We the Cashiers in all stores want the right to have drinks--in the form of bottled (or otherwise lidded) water, coffee, soft drinks, the like--at our registers.

We are standing, often for hours at a time, and our jobs are very social. We are required to speak with each and every customer. If it is busy, as it tends to be, we are not guaranteed the chance to make a mad dash to the nearest fountain--we are obligated to stay at our registers. In a dry store, as most of them are, a quick sip of water once every few minutes can make the difference between being comfortable and ending the shift with a sore throat, which is neither fair nor deserved. Naturally, if it is busy, we can't all leave our lanes every few minutes to find a water fountain and risk leaving customers with unmanned registers.

The issue of technology safety is easily handled by facing away from electronic equipment such as monitors and scanners when taking a drink, and storing the container out of sight, well out of the way of being knocked over.

Requiring the drink containers to be stored out of plain sight is reasonable, as it helps with safety regarding the employee, the technology, and the occasional customer who finds it rude to see drinks out in the open.

Not allowing cashiers to have a drink on hand is unreasonable and extremely uncomfortable for the employee, and an inconvenience to the customer who would otherwise have to wait for an employee to return to the register. In stores where there is a cafe available from which employees can purchase drinks and refill them throughout their shift, employees will not buy from there because there would be no point--who would buy a drink item that would be flat or room temperature within an hour, if they weren't able to actually drink it?

In summary, depriving cashiers of the right to have a drink on hand is unreasonable and translates to a potentially great deal of discomfort for the cashier. Allowing cashiers to have drinks will increase profits, because a lot of cashiers would buy their drinks from the store itself before their shifts started or on break. The simple ideas outlined in this petition regarding prevention of risk against technology are very easy to follow, and much-preferred above not having any drinks allowed at all.


Please keep your friendly neighborhood cashiers in mind,