Flash: Positive Punishment (Or I don’t think this means what you think it means)

Photo by Eduardo Soares on Unsplash

“And furthermore, if I get one more customer complaint, you will get a three-day suspension.”

Yada, yada. Maribeth had been nodding along, doing her best to ignore the growing three o’clock cashier lines from all the parents running errands while picking up kids from school which she would get to dive into after her once-every-couple-of-weeks being-bitched-at session with her manager was done. Likely another customer complaint would be happening as she dug out of that line with Latoya and Fernanda.

Next on her agenda of the day is rushing to pick up her five-month-old and four-year-old from daycare since her mom had the flu and couldn’t babysit at the moment after her custodial job. Damn Tim for dumping her the minute she started showing. You think after Seth she would have known better, but one keeps hoping guys actually mean what they say.

Wait, back up.

“A three-day suspension?” Maribeth asked, her voice wobbling.

“Yes. It is a new corporate policy. Three strikes, three-day suspension.” Aaron smirked, pleased to finally get a rise out of her.

O.M.G. The only time she had got three days off in a row since returning to the workforce after a short round of unemployment for the audacity of needing a week to recover from birthing issues with her first kid was the birth of her second kid after her water breaking on the job Monday. The store had scrambled to cover her shifts the final two days before Christmas and had convinced her to come back Friday because Return Day is always crazy.

Punishments had been undesirable hours, which usually worked out well with the hours of her mom’s job, saving them on day care. Forced overtime or double-shifts, with the nice bonuses. Stocking instead of cashier, which allowed her to move around more and even sit a little on the floor. But three-days off in a row?

The things she could accomplish with guaranteed hours of not being randomly called in! Likely it will mean a couple double-shifts thereafter because of being short-handed but what else was new? Corporate didn’t like them turning in more than sixty-hours per week for the full-timers so she would get the same hours after they had to rearrange the hours for the other five full-time cashiers. Not a paycheck hit, unless it was summer when they had the high schoolers available during normal work day hours.

“I will keep that in mind, sir.” Wait until she told the others of the new corporate policy!

(words 417; first published 5/3/2026)