Checkout

I never thought that simply ringing up customers items at a grocery store could be so enlightening. She proves that a happy life is nothing more than an attitude. Great book

This book gives what one may think is a boring job a new life. Funny

"Checkout" could easily be likened to the movie "Clerks" as it delves into the highs and lows of working in the service industry, in this particular case working as a cashier in a grocery store. First-time novelist and former cashier Anna Sam recounts the highs and lows of working as a cashier in a manner that is often hilarious as it satirizes her customers. In most cases her customers invite the sarcasm willingly with their rude boorish behavior and many represent easy targets for her wrath. It's easy to side with Sam as many of us would detest having her job, and the way she depicts her work environment makes it even less palatable. But Sam isn't asking readers to pity her or her co-workers and instead came to find a quiet dignity in doing the work she did. As she recounts the many customers encountered while working as a cashier she not only satirizes those who warranted her scorn but comes to empathize with many of her customers. She never comes to truly know them beyond her thumbnail portraits and they reveal themselves to her in unanticipated ways that help to shape and change her perception of them. If anything "Checkout" also is a tribute to those many customers who caused Sam to re-evaluate how she views not only her customers but herself and society as a whole. Translated from the original French title "Les tribulations d'une caissière, the book loses nothing in the translation and if anything proves the universality of emotions felt by service workers. They work in the most demanding and least rewarding positions, can seldom complain, and are typically ignored or invisible. "Les tribulations d'une caissière" proved to be a surprise best-seller in France and it's easy to see why as it is well written, funny, topical, and more importantly relatable. "Checkout" is likely to change the way you view the multitude of service workers you encounter each day, and perhaps to make you think about the way you interact with them.