(And her own safety) a priority. I consider that a good quality in a boss. Even if you feel she’s being overly cautious, it’s rooted in her wanting to make sure you get to your car safely. I imagine that most customers pay via credit/debit card. Still, a lurking potential thief, perhaps motivated by addiction, might imagine that someone closing the store might be leaving with some cash from the day’s sales.
How is the day’s cash handled? Is it put in a safe inside the store? Left in the cash register? Does somebody make a bank run to make a cash deposit?
Overall, it sounds like you’re getting good feedback from your SM and coworkers, including appreciation. It can be a little frustrating to work with people who seemingly love a job that you don’t love. But that positive atmosphere beats working with a crew of people who are seething with negativity. It sounds like the people you’re working with will go a long t way toward making this temporary job tolerable to you.
As you get to know them, try to find out how the others feel about their varied schedules. If you all would rather have set same shift schedules, maybe you will be able to make that happen, as long as you all know how to open and close the store. Do you think the varied schedule is solely rooted in a flexibility that is convenient for the SM? Or is it partially rooted in an attempt at fairness so that nobody has to open and close the store all of the time?
If you have to work in retail for a while (not your first choice, I know), I think it’s great that you are working in a store that appreciates its customers and employees who are mostly women over 40. You may just be getting to an age where you realize how rare that can be.