A 10-minute snapshot of another's life....

This was set in our second features lesson at University - I wouldn't choose to spend 10 minutes analysing a person intentionally. Both weird and stalker-ish to be honest...

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Her outfit almost blends in with her features; her jet-black hair clashes so much so with her black work hat it’s hard to tell where one meets the other. Add with this dark, bushy eyebrows and black glasses millimetres from falling off her nose and it’s easy to look straight past her – probably for the best in a student-infested university.

A people person, always the first to serve customers - she acts like a mothering figure to the less-experienced coffee maker working the machines. Rushed off her feet but managing her time well, it’s clear she’s had a few years experience in her job. Puzzlingly, she still needs to read the till every time she completes a transaction to give correct change – is this due to poor mathematic skills, a recent cock-up, or company policy?

Every time she serves, she does the same thing. A receipt is given to the previous customer, folded in half to fit snugly in the hand, with brief eye contact before they walk off happy yet penniless. A glance up at the next customer is then given while she positions her till, ready for whatever order is shot at her next. She is aware of the ‘third-person’ rule, whereupon she glances at the customer third in queue as a silent promise that it will be there time to shine soon.

A Chinese accent for the 30-something, yet distinct enough an accent that she could have lived in England all her life. “Can I help?” she repeats over and over, like a programmed robot, yet lacks her Ps and Qs on several occasions. Her name badge is too small to read; her name is too long to fit on – which doesn’t really help the cause – as if the company doesn’t feel a name badge should be readable. She’s just another cog in the process for the suits upstairs maybe. Pride in cleanliness is clear – a tonne of serviettes surround her till, a bottle of hand wash tucked away behind the till to clean herself after any spillages – of which there are none of course. She really is on the top of her game. A brief nod to the previous customer, a glance at the till, the money goes in, the change goes out with help from the till screen once more, a smile, a glance to the next customer and off she goes again…