The time I worked at A&P

*Please forgive the horrible Photoshop work here,
but I couldn't find a photo of A&P's old
Rockville Centre store, so I just improvised!

May 30, 2014.

From 1990 to 1993, or somewhere around that time, I worked at the A&P store in Rockville Centre, New York.  On any given day, you might have found me in Dairy, Frozen Foods, Produce, Fish, Front End, or "on the floor", stocking the shelves everywhere else.

I absolutely loved the work, and loved my many jobs.  Before working at A&P, I was a Newsday delivery boy (which is its own story), but once I got my job in the supermarket business, I felt like I was finally a part of the workforce...whatever that was.  I was an adult, or at least someone slightly resembling an adult, or impersonating an adult, and it made me feel like a productive member of society.

It was there that I first learned how to clock in, mop floors, stock shelves, run a cash register, meet a delivery truck, clean and prep a fish department, and identify produce by name...although it took me a while to learn the correct pronunciation of shiitake mushrooms at first!  It was also there at the A&P where I learned the value of helping people.  Whether it was just directing them to the correct aisle or area of the produce section, or moving super fast at the cash register to ease a crazy backup, I just loved the ways I could make things easier for people.

Sure, there were difficult people very often, people who'd yell and complain no matter how nice their experience seemed to be, and there was even that one time someone tried holding up the store, putting us in lockdown mode until the police arrived.  But for the most part, life at the A&P was fun! 

The work was manageable and easy, and the money was decent enough for a high schooler to be getting.  I enjoyed being a kid in the otherwise adult environment, and it helped that I was a very reliable worker.  Overall, the experience was great, and if I ever had to choose a career outside of my field, working in a supermarket would be the first job on my list.  "It's been over 20 years," I imagine I'd tell the store manager, "But just give me an apron and point me in the right direction, and I'll be the best damn worker you ever had...now what was the code for bananas?"