Gang-Lift

Gang-Lift

v. To lift multiple ITEMS at once—as from a CASE—by using two hands to squeeze the first and last ITEM towards one another, so that intervening ITEMS are held in place by friction, and all may be moved together as a single unit: “Gang-lift Cheerios® to throw half a case at once” —n. Any lift so made.

NOTE: The beauty of a Gang-Lift is it's fast. Two grabs may be all it takes to empty an entire CASE. Squeeze down low, as contents tend to settle. Thus, the bottoms of BOXES are generally firmer than the tops.

Candidates? General MillsTM breakfast cereals are CASED on trays with banded covers specifically to enable such rapid handling. Then there's elbow macaroni, boxed macaroni and cheese, dog biscuits, and so on.

TIP: Corner Rip? If a CASE is too tight, and you're sure it'll all GO, rip open the CASE'S corner to create enough space to easily slide your hands down into the CASE on opposite sides.

Caution: Be gentle—don't squish, bend or disfigure anything! Also, watch out for slippery ITEMS that may squirt out like a deck of playing cards out of a bad shuffle, forcing you to play “52 Pick-Up” with the whole bunch. Better to reduce the number of units you lift at once.

Garbage Compactor

Garbage Compactor

n. A usually locked chute down which DEPARTMENTS may toss their garbage whenever the M.O.D. unlocks it and calls a CODE-G.

NOTE:

The compactor is kept locked to minimize SHRINK, which may include the accidental or intentional dumping of viable PRODUCT.

There are stories of rogue NIGHT CREWS (always at some other STORE, of course) who would occasionally trash portions of LOAD rather than take the time to THROW it. Urban legend? You decide.

TRUE STORY: You might never figure out how to start the Garbage Compactor's compacting mechanism unless somebody told you. I sure didn't. When told to empty all the trashcans in the BACKROOM, I stared at that control panel for a long time, pushed and jiggled this and that, and then finally just gave up and had to go ask someone. The secret?

TIP: Push Key to Start. Unusual, but to start the Garbage Compactor, push in the key. That's because it's not just a key, but a key sticking into a button. Pushing in the key thus pushes in the button, and that gets everything going.

Gift Card

Gift Card

n. A plastic, limited-use debit card issued by the STORE for certain fixed amounts and which may be purchased by anyone from the CUSTOMER SERVICE DESK. Once activated, Gift Cards may subsequently be used at any branch of the STORE to pay for purchase amounts up to the face value of the card, either all at once, or incrementally on several occasions.

NOTE: In some circumstances a STORE Gift Card may be awarded by STORE management. For instance, at present, as part of a STORE loyalty incentive program, a Gift Card worth $25 is awarded weekly to the winner of a random receipt drawing among ASSOCIATES who enter their CHECKOUT REGISTER tapes showing current purchases of $50 or more using their personal BONUS CARD. I've won it a few times. It's nice!

Also, a few other times I've been awarded a $5 Gift Card by a FRONT-END MANAGER as a small token of appreciation for helping out in ways above and beyond the call of my usual duties. Again, very nice!

Of course, nowadays, there are many, many kinds of Gift Cards, for many, many other stores—and even for online services, like iTunes. You'll find such third-party Gift Cards on racks beside the Pharmacy, for example. Like STORE Gift Cards, they can be purchased and validated at any REGISTER or at the CUSTOMER SERVICE DESK.

For more about Gift Cards, see, e.g.,:
^{http://www.topsmarkets.com/shareddev/sharedcontent/Giftcards/aboutgiftcards.cfm}

Gun

Gun

n. A special hand-held BARCODE SCANNER that is Wi-Fi connected to the STORE'S computer, and which can be used to obtain PRICING, INVENTORY, or other PRODUCT information, or to place orders for PRODUCTS, update INVENTORY counts, etc. Typically used by DEPARTMENT or STORE MANAGERS. See also BACK-STOCK, INVENTORY, NEGATIVE ORDER WORKSHEET, OVERSTOCK: “Put that in the gun.”

NOTE: There are some things you just can't say over the STORE'S PA. Like “Garbage”—we call it “CODE-G,” remember?

Well another no-no would be “Gun,” as in, “Price Control, please bring a Gun to aisle 5.” Now, stop and think. How does that sounds to CUSTOMER ears? A GUN?

Caution: Funny? Not if someone drops dead of a heart attack. Better call it something else. For example, “Price Control, please bring a hand-held stock Scanner to aisle 5.”