European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 30, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes a Page 11 letters a commissary Cashiers treatment discussed the stars and stripes recently carried a Story a freeze on hiring will affect Dod civilians  this Type of Story grabs most readers attention i suppose As we re All affected in one Way or another by shortages of civilians. I can say that i feel somewhat remiss for not writing a letter earlier As planned. What i wanted to ask before and even More so now is Why arc Cashiers at the commissary paid so Little to do the Job they do they stand on their feet at least eight hours a Day and listen to customers scream because the scanner displays 80 cents while the shelf Price was 78 cents a 2-Ccnt difference. There arc others who will buy four or so similar items have the cashier scan each of them Sec which is cheaper then have the cashier void the other three. Still others make sexually vulgar comments to the Cashiers. Most Cashiers we be talked to suffer from a form of Tennis Elbow get frequent colds from customers standing face to face with them and of course there arc those with bad breath who want to stay and Chat forever. On a Busy Day Cashiers will take in Over $10,000 during a shift. In addition to holding a full time customer service position they re accountable for All of this Money. They must memorize As Best they can hundreds of a look up numbers. These Are the codes for food products which can to be scanned such As produce dog food some bakery goods Etc. They Are expected to smile and work fast. All of this for gs-3 pay even the Al 18 standards for most clerk behind the scenes filing papers Etc positions Call for gs-4s. It. Col. Jay Jordan is quoted in the article As saying that the current turnover rate for Cashiers is 60-100 percent each year. He went on to say that shortage problems could be offset to some degree by extending the hours of employees still on the payrolls. This is part of your problem right now. If the store closes at 6 p.m., the cashier will probably finish cleaning up and counting Money and coupons by 7-7 30 and get Home at 7 30-8. On late nights add another hour. Make these employees work More hours and you la see your turnover rate jump dramatically. Why Are people in a customer Scricc position like this graded so Low can you find out Why you lose 60100 percent annually and try and fix the problem Cashiers at Many stores in the United states Start at Over $9 an hour. A name withheld Heidelberg West Germany editors note a col. Paul a. Phillips commander . Army troop support Agency european commissary Region replies we recognize that there seems to be a disparity Between the work performed by our Cashiers and their pay. We Are also aware that they sometimes Are poorly treated by irate disrespectful and uncaring customers. We appreciate that when this happens our Cashiers let it have Little or no effect on their Job performance. Salaries Are based on a specific set of duties and responsibilities that Are promulgated by various Laws and regulations. Although we Are unable to set salaries based on the attitudes and Behaviours of our customers we do encourage our supervisors to recognize outstanding customer service through our various awards programs. We Hope that such recognition will compensate our employees for enduring customer abuse and other stressful situations. Of course since this inquiry was written we have been granted an exception to hire in our commissary stores. This allows us to operate on regular schedules and docs not require current on Board employees to work excessive amounts of overtime. The High turnover rate for Cashiers is because the majority of these positions Are filled by military and civilian family members. When their sponsors spouses Are required to change duty stations then we lose valuable and experienced employees. We would like to thank the writer for bringing these issues to our attention. We arc sure that the stars and stripes readers will Benefit from both the questions and answers. A Letterman show draws questions answer Arm Landers dear Ann Landers i live far away from my parents by Choice. In be never Felt close to them because my Mother was cruel to me from Early childhood on and my father never came to my Rescue. In spite of not Loving my parents i still feel tremendous guilt for not wanting to be around them. Every couple of years i Force myself to go Home for Christmas. It gets harder and harder. The stress and anxiety build for months before each visit and i arrive a nervous wreck. This past Christmas i became severely depressed for a month before i was to go Home and i had to take anti depressants and Tranquili Zers to get on the plane. My doctor advised me to cancel the trip because the stress had created severe physical problems but i Felt that i had to go since i am an Only child and Christmas has always been very important to my Mother. While i was there i talked about my feelings with my father for the first time. His response was a but it Means so much to your Mother to see you. You must continue to come no matter How you  two weeks ago my Mother wrote to say they Are coming to visit me this summer. In a already having night sweats. My doctor has Given me another prescription for Tranquili Zers and advised me to Start taking the anti depressants again. He also made it Clear that i am foolish to subject myself to this kind of punishment and has urged me to Tell them not to come. My parents know that our visits Are hell on me and that in a totally miserable around them. Frankly i done to think they care. They Are More concerned about How it looks to the rest of the family my aunts and cousins if we done to see each other. Id love to get counselling to learn How to Deal with this pressure and i know you la suggest it but i can barely make ends meets now and i done to have any Money for professional help. What should i do about the visit they Are planning id really appreciate your sound and free advice. A St. Louis dear St. Louis you have established the following your relationship with your parents is miserable. Being around them makes you emotionally and physically ill. They Are aware of All this but they done to care. Your Mother is hellbent on presenting a picture of togetherness for the rest of the family no matter what it does to you. Tell your parents that they cannot come to visit you this summer because you just Arentt up to it. If you can to afford counselling join a support group. Start with recovery inc. Look in the phone Book this is a terrific self help group for people with emotional problems and its free. Talk to your Clergyman. Contact a family serv ice Agency. Find a co dependency group. You must pet this out of your gut and counselling is the Best Way. Pills will get you through a crisis but you should not have to live on pills which is what you Are doing. Write again and Tell me How you Are. Getting help is the most important step you la Ever take. I want to make sure you do it. Good Luck dear. Gem of the Day most of us done to put our Best foot Forward until we get the other one in hot water. C creators Syndicate Well i waited for a month to see arts take action on a previous complaint printed in the a stars and gripes column about the outdated David Letterman shows. If i am not mistaken there has not been a current a late night episode shown on arts in 1990. I know that the show is running in the states because the postal service can mail Var tapes faster than arts can air the episodes. You responded to the other viewers complaint by explaining that you show the better reruns similar to the a Best of Carson episodes. I can understand a few reruns but three months of outdated material is too much. A tonight show fans get to see Johnny when Jay Leno is on vacation and Arsenio Hall fans can get bored to death with his current shows. Why can to arts air current Letterman episodes Letterman fans would like to hear something besides old Jim and Tammy jokes for a second time. Before the rumours Start the european office in Florence Italy has compiled its own top 10 reasons Why seb is not showing current Letterman shows 10. The tapes were lost in the mail 9. Arts is using the Money to make More recruitment advertisements 8. Arsenio Hall fan got bored and switched the tapes 7. The italian truck strike 6. Baseball fans plot to eliminate Letterman so arts will show More games on to this summer 5. The air Force needed More Money for the b-2 4. A honest sergeant i thought you said destroy not deploy a 3. Technician refuses to give up the tapes until he gets to the top of the waiting list for housing 2. A a it a a fest a fault a 1. Arts will not play current episodes until Letterman agrees to answer All letters from military personnel. A name withheld san Vito Dei Normanna Italy editors note a Robert w. Matheson chief television divison armed forces radio and television service broadcast Center replies regarding your letter and your concern that arts airs Only reruns of a late night with David Letterman a let me reassure you that we do not control or otherwise select the episodes provided to our outlets. The arts broadcast Center distributes every available episode of a late night directly by satellite within hours of the program s airing on Abc five Days a week. This does not preclude Abc from airing reruns. The monday broadcast of a late night on Abc is always a rerun which can be very dated. For example the March 20 show was a repeat from 1983. If you regularly watch shows that air in the states on mondays f i tuesday european time you w ill be watching reruns. If you would like to express your dissatisfaction with this rerun policy directly to Abc the address is late night with David Letterman National broadcasting co. 30 Rockefeller Plaza new York . 10112 european edition col. Gene e. Townsend Usan commander editor in Chiel it. Col. Suzanne l. Phillips Usan Deputy commander editor in Chiel Marie Kominicki Mert Proctor Deane b. Mcdermott production manager managing editor circulation manager this newspaper is an authorized Enol tibial publication for members of the military services overseas. Contents of the stars and stripes Are not necessarily the official views of. Or endorsed by the . Government the department of defense or the . 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