Imagine being minutes away from the end of your shift working as a cashier. Would you close your register a few minutes early to make sure you clocked out right on time, or would you keep your register open until your shift was over knowing that would mean you’d work a few minutes of overtime?

In this story, one cashier is in this situation and closes their register a few minutes early. The problem starts when a customer gets upset and decides to find a supervisor.

Keep reading for all the details.

Oh, you’ve already closed your register and your shift is over? Too bad.

I was working as a cashier at a big box store.

It’s 8:55 pm, and my shift is over at 9. I’ve been working since noon so I’m pretty much burnt out and can’t wait to go home.

I’m using the last 5 minutes of my shift to take care of the typical end-of-shift business, such as emptying my garbage bin, wiping everything down, etc.

A customer was not at all understanding.

Suddenly a customer approaches with a full cart, and the following conversation ensues:

Me: Sorry ma’am, I’m closed.

Customer: What are you doing behind the register then? I don’t see a closed sign.

Me: Well my light is off, ma’am, that means I’m closed. I’m just cleaning up before I leave.

It’s not like there weren’t other registers open.

Customer: You shouldn’t be standing there if you aren’t open! I just want to pay for my stuff and leave. You’re wasting my time by standing there not helping me.

Me: Of course ma’am, well, my coworker right behind me at register 12 is open. He’ll be happy to help you.

The customer shoots me a dirty look, spins her cart around and walks off.

This type of interaction with customers is really not uncommon, so I don’t think much of it.

The customer tried to get OP in trouble.

A few minutes later I’m done with my cleaning and I’m about to leave when I see the customer pushing her cart back towards me again. Followed closely behind by my supervisor.

Supervisor: Trueretailhell, this customer tells me that you refused to serve her.

Me: Yes I did, but only because my shift is over at 9. It’s 8:59 right now, I really don’t have any time to take another customer.

Supervisor: Exactly. It’s 8:59. Not 9:00 yet. When have you ever been allowed to clock out early? Take this customer, and then you can go.

The customer had a very full cart.

He then helps the customer unload her massive cart, all the while the customer is giving me the smuggest look I’ve ever seen.

It takes several minutes to ring up all the items, and her total comes up to over $200.

Oh, and she was buying raw meat which spilled its lovely juices all over the belt. So I had to wipe down the entire thing again before I could leave.

In the end, I didn’t clock out until 9:15.

The supervisor sounds horrible.

And the icing on the cake: as I was finally walking out of the store, my supervisor called out, “Hey, trueretailhell. Don’t ever let me catch you saying no to a customer while you’re on the clock again.”

I just smiled and nodded.

Can’t wait to get out of here.

I’d be looking for another job. She shouldn’t be expected to work overtime. I also don’t understand the customer’s logic. If another register is open, why waste time finding a supervisor to complain about a cashier who is heading home? Just go to the open register and be on your way.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

Here’s a suggestion to try to work as much overtime as possible.

I hope so.

One person is skeptical that the cashier will get paid for the overtime.

A former employee suggests finding another job.

That supervisor made the wrong decision.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.