Sales clerks overworked during Idul Fitri holiday

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

The Idul Fitri celebration ended nearly two weeks ago, but Ratna, a 25-year-old cashier at a department store in Supermall in Lippo Karawaci, still recalls the nightmare of the shopping mania the day before it, or on the last day of the Ramadhan fasting month.

"I had to stand all day long. I was only allowed to leave the counter to pray or to go to the restroom. But the rest of the time I was behind the register. Imagine how tiring it was," she said recently.

Her burden was heavier as she was held responsible for any deficit in the money received from the sales.

"I did not want to take any risk. I deal with the shoppers' money. If I made even the slightest mistake, I would have to pay the deficit," she said.

"I got very nervous as the situation was chaotic. The long queue of impatient shoppers was made worse when some of them shouted, asking me to be quick in serving them."

The situation continued even after the celebration, forcing her to cancel her plan to celebrate Idul Fitri with her family in Lampung. To recover from tiredness and distress, Ratna took complete rest in her rented room once she had a day off.

Like Ratna, shop attendants in shopping centers in Tangerang also had to work overtime as many of the centers extended their opening hours to serve last-minute shoppers prior to the celebration.

In Bintaro Plasa, shop attendant Devi had to work from 8 a.m. until the shop closed at 9 p.m. daily for two weeks before the celebration.

"We had to work all the time. It seemed there was no time left for even a short break. I even had to work on my day off," said the girl who has worked at the shop for five years.

Berna, a 19-year-old cashier at a wholesale store in Cikokol, also suffered a similar experience.

"I really thank God that those tiring days have passed. When other people were spending their holidays with their families, we had to work. No holiday for us," she groaned.

The only time Ratna, Devi and Berna and other shop attendants could take a break was when they and other Muslims performed the Ied morning prayer.

Afterwards, when others gathered for the celebration, they had to rush to work at midday to start serving customers.