{"id":1096,"date":"2022-06-17T16:58:12","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T06:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/?p=1096"},"modified":"2022-06-17T16:58:12","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T06:58:12","slug":"rhonda-waterson-and-wendy-smart-ararats-checkout-chicks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/2022\/06\/17\/rhonda-waterson-and-wendy-smart-ararats-checkout-chicks\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhonda Waterson and Wendy Smart \u2013 Ararat\u2019s \u2018checkout chicks\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Lauren Nitschke<\/u><\/em><\/p>\n

WE\u2019VE all been there. You\u2019re grabbing some groceries and you want a fast yet courteous experience at the checkout, and you certainly don\u2019t want to muck about with that new-fangled self-service contraption.<\/p>\n

Ah, thank goodness, you think. There\u2019s that nice lady on Express.<\/p>\n

Chances are, said nice lady is either Rhonda Waterston or Wendy Smart, two stalwart \u2018checkout chicks\u2019 who have been at Woolworths for 34 years. Back when it was Safeway. Yep, that long. And they tell me they are never late<\/em> for a shift.<\/p>\n

Rhonda and Wendy have been friends since the days when their families were neighbours, with a gate connecting the two properties. Rhonda and Wendy say their friendship has grown over the years as a result of working together for so long.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve helped one another out,\u201d Wendy said.<\/p>\n

Rhonda can recall having her interview in the building where Bendigo Bank is currently situated. Barbara Schilling trained Rhonda and Wendy for six weeks before the supermarket opened in Ararat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did some training at Geelong in different stores. We went on a bus and did a road trip.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rhonda can remember being taken to the produce section and having to learn the names of fruits and vegetables that she had never seen before.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were taught that, when the customer comes in, we are the last line of what they see. They\u2019ve been through the store, they\u2019ve got groceries, they\u2019ve got deli, they\u2019ve got fruit and veg. But we are always the last point of contact they see in the store,\u201d Rhonda says.<\/p>\n

I ask Rhonda and Wendy how much the supermarket has changed since they started work there way back in 1988.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rudeness has increased.\u201d The type of customers they have seen coming through has changed, because society has changed.<\/p>\n

That, and the age of the staff. There are more young kids working there now compared to when Rhonda and Wendy started. There were no after school jobs on offer there at that point in time.<\/p>\n

One thing Rhonda has observed in recent years are the babies. To be more specific, the current babies of former babies who were pushed through their checkout decades ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen babies born, and now they\u2019re having babies. They\u2019re parents themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wendy can recall a time when the supermarket was only open until 6pm (oh the horror, whatever did we do when the late-night munchies struck?), and it was closed on Sundays. Dire times indeed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know why, but I can still remember a big bag of sugar was 45 cents,\u201d Wendy said, of other changes she has encountered over the years.<\/p>\n

I ask the women about notable bingles they have witnessed in the carpark over the years. Rhonda tells one funny story of a time when a shopper drove their car up onto the curb and straight into the bakery!<\/p>\n

Some people also park on the pedestrian walkway that leads into the store. Wendy believes that the people who do this legitimately believe it\u2019s a parking space. They must think they have hit the jackpot, if it was a parking space it is in the best spot in the entire carpark.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve made a lot of friends,\u201d Wendy said, referring to her regular customers. \u201cI feel awful because I don\u2019t know their names. They say, \u2018hello Wendy, how are you?\u2019 [which they see on her name badge.] But there are some lovely faithfuls. You have a bit of a laugh about something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do Rhonda and Wendy have a favourite customer? \u201cGood God. I\u2019ve had a lot. It\u2019s really hard to pick one out.\u201d Both women recognise that a trip to the supermarket is the only social interaction some customers have for the whole day, so they try to make it a pleasant experience for them.<\/p>\n

I ask Rhonda and Wendy about shoplifters. They tell me that make-up and stationery are common targets for theft. There have been plenty of times when the women have seen the police come into the supermarket to detain shoppers who are behaving badly.<\/p>\n

One sad incident the women relate to me was of an elderly shopper who took a one-dollar carton of long-life milk and tucked it under their arm. The police happened to be walking in just as the shopper was walking out and arrested them.<\/p>\n

How do Rhonda and Wendy politely yet promptly move on customers who are on for a yack, I ask. \u201cThat\u2019s why I like Express!\u201d Rhonda says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of the customers are good,\u201d Wendy said.<\/p>\n

I comment that the pair of them must have been reasonably content to work at the supermarket for as long as they have. \u201cIt\u2019s had its moments, but I\u2019ve enjoyed it,\u201d Wendy tells me.<\/p>\n

And how do Rhonda and Wendy feel about certain times of the year in the store? I ask them if there are any particular times that they like\u2026or that they dread (I\u2019m thinking Christmas\u2026)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always found Easter to be flat chat. Easter is busier than Christmas,\u201d Rhonda said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember one Easter I looked up, and the line was down to the meat department. I just said [to myself], \u2018don\u2019t look.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

And speaking of celebrations, I wanted to know if there was much partying going on out the back.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to have quite a few social gatherings, which was good, but that\u2019s gone by the wayside now. We used to have some fun nights,\u201d Wendy says. These gatherings took place all over town \u2013 Chally, the Leo, and J-Ward.<\/p>\n

Rhonda regales me with the story of having to do a manual stocktake after a big night and trying to count the jars of baby food whilst nursing a hangover.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were jars of baby food rolling around under the shelves. I just left them there,\u201d Rhonda laughed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WE\u2019VE all been there. You\u2019re grabbing some groceries and you want a fast yet courteous experience at the checkout, and you certainly don\u2019t want to muck about with that new-fangled self-service contraption.
\nAh, thank goodness, you think. There\u2019s that nice lady on Express.
\nChances are, said nice lady is either Rhonda Waterston or Wendy Smart, two stalwart \u2018checkout chicks\u2019 who have been at Woolworths for 34 years. Back when it was Safeway. Yep, that long. And they tell me they are never late for a shift.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1094,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[31],"class_list":["post-1096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/R-and-W-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdqUu4-hG","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1096"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}