[tuq]

Read through this whole thread and it's probably way too late to bring this up, but I'm amazed how many people hated being a cashier.

I worked nearly ten years in the grocery business, in capacities from bagboy to cashier to night stocker, produce clerk, and management. IMO cashier was by far the easiest, least stressful of the positions. You knew when you were coming and going, you didn't have a task list to complete, the manual labor was negligible (compared to lifting 40 lb boxes of apples and heavy cases of grocery product, I mean), you didn't have to go in and out of coolers and freezers, and the customers were generally less of a pain in the ass as they'd done their shopping and now wanted to leave as quickly as possible. I found that being positive and friendly made the job borderline enjoyable. Plus we were generally paid well - when I left the industry around ten years ago cashiers capped out at about $13.50/hr plus benefits.

The obvious drawback is legit - having to stand in one place for long stretches, much like a dealer at a casino. But I didn't think that was all that bad, and we were given plenty of time for breaks and wandering around.

Also, the people I worked with were rarely dumb - a lot of them were second income housewife types who were actually pretty sharp and a lot of fun to be around. Being a cashier at a grocery store level is several rungs above ringing up fast food, with the exception of Wal-Mart.