Friday 3 June 2016

The Checkout Girl: My Life on the Supermarket Conveyor Belt- Tazeen Ahmad

I read crime. 96% of the time, if there is a dead body, a blood spatter or missing person, it is the book for me. Imagine how taken aback I was when I found myself intently reading the blurb on The Checkout Girl- An undercover account of supermarket life, from behind the tills, during the beginning stages of the recession.

Surely there must be a dead body tucked away somewhere in The Checkout Girl hundreds of pages? SPOILER ALERT: There is not.

Tazeen Ahmad is a well-seasoned journalist and broadcaster in both America and Britain. In 2008, like many others, she was finding herself counting her pennies after her weekly shop. “It was after one such shopping trip, clutching my hefty bill, that I turned back to look at the checkouts and it dawned on me - this was the front line of the recession, where the reality of the downturn really hit home.” With that, Tazeen embarked on her quest to see what a “billion-pound hole in our economy would mean for us all”. After applying for multiple positions in supermarkets across the area, she found her home for the next six months, Sainsbury’s.

Thrust headfirst into supermarket life, Tazeen was amazed by how much really goes on behind the scenes. As she says, “Never again will I shop the same way.” Overwhelmed by all the company slogans, policies and the constant feeling of being watched, judged and appraised, it took about a month to really get into the swing of things.

The Checkout Girl is filled with anecdotes about the upwards of 230 customers Tazeen would serve every day; some happy, some sad and plenty downright rude. The recession is always floating in the background- rearing its ugly head now and then.

In reviews I saw The Checkout Girl likened to “Literary chewing-gum, in that it requires very little concentration or brain-power.” I must say I agree. It is a quick and easy read but it does not get the brain cells working overtime. 3.5 stars.

Reviewed by Kristen.

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