According to animal psychologist Stanley Corel's research results, the intelligence quotient of Chihuahuas ranks 67th out of about 100 dog breeds.
This is not a very impressive ranking, to put it mildly.
Of course, since these are not actual research results, they can't be completely trusted. But at least the claim that Chihuahuas have an IQ of 67 seems believable.
After all, if their intelligence was above average, this Chihuahua would have remembered to buy toothpaste along with the toothbrush yesterday!
"Where's the toothpaste?"
"Why don't you try looking for it where you bought the toothbrush yesterday?"
But since I had already experienced the first day, I was a bit more relaxed this time and decided to take a guess.
This Chihuahua was wearing a suit and had an employee ID badge around its neck, so it must be working at a company around here.
If a customer dressed like this comes by once and then visits again, there's a good chance they'll become a regular.
Having more regulars is usually a good thing, but why does it have to be during my shift...
"Where is it?"
"It was behind the fourth corner..."
"How am I supposed to know that?"
Seriously, how much more detailed explanation does he want?
I don't know.
Just like before, I got up and showed him where the toothpaste was. The alcohol smell wasn't as strong this time, but the behavior was the same. I just decided this Chihuahua must have an anger management issue.
After reaching the area behind the fourth corner, the Chihuahua stared at the various toothpaste options and asked, "Which toothpaste is good?"
"I'm not sure."
"You don't even know and you are working here?"
This isn't a common occurrence, but customers do sometimes ask store employees for product recommendations.
And my answer is always the same - I don't know.
I'm not the one using or selling these products, how would I know?
The only thing us part-time workers tend to know about is the taste of the pre-made lunch boxes.
Since we end up eating the ones that are about to be discarded, we get a feel for which one will sell well, and which one won't.
Especially the ones with sauces tend to get discarded often - they're too much of a hassle.
"I don't actually know the performance details of all the products."
"But you must have some idea, right?"
"The only thing I know is that these are 1+1 promotion items this month."
"I don't need two."
"But one is free. Why not just take it?"
Just take it, please, so you don't have to come again...
After a moment of consideration, the Chihuahua picked up the two most expensive toothpaste options. At the counter, he put down the toothpaste and then stared at the hangover relief pills on the counter, suddenly asking me, "Do these work well?"
I've never tried the hangover pills myself - they're ridiculously overpriced. A pack of 3 costs 5,500 won, which is enough to buy a cheap carton of eggs. Wouldn't it be much better for your health and hangover to just fry up some eggs instead of taking these pills?
"Oh, just let me try it. Give me this too."
"That's also a 1+1 promotion, sir."
"But how do you use this?"
Since I obviously didn't know, I glanced at the back and read the instructions - take one before drinking and one after to help with sobering up.
I relayed this to the Chihuahua, and he immediately said,
"You keep it. I don't need two."
"Huh?"
"And take the toothpaste too."
"But why are you giving me-"
"It's none of your business. I won't ask you to pay me back later, kid."
It's not that I'm afraid that he will ask me to pay later, it's just...why the heck would a part-time worker need hangover pills and toothpaste?
I remembered what the store manager had said - if a customer doesn't see me as a person, I don't have to treat them like one either.
This Chihuahua wasn't even in the "annoying customer" category - he was just straight-up crazy.
I was at a loss for words.
After paying, the Chihuahua muttered something briefly and left.
I cleared the hangover pills and toothpaste off the counter and briefly wondered what it is that makes Chihuahuas so popular.
Of course, I didn't come up with an answer.
Instead, I had a different realization - today's shift was going to be just as miserable as yesterday's, no doubt.
Less than 30 minutes into my shift and two of yesterday's customers had already returned, so it was safe to assume most of them would be back today.
And the majority of yesterday's customers were far from normal.
I never could have predicted I'd end up cleaning up vomit on my very first day.
"Damn it."
What was that now?
I suddenly got up and looked ahead.
This awkward-looking customer was quite peculiar - his overall body structure was human, but his face resembled a doll. To put it analogously, he was like a mechanical doll.
He was also wearing a factory worker's uniform, and his body was soaked in all sorts of dirty substances.
It was as if he had just come from a slaughterhouse.
"Yes, customer."
"This..."
The customer handed me his smartphone.
I took it and examined the screen, which was filled with bizarre, contorted text that was difficult to even guess the cultural origins of.
"Uh... What is this?"
"Suya."
What on earth is "Suya"? Is this mechanical doll or a foreign worker?
A lot of foreign workers do come to convenience stores.
Convenience stores can surprisingly do a lot of things - they can handle utility bill payments, send parcels, and even let people come in for a quick lunch.
It seemed this mechanical doll-like gentleman had come for such a reason, but since I couldn't make sense of the text, I couldn't figure out what he was trying to do.
Out of frustration, I started sliding the screen up and down, and saw some logos resembling bills and airplanes.
Seeing this, I thought I might have an idea...
"Are you perhaps trying to do an international wire transfer?"
"Yes! Suya! Suya!"
Surprisingly, you can even do international wire transfers at a convenience store.
I've never actually done it myself, but I vaguely remembered a friend who used to work part-time telling me, "If anyone asks you to do an international wire transfer, just tell them no."
I don't have any intention of getting involved in this.
But since it's part of the job, I suppose I should try to help.
However, no matter how much I looked at the screen, the jumbled text only made my head spin.
There was only one way to deal with this.
"Just wait a moment, please."
Improvisation.
If I can't read the text, I'll have to judge by the icons.
First, the screen had six icons - coins, dollars, and so on.
I tapped the icon that looked like a building, and it showed a bundle of bills and a convenience store brand logo.
Okay, the building icon must be for a bank, and the convenience store logo for the convenience store.
I tapped the convenience store logo, and a blank field appeared with a prompt to enter an amount.
I asked the mechanical doll-like gentleman.
"How much are you transferring?"
"?"
"How much? How much?"
"Ah. Five hundred thousand won,"
"Okay."
What on earth am I doing....
I entered 500,000 won, and then two buttons appeared - a blue one and a gray one. Conventionally, the blue one would be the confirmation button and the gray one the cancel button.
I tapped the blue button, and a screen appeared that seemed to be asking for a password.
The mechanical doll-like gentleman took back the smartphone, read the screen, and then tilted his head quizzically.
"Input, can I? Input information?"
"Yes."
Curious, but covering the screen with his hand, he entered the password, then handed the phone back to me.
This time, a barcode scanning screen appeared.
I scanned the barcode with the POS machine, but an error message saying "Invalid barcode" appeared.
It seems I need to do some additional operation before actually scanning the barcode.
In cases like this, it's usually best to check the service menu...
"Sir, is it working okay?"
"Just a moment, I think I know what to do..."
"?"
"Not sure. Wait... wait a second."
The mechanical doll-like gentleman tilted his head again.
I can't say I'm that great at English either, but this mechanical doll seems to be even more linguistically challenged than me.
Anyway, let's keep going.
While tapping through the various buttons on the POS touch screen, I spotted an icon similar to the convenience store logo I had seen earlier.
I tapped it, and a screen prompting me to scan the barcode appeared.
I scanned the barcode, and a message saying "Cash payment only.
Would you like to proceed with payment?" popped up.
"Wait, this is actually working?"
"Huh? Sir?"
"Ah, customer. Uh, well... please give me the money."
"Okay."
He handed me ten 5,000 won bills.
After counting them, I tapped the confirmation button and entered the amount.
A receipt was then printed out. The sales total had indeed increased by 500,000 won.
Well, it actually worked.
"It seems to have gone through. The receipt printed out."
"This... this."
However, the mechanical doll-like gentleman had an anxious look on his face.
He turned on the text messaging screen on his phone and held it out to me.
It seems the wire transfer wouldn't be complete until he received a confirmation text message, but he hadn't received anything yet.
"If you're trying to do an international wire transfer, it'll probably take some time. I'm not really sure, but..."
"Huh?"
"It seems the payment went through, so why don't you just go sit over there for a bit?"
I pointed to the tables in the convenience store, and the mechanical doll-like gentleman obediently went and sat down, still looking worried and nodding his head.
After about 2 minutes,
"Suya!"
He suddenly jumped up and shouted, then hurried over to me, bowing repeatedly.
"Sir, good! Good!"
"I'm glad it worked out for you..."
Now can he just leave?
But the mechanical doll-like gentleman held out his palm to me, then flung the door to the convenience store wide open and shouted in one direction.
"Suya! Berte katun!"
"Suya??"
"Suya! Porto berte katun! Katun!"
Simultaneously, a rumbling sound of footsteps started coming from outside, and soon I could see mechanical doll-like figures through the store window.
Five, ten... no, how many were there?
I'm not exaggerating - a veritable horde of mechanical dolls started pouring into the store.
Five came in first, then another five.
The space in front of the counter started getting filled up, with the mechanical dolls jostling and muttering at each other as they streamed in.
"Suya! Suya!"
"Suyaaat!"
And I was utterly bewildered.
Hey, enough with the coming in already! I know what you're here for - to mess me up, right?!
No matter how many times I silently begged them to stop coming in, the parade of mechanical dolls showed no signs of stopping.
By my rough count, there were around 40 of them who had crammed into the convenience store.
Many of them had to move behind the snack shelves due to the lack of space, so there were likely even more.
Now the situation is starting to make sense.
These mechanical dolls had been wandering around looking for a place that could do this for them.
But the screen they showed me was filled with scribbled text, so how was I supposed to understand any of it?
They must have been turned away elsewhere, and that's why they ended up here.
And I went and did it for them...?
The mechanical dolls holding out their smartphones unanimously approached me.
"Excuse me, what kind of work do you do?"
"Huh?"
"What's your job?"
"Ah. Slaughter. Monster slaughter."
Ah, they're slaughterhouse workers.