenerates, just spend some time in the TJ’s parking lot. I cannot count the number of times someone behind the wheel nearly hit me as I pushed carts wearing a bright yellow vest. Not to mention the amount of times I witnessed a driver hit a parked car and drive off.
Side note: Whenever I DID see it I took a picture of the license plate and left a note on the parked car.
While TJ’s gets their fair share of wacky people, we’ve also seen some truly incredible individuals.
Good Samaritan
There was a sweet customer who went through my line, some girl around my age that was purchasing about $50 worth of groceries. We were having a pleasant conversation until she pulled out her wallet to pay and panic poured over. She quickly realized she had left her credit card at home and did not have apple pay nor any cash. She quickly called her boyfriend to ask him to bring her some money. She began to cry with embarrassment and realization of not having any money all coming to her at once. Unfortunately, because I had a long line of customers, I had to ask a manager to set her groceries aside until she could pay for them. In doing so, the customer behind her in line quickly and confidently purchased her groceries for her. It made my day! I had witnessed discrete and pure actions of absolute kindness such as this one several times while working on the register. Trust me, the good Samaritans are out there. They just work incognito.
The thank you note
From witnessing stranger’s random acts of kindness, from returning runaway grocery carts to paying for random people’s groceries, I was reminded to do some good. A nice policy TJ’s has is being able to hand out flowers to people who may need or deserve them. We often hand out flowers if it is someone’s birthday or if someone expresses a rough day and needs a pick me up. I would do this as often as I could, given I remembered about it. One time I had a costumer go through my line who looked like he had just been to hell and back. He told me all about his day and how awful it had been. Immediately, I got him flowers. He instantly smiled and reacted in a way I did not expect. He was absurdly happy and informed me he had never been given flowers before. I was very satisfied with this being he end of our interaction. A few weeks later he returns to the store. He comes up to me and gives me a thank you note. I thought “wow, how kind!” I opened it and read how appreciative he was of the flowers and my faith in humanity was restored. That is, until I reached the bottom of the note and saw a phone number attached.
The Candy
This bizarre interaction happened on my last day working there. He found me at the front desk and told me he had brought something for me. As he reached into his pocket, he exclaimed “You are always giving other people food while working at the demo kitchen so I thought I would bring you something.” And handed me a handful of old squished candy.
My Favorites
Since it is a neighborhood grocery store, we have lots of regulars. Some people you would want to see everyday and some people you’d prefer not to see as often, either way, you know they will be at the store come rain or shine! Most regulars stand out, whether they are eager to seek you for a lengthy conversation or come in right as we are closing and fill their cart to the top. A few of my favorite customers would always give me some sort of greeting while they were shopping. They are from Spain and we would always speak Spanish together. This small interaction would always make me happy. One time I had a customer from Finland come through my line, naturally I mentioned the town I lived in over in Finland. Astonished, she knew of it and had been there. I was jumping with joy because I didn’t think anyone other than me and the 10,000 people who live there knew about it. Another favorite customer of mine was my “crushtomer,” he was very dreamy and came in like once a month. We talked a few times about skiing and groceries; good times.
Fun Facts about Trader Joe’s
Trader Joe’s donates all the food that does not sell.
TJ’s will let a customer sample just about anything if they ask.
TJ’s hides some sort of toy around the store and if a child finds it they can receive a lollypop
TJ’s is ship themed, so the workers are called “crew,” the managers “mates,” and the boss “Captain.”
TJ’s is a great company to work for, they treat their employees well with benefits and employee discounts.
TJ’s always has a grocery item they are sampling along with coffee.
TJ’s hands out flowers to a special few.
TJ’s allows for their employees to transfer between stores if they move.
Hopefully these stories remind everyone to be kind to their everyday workers, especially grocery store workers. I want to thank everyone working at a grocery store during this scary time with Covid 19 spreading like a wildfire. My former coworkers are a group of amazing, kind, hard working people who are now emergency workers, please treat them well.