New Nemesis
After another quiet afternoon, Damien - the guy I've been working with for most of the week - decided to go on his break. There was a film going in at 5:00 which was only 10 minutes away but it had been empty all day so it seemed reasonable enough since we'd spent most of the day trying to fill the time, like attempting to figure out how to put the damn lids on the Fanta Ice cups - they just will not fit unless you have the special touch, which of course Damien has and I do not, and so we decided I can't be allowed near the Fanta Ice machine at any time - and so there wasn't a lot going on and I'd be alright on my own. And thus the cue for thirty people to flood in the moment he left.
I later found out that Bernard, the manager (and I mean THE manager, the manager of manager's, the big cheese) had seen the lines of people pile in as he watched on the CCTV camera in his office but decided I was doing a good enough job of getting through them quickly and so decided against coming down to help me since he figured I didn't need it.
At this point I became aware of the fact that a line of people was forming at the other Kiosk behind me where you buy your snacks and drink - with no-one else at the station but me, there was no-one to serve them, so I had to abandon the Box Office at first chance to get them. Then they uttered the four words I did not want to hear; "Blue Fanta Ice, please". I walked over to the machine, already accepting my fate, and began to wrestle with the damn cups. After failing at three attempts to make lid meet bottle in perfect harmony, I turned to the customer and lied that we had the wrong sized lids in and they wouldn't fit (although I'm not totally convinced this was a lie), and if she wanted I could get her a smaller cup - it would cost less but I'd be able to get more in it than a large because I'd (hopefully ) be able to put the lid on a smaller cup. Another three broken ones later, I jammed the lid as much onto one as I could manage without the damn thing splitting, stuck it under the machine and filled it up. With Fanta Ice just waiting to ooze out of the edges where the dome lid was mock-on, I put it on the counter and grumbled something under my voice before sending her on her slightly disgruntled way.
The next customer ordered something a lot less difficult - a large Coke and a Large Popcorn (and by that I mean a large box OF Popcorn, not just one giant one, just so we're clear), and so I went to do the drink for them. It's easy enough - you put the empty cup under the machine, press a button and wait for it to fill up. Unfortunately I was using the side of the till with the machine that, unbeknownst to me at the time, has a fault in that once you start it, it doesn't stop going. Luckily I'm smart enough to know that if the tap hasn't slowed down it's release by the time the cup is nearly full, it's not going to, and so I was able to pull it away and complete the transaction before deciding exactly how I was going to put an end to this seemingly endless stream of cola. I considered what various objects I had at my disposal to hit it with / jam up it before playing it safe with the old 'jamming any buttons until something happens for better or for worse' trick. Luckily for me I found the jackpot and the stream slowed down and then dripped to a halt before any violence was resorted to. At this point everyone was in the film and so I was free to slump back in my chair, carry on reading my book and hope that the Fanta Ice machine incident was out of Bernard's CCTV view.