Cops.

I have a co-worker that talks about how much s/he hates cops. S/he thinks they are all crooked and abuse their power. However one day his'er house gets robbed and his'er spouse gets shot at, and now s/he's all SO GRATEFUL that the cops showed up to help. Don't be like this.

When you are working at a small convenience store, cops are your friends. Yes, you can't steal stuff while they are there (you aren't doing that anyway, right?)--but they also make it less likely that you'd get shot in the face while on duty. Here are three easy steps to keep them at your store and not the one down the street:

Step 1: Ask your manager if there are any freebies for police.

Step 2: If there are, use them at every chance and make sure that these "brothers (and sisters!) in blue" know about them.

Step 3: Chat'em up! Talk to them, entertain them, have fun! Laugh at their jokes, though you've heard them a thousand times. Feel free to partially neglect your cleaning duties when they're there. Horse around, situation permitting.

The "popo" are people, too, y'know. They have families and cook-outs and pets. They have secret recipies and phobias. They can be awesome friends, too. Imagine this: if a zombie apocolypse befalls us, are you going to hide out in your friend's mom's basement or a gun-crazy cop's house? Yeah, that's what I thought.