Apparently, I work everywhere!

I love wearing a uniform to work. When I wake up in the morning, I don’t have to bother with the all-time question, ”What am I going to wear today?” Gives me less time in the closet and more time in Sleepy Land.

For those of you that know me, you know what I have to wear to work. Not exactly flattering and I stand out like a sore thumb outside of my mo’. (Whatever that means!) Sometimes I do run errands after my shifts because I know if I go home to change, I’ll get caught up with something or another and never run my errand.

Today’s errand was grocery shopping at Target. I’m not familiar with Super Target’s layout at all, so I’m wandering around looking for my chocolate chip cookie dough Slim Fast bars. (And yes, they are as amazing as they sound.) I appreciate Target’s layout and gigantic signs, but none of them said “health bars” or “energy bars.” During my trek, red shirts were everywhere restocking, and a group of red shirted women with Target name tags just happen to be the answer to my quest.

Me: “Excuse me, do you happen to know where the energy bars are?”

Woman 1: “Yes, they should be on aisle B13 over there.” (Points to aisle a few rows down, not in the grocery section I had been combing.)

Me: “Oh! Ok! Thank you!”

Woman 2: (Places Texas Poker Championship game for the PC in my cart.)

Me: Thanks! (Smiles. Smiles at all three ladies. Laughs.)

My brain: Oooh! Free gift!

Me: (Pauses. Picks up game to get a better look.)

My brain: Wait! This is a product! One that you’re not even interested in! What?!

Me: (Extends product back out to Woman 2. Still smiling. But nervously.)

Woman 2: Oh, it goes over there somewhere. (Points in vague direction.)

Me: Oh yeah? Um, ok!

All four of us: (Awkward pause.)

My brain: *CLICK!!!*

Me: Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t work here!

I continued my trek for my cookie dough bars of goodness and could hear the laughing for at least two minutes. Woman 2 kept saying, “I thought she worked here! I thought she worked here!” I got a good chuckle and I got my bars.

What’s weird is that they wear red polo shirts and I was wearing a white button up shirt and black tie. And what’s weirder is that this isn’t the first time by any means. Actually, I think this happens almost everytime I run an errand at a retail store of some sort. Blockbuster Video, Wal-Mart, the mall… I think this may be the first time that an employee actually thought I was a coworker. Good times.

Serving Others: The Voicemail.

Working in retail is one thing. Working in services within retail is another. I’ll try and keep track of the crazy world I live in that is retail services.

Ever since I started working in the field (aka people’s houses), the yelling has stopped. I used to hold a supervisor position in the service department within the retail store and lemme tell ya, that is not for the faint of heart. Something about broken electronics throw people in for a loop. Especially if they have to drag it somewhere. And moreso, if they have to pay to get it fixed and wait. Time and money are the kickers. I’ve had people cry, throw computers, and go into seizures (the last two, I happened to miss while at lunch!) It’s a strange thing.

So whoever thought of in-home services should be given a Nobel Peace Prize. Ever since I moved out of the store and into the field, there is definitely little to no yelling, crying, throwing, and seizuring. And that makes me a happy little worker.

But every now and then… Read more »

Pay it forward.

I kinda sorta remember the movie. Little boy from The Sixth Sense, Kevin Spacey, something, something, something… The general idea being “pass kindness on.”

Today I had to hit up another store to pickup something. This one dude helped me carry the item out to my car and just when I was thanking him, he looks up and yells, “Hey lady! I’m hungry!” Still in mid-smile from thanking him, I look up at the general vicinity and expected a friend of his carrying food or something of that sort. Instead, to my horror, is a family hopping out of their car. The daughter was obese.

I was instantly ashamed that I was still in mid-smile when I looked at her and that it took entirely too long for me to realize just what happened. By the time I put two and two together, the young man had ran back inside and the girl already hung her head in shame.

I stood awkwardly. I stood in indecision. I finally hopped in my car and asked for forgiveness. Forgiveness for my inactions. Forgiveness that for a second I thought I was better than the young man, or even the girl. Forgiveness that we are just plain ugly.

So if it’s possible to “pay it forward with kindness,” then I suppose we can “pay it forward with meanness.” And that sucks. I just hope somewhere that chain breaks.

7-Eleven.

July 11th was a strange day.

- 7-Eleven’s web site did not say anything about free slurpees.
- While wrapping up an appointment, a customer went to tend to her crying child in another room. She calmly came back to me and said she had to go. Again, in the most calm manner, she said her daughter drank something she shouldn’t have from the bathroom cabinet and she had to call poison control. She proceeded to talk to poison control, calmly, as I awkwardly left the home. Did I mention this lady was extremely nice and calm?
- I saw a dude take a right turn too hard on his motorcycle and landed on his right side. Luckily, the two cars behind him were not driving fast and he had enough strength and time to stand up and hobble off the road. I wanted to stop and help but I didn’t want to cause a traffic ruckus. You just can’t stop at Preston and TX-121.

Anyway. The day was so weird feeling, I kept waiting for the sky to fall. It didn’t. But maybe next year I’ll get a free slurpee.

edit: Dangit, I must have been slacking during my search because 7-Eleven did, in fact, give out free Slurpees.

Sunset.

There are numerous things about my job that I truly enjoy, ranging from free cookies to checking out pimp houses. There are a few things that aren’t exactly fun like driving in the midst of rush hour traffic or working during prime time TV. However, there is something that offsets that. While I’m driving 10 mph on a highway at 6pm or while I’m cursing the tenth hour of my twelve hour day, I look up.

The past two times I’ve done this, I was gritting my teeth. Well, if I was a teeth gritter I would have been. But then it’s like God said, “Slow down. Enjoy what’s going on.” And He’s got the most amazing sunsets you can have in Dallas (which never compare to west Texas sunsets), complete with the silver-lined clouds and the rays and the colors… I always think that if someone were to pain a picture exactly how it looked sometimes, no one would believe it. Sometimes the sunsets are just that surreal to me.

Today, while I was surprisingly lost heading to my last appointment (I blame Yahoo maps), I looked up. And while I was enjoying the scenery, this thought came into my mind.

“I am going to take care of you.”

And I replied with a “Huh?” and the thought repeated itself. The second go round I accepted this thought and suddenly felt so care free driving around, even if I didn’t know where I was going. Best part is that I know His promise wasn’t exclusive for tonight.