Till tinkler still a smooth operator
Long-serving ‘‘checkout chick’’ Sandra Goodwin doesn’t get what the big deal is.
The chirpy, popular operator at Palmerston North’s Plaza Countdown supermarket has just breezed past a couple of milestones.
Now 70, Goodwin, known by her colleagues as Sandy, has clocked up 30 years at the innercity store. ‘‘I don’t like being made a fuss of. Other people have worked here for 30 years – I think all this is because I’m the oldest.’’
She may now only work parttime, but Goodwin knows many of her customers by first name, and has a wealth of knowledge and anecdotes about the business.
‘‘We’ve had some chuckles over the years.’’
There was the time a young manager had folded himself into the dumb-waiter that used to ferry money from the supermarket floor to the cashier’s office above.
‘‘There were screams. The girls got such a fright when they opened the door.’’
Goodwin began working as a checkout operator in 1987 when the then Foodtown supermarket was ‘‘the newest in town’’.
Originally a hairdresser, it was nerve-racking applying for the checkout job at the age when proverbially ‘‘life begins’’.
‘‘It was my first job interview. It was a bit of a fright for me at 40 ... but well, I’m still here.’’
There have been plenty of changes. As a checkout supervisor, Goodwin used to have to look up products on a Rolodex.
‘‘Scanning is better now, it’s quicker – the machines have changed quite a bit.’’
She enjoyed working alongside young students – they gave her an updated perspective on life.
‘‘I enjoy the people contact. The customers here are wonderful and we’re a happy bunch. It’s good fun and I don’t have to take my work home.
‘‘I think I’ll keep doing it until I’ve had enough. One day I’ll decide, hand in my resignation and quietly walk out. I don’t want any fuss,’’ Goodwin said.