Ok, I've worked two days so far. I'm supposed to be on the cash register, but Sunday it was too busy to train me, and this morning it wasn't busy enough. So, they've had me putting returns back on the shelves, and "downstocking" which is where we take the boxes of stock that are above the shelves and unpack them and put more things out. And, of course, while I'm doing all that, customers are blessedly interrupting me to ask where stuff is.
I say "blessedly" because it's actually a nice break from the drudgery of restocking. And, since I'm new and I don't know where everything is yet, it's really interesting and challenging to go on a treasure hunt for stuff I've never heard of. Also, I'm glad to know I'm not alone in needing weird things for weird purposes.
One guy needed knitting needles as part of a Halloween costume. A lady was told by her instructor in beauty school that artist's brushes work well for French manicures, and she wanted to know which one I thought was best for that purpose. Me: *shrug* "Well, this one looks about the size of a fingernail, so I guess you could try it."
Several times I got a chance to send people over to my other favorite store, Ace Hardware, to get things we just don't carry, like hardware to make Roman shades.
But my favorite part was when a substitute teacher came in and needed ideas for kids' crafts, as she is not crafty herself, and I was really good at helping her because kids' crafts is what I've been doing at my other job for a year and a half now. I probably gave her more ideas than she needed, and she left with a cartload of stuff.