Another murder in a gas station. Gladly, it doesn't happen every week, but it shouldn't happen at all. My sympathies to the family of Brigitte Serre.
I think it's time we take a moment to think about the gas station cashier's job. We tend to consider it as a dead-end job, a temporary job without importance. A student's job, do you think?
Do you realize how much this job includes serious responsibilities? Thousands of litres of gasoline underground, a cash register filled with money, an inventory of cigarettes worth thousands of dollars, dozens of bottles of windshield washer fluid to check around the gas pumps, people who steal gas, people who steal stuff inside the store... ouch! That's a lot of things to watch with only one pair of eyes, especially at night, when gas stations often have only one employee on hand.
And to top things off, there are mystery shoppers that pass for regular customers in order to evaluate customer service. The employee didn't push the sale of a useless promotional object? He then loses points in his evaluation and gets slapped on the wrists by the company. I am for this type of evaluation, I have already been the target of some and, later on, I even did some for another company; but please, concentrate on the basics: smile, politeness and courtesy, quickness, cleanliness, etc. Come on, this poor person already has plenty to do.
The oil companies are now raking in record profits? Perfect. Now, assume yourselves pay your employees like they deserve to. In my opinion, and with the level of responsibilities, a gas station cashier should be paid a lot more than minimum salary. In addition, training must be more rigorous. When I was hired as a gas pump attendant at 17 years old, the business lent me a half-dozen VHS tapes to view at home. They talked about security around the gas station, with unrealistic panic situations. And, the translation in French was terrible. Wow!
In the dead of night, with potentially more dangerous customers, there should be at least two employees during that shift. There is always something to do for a second person in these gas stations, and it could very well reduce the risk of sad incidents like the assassination of Brigitte Serre. That's too expensive, you say? I'm nuts, you think? Well, in that case, we'll just shut down these businesses for the night, that's all.
I think it's time we take a moment to think about the gas station cashier's job. We tend to consider it as a dead-end job, a temporary job without importance. A student's job, do you think?
Do you realize how much this job includes serious responsibilities? Thousands of litres of gasoline underground, a cash register filled with money, an inventory of cigarettes worth thousands of dollars, dozens of bottles of windshield washer fluid to check around the gas pumps, people who steal gas, people who steal stuff inside the store... ouch! That's a lot of things to watch with only one pair of eyes, especially at night, when gas stations often have only one employee on hand.
And to top things off, there are mystery shoppers that pass for regular customers in order to evaluate customer service. The employee didn't push the sale of a useless promotional object? He then loses points in his evaluation and gets slapped on the wrists by the company. I am for this type of evaluation, I have already been the target of some and, later on, I even did some for another company; but please, concentrate on the basics: smile, politeness and courtesy, quickness, cleanliness, etc. Come on, this poor person already has plenty to do.
The oil companies are now raking in record profits? Perfect. Now, assume yourselves pay your employees like they deserve to. In my opinion, and with the level of responsibilities, a gas station cashier should be paid a lot more than minimum salary. In addition, training must be more rigorous. When I was hired as a gas pump attendant at 17 years old, the business lent me a half-dozen VHS tapes to view at home. They talked about security around the gas station, with unrealistic panic situations. And, the translation in French was terrible. Wow!
In the dead of night, with potentially more dangerous customers, there should be at least two employees during that shift. There is always something to do for a second person in these gas stations, and it could very well reduce the risk of sad incidents like the assassination of Brigitte Serre. That's too expensive, you say? I'm nuts, you think? Well, in that case, we'll just shut down these businesses for the night, that's all.