A Rough Cartoon of My Life

As part of my job I fold shirts. A lot.

Rambling

I didn't really have any stories from Black Friday. I now firmly believe that the chaos of Black Friday is an urban legend.

I'm pretty sure that my life is going to change dramastically (to borrow a friend's word) next year and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Definitely excited, definitely terrified. My packing list is getting a little long and my bank account is shrinking a little too quickly. I think once I buy my plane ticket it will feel more real. I need to buy a Dutch/English dictionary!

Adventures in Retail: the Calm Before the Storm

People keep asking me if I'm ready for Black Friday. No, I'm not. I've never left the house on Black Friday shopping, much less been a part of the craziness. Stay posted for Black Friday Adventures.

Adventures in Retail: The Ghost in the Dressing Room

Sometimes when it's slow in the store and I go in to check the fitting rooms I hear this... noise. Like a "Pfshth" noise. Nobody's in the dressing room, nobody's even in my department. My first thought was "A ghost!" Scary... buy maybe not. Maybe a friend to keep me company when I'm bored out of my mind and trying not to watch the clock. How pleasant that would be!

Then I discovered it was an automatic air freshener spritzing the upper half of the room with a pleasant scent. I guess that's nice too.

The Rain, Rain, Rain Came Down, Down, Down

The nicest thing about the rain is that it always stops.
Eventually.
- Eeyore



My "rain barrels" tell me it has rained more than six inches in the past week. I'm afraid my garden is going to drown.

Character Sketches

• Customers can be either the sweetest people in the world or the most cranky. One woman came in yesterday to exchange an item. I messed up her return and though I kept saying, “Let me fix this, I’m fixing it right now,” the verbal abuse poured out of her mouth until she got her item and started to walk away. “Always you mess up my returns, you young people, you get on the phone and you mess up my return and cost me money.”

• Then there are the sweet ones. A woman today told me that I was incredibly helpful and that my boss should double my paycheck. :-)

• A sweet, lovely German woman works at the jewelry counter right next to my department. I think the rudeness of customers is particularly grating on her.

• A woman from Bosnia works in one of the other women’s departments. She is a firecracker! She doesn’t take anything from anyone. She’s a little scary, but so kind, and so good at her job!

• And then there are the two women who work in my department. I think both of them would stay at work all day if the managers would let them, one to work all day and one to talk all day. One of them will clock out, then come back and talk for fifteen more minutes. She takes care of her dad who has Alzheimer’s and her auntie (pronounce onty) who is over ninety-five, and she is great with all of the old people who come in to the store.

• The second woman I work with is the hardest worker in the store. She always knows exactly what’s going on and what needs to go where. I can always tell if she worked the night before because the place is spotless.

Tomorrow:

Character sketches from work.