Cashback

It takes approximately 500 pounds to crush a human skull.

But the human emotion is a much more delicate thing.

Take Suzy, my first real girlfriend.

My first real breakup,

happening right in front of me.

I never thought it was going to be similar to car crash.

I've slammed the brakes,

and I'm skidding towards an emotional impact.

So is this all my fault?

Me. Ben Willis.

It's funny what goes through your mind at a time like this.

The two-and-a-half years we spent together.

The promises we made.

The holidays we took with her parents.

The lamp we bought at Ikea together.

It was my final year at art college.

And in the weeks that followed the breakup,

I tried to figure out what went wrong.

Why did we break up?

It's funny, but when I think back now the reason seems so small.

One day she's with me, and she's saying "I love you,"

and the next week she's with someone else.

Probably saying the same thing.

So did she really love me?

What is love anyway?

And is it really that fleeting?

Forget about her. You don't wanna waste your time

thinking about a girl that dumped you for a loser like Steve Jenkins.

She didn't dump me.

Why did she Chuck you anyway?

It ended

'cause Suzy thinks the grass is always greener on the other side.

She's always worrying about there being a better party to go to.

Or a better boyfriend to be had.

I just felt I could never make her happy.

And then Steve Jenkins started texting her.

How did Steve Jenkins get her number?

It was a good point.

I only imagined the worst.

I don't want to think about it.

You need to go out with a beautiful girl. A model or something.

Why?

Well, because if you've got a beautiful girl on your arm,

then you must be worth having.

Women are in competition with each other, you see.

Suzy sees you with a sexy baby, she'll think to herself

"if I can get Ben back from that beautiful girl,

then I must be more beautiful than her."

Sean's success with women was pretty impressive.

It's true. Ask your mom.

The age-old question. What is love?

Excuse me.

That's good. That's perfect.

Ben, Mr. Adams here has given his time up for you.

Don't you think we should show him a little bit of respect?

Excuse me.

I live in student accommodation not far from the college.

It's basically a four-story concrete block

housing some 120 hormone-crazed students.

This is the haunting period.

The time when the demons of regret come for you.

She stood right there

when I said those words:

"I'm sorry.

"I don't think I can make you happy.

Maybe we should break up."

And that's when she got angry.

Hello?

Suzy, it's me, Ben.

Ben! I was asleep. What is it?

Suzy, um...

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry too.

Do you think there's any chance we'll get back together?

I don't think so, Ben.

I think it ran its course.

Besides, I'm with Steve now.

Have you slept with him?

Yes.

Was it good? I mean, is it better than...

I don't wanna talk about it with you, Ben.

I've gotta go. Sorry, Ben.

- Suzy? -

To think about her now with someone else,

it felt like all the oxygen had been sucked from the room.

After my breakup with Suzy, I just couldn't fall asleep anymore.

The more I tried to sleep, the less tired I felt.

I was wide awake.

I tried everything.

I'd just become immune to sleep.

I suddenly found I had eight extra hours.

My life had been extended by a third.

I wanted time to pass quickly, but instead I was forced to witness

the passing of every second of every hour.

I wanted the hurt I felt to go away.

But in some cruel trick of events,

I now had even more time on my hands.

More time to think about Suzy.

Would you mind getting out? Just checking that wheel?

I took the bus with no real place to go.

I watched the landscape slowly change as it clung to the last hours of sunlight,

before leaving me to get another sleepless night.

I started to read all the books I wished I'd had time to read.

With the extra hours, I even had time to reread my favorite ones.

But she was never far from my mind.

Two pounds 75, please.

Ah, how much is it without these two?

One pound 70.

It was getting obvious that I needed to trade some of my time.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Mmm, mmm, mmm. It all looks fantastic, man.

I think you'll fit in very well here.

It's a great feeling inside, Ben.

It's marvelous. We hope you've enjoyed reading about

what it's like to be part of Sainsbury's and listening.

I know, I've been through this with you.

There's so many opportunities, Ben. It's a life thing.

I could feel a faint shift in a faraway place.

A current of unknown consequences was on its way

moving towards me like an unstoppable wave of fate.

T-e-a-m-w-o-r-k. Work.

Teamwork, Ben.

Welcome aboard.

And so I started working the night shift at Sainsbury's.

During the hours most normal people are sleeping,

I'm busy trading my time.

I give them my extra eight hours, and they give me money. Cash back.

- Hi. - Oh, hi.

I'm late again. Jenkins is gonna kill me. See you later.

Yeah, see ya.

- Sharon! - Yes, Mr. Jenkins?

- Late again, Sharon. - I'm sorry, Mr. Jenkins.

- Second time this week. - I know, Mr. Jenkins.

I'm sorry, it won't happen again.

Okay.

My first year at art college was boring to say the least.

But it helped me to appreciate the fundamentals of still life.

I'd like to remind the customer that there's a special

two for the price of one offer on aisle ten.

Fresh bread and cakes. That's aisle ten for a special two for the price of one offer.

Well, don't just stare at it, Ben!

Clean it up.

You see, I've always wanted to be a painter.

And like many artists before me,

the female form has always been a great source of inspiration.

I've always been in awe of the power they unknowingly possess.

Now, are you going to clean them up or not?

There is an art to dealing with the boredom of an eight-hour shift.

An art to putting your mind somewhere else while the seconds slowly tick away.

I found that all the people working here

had perfected their own individual art.

Take Sharon Pintey.

Sharon knows rule number one. The clock is the enemy.

The basic rule is this:

The more you look at the clock, the slower the time goes.

It will uncover the hiding place of your mind

and torture it with every second.

This is the basic art in dealing with the trade of your time.

Any cash back?

This is Barry Brickman.

You see, Barry thinks of himself as a bit of a daredevil stuntman.

For a start, Barry is quite well-known.

When one of Barry's bike tricks went wrong,

the cameraman put it on the Internet.

Barry has stuck to his scooter ever since.

Matt Stephens is also a king scooterer.

And what was the other thing?

And what was the other thing?

- Sausage! - Oh, yeah.

Now Barry and Matt are good friends.

There you go. Take care.

Between them, they have come up with a very different way

of dealing with the trade of their time.

Look. Look.

Theirs is an art to finding anything to do that isn't work.

A few days later, Barry and Matt were reported

for what they called "helping the ladies."

It was these shampoo bottles that sent them on their quest.

Barry and Matt knew what they looked like.

And they knew that the women in the supermarket knew what they looked like.

Their theory was that even though it was a sex toy

masquerading as a bottle of shampoo,

women would like to try it as a sex toy

but were embarrassed to buy it because they knew what it looked like.

The decision to buy it would be an easier one if they were already at the checkout.

If they didn't object, then Barry and Matt knew

they'd helped a bottle find a happy home.

Barry had challenged Matt to a scooter race

in which they would sprint down one aisle and up the next.

They would do all 14 aisles, and then back to the starting line.

They had been waiting for the day the manager called in sick.

The art of doing something else other than the work you're supposed to do, is addictive.

The excitement of doing something that you shouldn't be doing,

along with the consequences if you're caught doing it,

are so strong that it often pulls others away from their own art.