Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Mixed Feelings

Many times over the last several months (maybe even years) I've felt very lucky and at the same time a bit guilty. I watch friends struggle with so many different things that I've never had to experience. While I know I'm not exactly living the high life, I wonder what I do that spares me the pain and suffering, the heartache and despair. I have a job that covers the bills and an occasional fun thing. I'm pretty healthy (mentally and physically) up to this point and if I get sick, my job has good insurance. The few times things get rough I know I have friends and family I can turn to for support. I'm even getting my crappy credit under control. Well, all but the pesky student loans. Those will be with me forever. ;) I feel like the people I know who have it SO rough deserve what I have so much more than me. They take hit after hit and get back up only to take yet another hit. And I am powerless to do more than be a shoulder on which to cry. The one good thing that comes of it is I don't take for granted how lucky I am. I know I could have it much worse.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Double Squee Week!


As promised, something not angry or sad to post here. :) For those who don't know, a "squee" is a a squeal of delight over something joyous and usually extremely nerdarific. Twice this week I came across something that caused a squee or three. In the newest issue of Entertainment Weekly, there was an ad for the new Blu-Ray version of the Extended Edition of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the best films EVER. In that same magazine, they featured a sneak peek at the first of two films for "The Hobbit" due out Dec 2012. These two bits of joy made my day so much better, so worth dealing with a Friday in retail. Thank you so much Entertainment Weekly and Peter Jackson. :D

The other half of the double squee came from the genealogical part of my inner nerd (okay not so much inner). I got an e-mail about a free trial at a site I'd seen before but didn't really know if it would be any use. I figured a week for free would give me an idea how helpful it would be in my search for long lost ancestors. The site, called Footnote, has an extensive library of old city directories, scanned in and indexed to be searched. In some of those directories I found listings for my great-great grandfather, Hector Terni born in Austria. I knew he lived in New Orleans and then Missouri. What I didn't know was that once he got to St. Louis he started his own wholesale fruit company. The company is listed in the St. Louis directory for at least ten years. How very cool is that? Not only did he start his own company called the Hector Terni Fruit Company, but his sons and his wife all worked to make it successful. Looks like the source might be worth a small investment on my part for further searches.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Ankle deep in shit

Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration. Today was a particularly fun day at work. Part of our duties include cleaning the public restrooms. Each employee is assigned a week and has to clean them three times in their week. The rotation means we usually only have to do it two or three times a year, but I'll be damned if the customers don't make those two weeks a living hell.

As you've probably gathered, this week it's my turn. Throughout the process of cleaning both the men's and the women's rooms I must've asked myself a dozen times, "What the hell is wrong with you people!?!" It was NOT good. Particularly in the men's room. Someone left a gift not only all over the toilet but on the floor and apparently through the store; another employee found evidence at the front of the store while the restrooms are at the back. This was not a child (or a very large child) because it was a LOT of shit. The scariest part is the whole mess sat long enough for it to dry and require serious scrubbing. How many men, how many GROWN ASS men, saw that mess and ignored it? Granted I don't expect anyone but the adult who left it there to clean it up (that brings up another whole conversation on personal responsibility, or the lack thereof). At least tell someone about it before it become a permanent fixture.

It is days like this that should explain to those who have never worked retail just why the clerks can be a bit curt, condescending, or outright angry. You leave that kind of mess? You clean it up. That used to be common sense. So many children (yes I know not all children) are not taught to respect others or to take responsibility for their own actions anymore. Discipline is considered bad for self-esteem so self-importance and the blame game are all they know. These kids become adults who think it is perfectly normal to leave such a disgusting mess for others to clean up. It is "what we get paid to do" right?

The Nine Levels of Hell or Working Retail

The title of this blog pretty much describes how I feel on a daily basis, like a Hellhound grabbed me by the foot and shook with all its might. It was also inspired by a show I once loved (read obsessed over). I haven't blogged in quite some time. This is mainly because my other blog carries the name of my company and most of what I'll blog about is not appropriate, much less professional, for that blog. So, now I've moved my personal self here to describe the particular level of hell I visited each day and generally get things out of my system. Oh, and the occasional fun thing as well. :)

So as Dante's gate to hell says, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." Ok, not really, but almost.

Update (Jan 2015): It's impossible for me to maintain more than one blog so everything is back here on Luna's Gathering, personal or professional it's all me. :)