French check out girl becomes bestselling author

Anna Sam working her day job when she's not writing (The Times)

A novel can be created from any subject as one French supermarket checkout girl has discovered after her everyday trials and tribulations have been documented and converted into paperback form.

Les Tribulations d’une Caissiere (The Tribulations of a Checkout Girl), has sold near on 100,000 copies and is set to be translated into English. There’s also talk of a film adaptation.

Starting a part-time English Literature diploma Anna Sam then went onto to start her own blog in January which quickly became a overnight literary sensation.

Ms Sam describes her job next to a conveyor belt as ‘one of the most desirable vantage points from which to enjoy the full panoply of human idiocy’. Her observations range from the ridiculous lengths some go to shoplift (‘thieves will think nothing of stuffing CDs into camembert cheese’) to the seedy attempts of flirting she faced on a regular basis. Predatory male customers are also a constant problem. The writer has a particular dislike of those who ask ambiguously “are you open?”, or “are you available?”

Ms Sam’s usual reply was: “I am not but my till is.”

Anna has created a secret hidden world which she has viewed from her checkout for the last eight years. Ms Sam writes: “You would be astonished by the number of kisses stolen in the aisles (even in the toilet paper department), the languorous looks exchanged between the charcuterie and fish counters, the bottoms and breasts felt in the frozen food department.”

Ms Sam is now hoping to put the checkout behind her and make it as a writer or try and get a part time job in a bookshop. Even if her efforts to become a writer do not come to fruition Anna Sam has proven that inspiration can be found in the most boring 9 to 5s.

Discussion:
What everyday events or occupations can you or have you taken inspiration from? How do you turn an ordinary tale into the extraordinary? Have you got any tips to do so?

Words: Seamus Swords