What I Do:
Former flight attendant finds experience translates well to Costco.
I’m a cashier at Costco. I can say “hello,” “thank you” and “goodbye” in 20 languages. Through my travels I’ve also learned words and phrases in a lot of those languages, which sometimes shocks people.
Usually it’s taken very, very well. Occasionally I get scowled at — if I guess the wrong language. Or if they’re third- or fourth-generation American. “I’m American, speak English.”
At Costco we have a ton of regulars. Small-business owners and restaurateurs shop here. I have one man, 74 years old. He owns a small bakery here in the city. Comes in three times a week, buys 12 50-pound sacks of flour. He
loads them himself, puts them in his cart. He’s Chinese, just the nicest man.
One of my co-workers, Vikas, is Indian and I’m learning from him to distinguish the Punjabis from the Gujaratis from the Tamils. Gujaratis are primarily in the motel/ hotel business. I often can tell by looking at someone’s basket, “Oh, you’re a motel owner” or “You’re a restaurateur.” Or “You have a corner store.”
I get to know several of them. I’ll say, “Oh, you work in a restaurant? What type of food do you serve?” As result, Vikas and I started going to lunch at their restaurants. Once a month, we pick a new country and have Nepalese or Burmese or Thai food or whatever. We call it the World Dining Club.
When I left the airline industry in 2007, it was really contentious at work. At the same time
“We have a ton of regulars. Smallbusiness owners and restaurateurs shop here.”
Mark Gilliam, Costco cashier
we were getting pay cuts, upper management was giving themselves bonuses. The airline industry was going through a lot of turmoil, and it just wasn’t fun anymore.
I started with Costco that same year. My partner, Dennis, is also a cashier here. He’s got a lot of seniority, so he does opening shift. I usually do closing shifts, from 2 to 10:30 or if I’m lucky 12:30 to 9. I don’t have the luxury of weekends off, so I work Friday through Tuesday.
This particular Costco is the only big-box store in San Francisco. We get very, very busy sometimes, especially weekends and holidays, and when the lines get a little long, the frustration and tension rises. For the most part, people know that when you come to Costco, it’s not your corner deli or 7Eleven.
The three biggestselling items at Costco are toilet paper, paper towels and rotisserie chicken. We sell lots of discounted theater tickets. And with the holidays coming, we’ll also sell a lot of gift certificates — we sometimes sell $30,000 in See’s Candy certificates in one week.
Generally I like to have fun and I’ve never been accused of being shy, quiet or demure. I even have a little signature phrase that all of my co-workers and most of the regulars know: “Lang tsai gwai lo,” which means “pretty white boy” or can be loosely translated as “handsome white devil.” I don’t mind.