I only have a short list of things I hate that customers do but I think it should be put out on the world wide web so that people understand how to behave.
1. Don't bag things that don't need bags. It's wasteful and ultimately will increase the cost of your groceries in the long run.
2. I know Americans are stereotypically known as lazy but let's not perpetuate that feeling further. If you weren't strong enough to carry your two grocery bags out to your car, that's fine, but the very least you can do is take it to the cart corral. It only takes a minute and eliminates the chance of me furiously yanking the cart off the curb and into the door of your precious SUV.
3. Don't assume I'm stupid. I know that we type in the amount of cash you gave us but I can figure out your change on my own. When you add change to the amount you are giving me, I can handle it. So avoid saying something like "Ohh, I'm sorry, is that too hard for you?" because I'm passive aggressive and I will squish your cupcakes when I place them in your bag.
4. Get off your phone, pay attention, have your payment ready. It makes the entire process faster for you, me and the people behind you. And honestly, why do people act so surprised when they have to pay?
5. Be nice. We are.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Eating in a Grocery Store
I'm not typically surprised or bothered by customer's actions in my store but every so often they'll get me. Lines got a little long and I told the next customer in line I could get them at register 4. I recognize this lady because she always comes in and seems completely exhausted so I wasn't all too surprised when she had an empty deli container on the belt.
Me: Uhh, do you want me to throw this away for you?
Customer: Oh yeah, and I ate this too. <Holds out hand and reveals peach pit>
<<HANDS ME PEACH PIT>>
Me: Ummmm
Customer: I ate a peach too
Me: I don't understand what you want me to do with this. (We sell peaches by the pound and without the peach, I can't charge her for it properly)
I'm still holding the peach pit because I can't believe she thought that was appropriate and she ate it without ever washing it off?!? The produce manager has to handle rotten produce all day and sometimes it drops on the floor. Produce should always be washed.
I finally threw the peach pit in the garbage and put a bottle of GermX on the scale to charge her for a 1.5lb peach.
Back To School
A family came through my line the other day, I tried to be super nice to make them happy they came to our little store but they just weren't having it. I assumed they had a bad case of the grumps and went about scanning each item. Then the crayons came down the belt. Glue, scissors......paper, binders, pens, pencils. A small smile comes across my face. I can't handle it, I have a 100 Watt smile across my face and here comes the construction paper.
Customer: Are you ok?
Me: IT'S JUST SO EXCITING!!!
Customer: Um, what?
Me: I love school supplies. It marks a new year and they have everything they need to learn as much as they can in this year and by next year they're going to be so much smarter than they are now!"
Customer: Oh do you have kids?
Me: No but I have a little brother and sister and it just makes me so happy for them and all the babies going off to school.
Customer: Oh Lord, I don't know how you're going to handle having kids.
Customer: Are you ok?
Me: IT'S JUST SO EXCITING!!!
Customer: Um, what?
Me: I love school supplies. It marks a new year and they have everything they need to learn as much as they can in this year and by next year they're going to be so much smarter than they are now!"
Customer: Oh do you have kids?
Me: No but I have a little brother and sister and it just makes me so happy for them and all the babies going off to school.
Customer: Oh Lord, I don't know how you're going to handle having kids.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Cashier Competency
I work in a very small store so it's not uncommon to be the only cashier at the front. I'm a pro at multi-tasking though so it's not a big deal. Today I found myself alone helping this elderly lady with her items and I noticed a guy having trouble with the self-checkout. (Seriously, if you don't know how to work the machine or have more than 10 items, do NOT use that line, it's not faster.) The lady I was helping was just about ready to go when I hear, "HEY, this thing's broken." Yep, I got it sir, give me just a second...get on the pager to call a cashier up to the front to help Mr. Impatient. Less than a minute later, he's in my line complaining about how nobody showed up. I look over my shoulder, yep, there she is, he could have waited and been gone by now. The lady behind him in the self-check line followed him over to my line.
Mr. I: Well those things never work
Lady/Sheep: Yeah but I prefer them because I spend so much time picking out my produce and the cashiers just throw it in the bag and bruise my produce.
Mr. I: You know, you should just tell them you want to do it yourself
Meanwhile, I'm already done ringing his stuff up and I'm waiting on him to pay for his things. Approximately 3 minutes later, he gets done and tells me that the lady behind him would like to bag her own groceries.
Now let's stop for a second. This is an incredibly easy job. There are a lot of rules to remember once you get past the basics but really, we know how to do this as children. Scan, bag, scan, bag, scan, bag, total. Easyyy. Not to toot my own horn but...toot, toot, I'm pretty smart. I can do this shiz in my sleep.
Back to the story. I look at the two and look back down and I hear the woman say, "no it's alright, she looks competent enough to do this."
I was just coming off my meltdown over the radio so I had the potential to deliver a roundhouse kick to the face. Alas, I held my tongue and smiled, even told her to have a great day.
Really though, I work with a couple of ding dongs but most of my coworkers are really smart. Circumstance leads a person to that job, not will. Think about it.
However, I will admit that my passive aggressiveness has gotten the best of me before. I squeezed a package of cupcakes this lady just had to have an extra bag for. I don't like cupcakes and I don't like waste. Boom.
Mr. I: Well those things never work
Lady/Sheep: Yeah but I prefer them because I spend so much time picking out my produce and the cashiers just throw it in the bag and bruise my produce.
Mr. I: You know, you should just tell them you want to do it yourself
Meanwhile, I'm already done ringing his stuff up and I'm waiting on him to pay for his things. Approximately 3 minutes later, he gets done and tells me that the lady behind him would like to bag her own groceries.
Now let's stop for a second. This is an incredibly easy job. There are a lot of rules to remember once you get past the basics but really, we know how to do this as children. Scan, bag, scan, bag, scan, bag, total. Easyyy. Not to toot my own horn but...toot, toot, I'm pretty smart. I can do this shiz in my sleep.
Back to the story. I look at the two and look back down and I hear the woman say, "no it's alright, she looks competent enough to do this."
I was just coming off my meltdown over the radio so I had the potential to deliver a roundhouse kick to the face. Alas, I held my tongue and smiled, even told her to have a great day.
Really though, I work with a couple of ding dongs but most of my coworkers are really smart. Circumstance leads a person to that job, not will. Think about it.
However, I will admit that my passive aggressiveness has gotten the best of me before. I squeezed a package of cupcakes this lady just had to have an extra bag for. I don't like cupcakes and I don't like waste. Boom.
Radios, rawr!
The managers at work put up a problem/solution board in our break room about two months ago. We were told it was anonymous and all of our requests would be recognized and possibly resolved. Inevitably, the board exploded with requests for things like better pay, new management, no 'I' in team (doesn't make sense to me either) and, just in case they didn't understand, pay increase. So a month of management erasing such requests resulted in a meeting where the purpose of the board was defined a bit more clearly. The board is for actual physical problems with the building, not for personal issues. Enthusiasm for the board dropped so I became the only one using it. I listed a missing outlet faceplate, broken mart carts, new US flag (because ours is tattered and sad) and a request for new/more radios (walky talkies).
When I first began at "Retail Shed", we all seemed to have our own radio. Communication was easy and the paging system didn't get used for every little thing. Ideally, the assistant manager, CSM (moi), customer service desk associate and one other associate will carry a radio. No doubt you can understand why effective communication is necessary in a business. Well radios started going missing and we were reduced to two radios (only one of those worked) and the assistant manager's radio. So the service desk and the assistant manager became the only two with radios. Cashiers became frustrated because it was difficult to communicate with CSMs when they needed things. My store manager called me into her office and explained to me that I always need to have a radio on me. I explained to her that as soon as she got enough working radios in the store, I would be glad to but that I'm not going to bother carrying a one-way radio everywhere with me. Then she started complaining about us using the paging system and I told her that it would all stop as soon as we got more radios. So it's been this vicious cycle. Let me break it down:
A radio costs around $50 but I was told that our store couldn't afford to buy anymore. The world's largest retailer SELLS radios, it wouldn't even be a drop in the bucket to drop $200 to improve store communication.
I also need to include that I was asked to keep my things in a drawer in the manager's office because they wanted my bag out of the way when Home Office came to the store. I was fine with that and when I went to retrieve my bag, I found a radio. I asked my manager why it was there, she didn't know, so I assumed the little bugger got put in there by mistake. Boom! We've got another radio. Well, two days later, an assistant manager is pissed because I didn't have any business in her drawer and that was "her" radio that she stole from her former store.
Alright back to the board. My request for new radios has been unanswered for over a month. Meanwhile, we're still not supposed to page and we can't communicate with each other. I noticed an overnight support manager making some purchases before he headed out and he had a radio on. I said, "hey we're going to need that, you can't take it with you." He gave me this incredulous look and said "No, this is MY radio, I take it home with me." WELL. Dumbfounded, frustrated and immediately pissed, I made my way to the break room to see how many radios we had. One.
My favorite thing about working in my store is that we can speak our minds with no fear of retaliation. (Largely because my store manager doesn't actually understand anything that we're talking about, I've decided she spends all of her time playing Snake on her phone.)
A couple of my buddies are making breakfast so I started up my motor mouth and let it rip.
When I first began at "Retail Shed", we all seemed to have our own radio. Communication was easy and the paging system didn't get used for every little thing. Ideally, the assistant manager, CSM (moi), customer service desk associate and one other associate will carry a radio. No doubt you can understand why effective communication is necessary in a business. Well radios started going missing and we were reduced to two radios (only one of those worked) and the assistant manager's radio. So the service desk and the assistant manager became the only two with radios. Cashiers became frustrated because it was difficult to communicate with CSMs when they needed things. My store manager called me into her office and explained to me that I always need to have a radio on me. I explained to her that as soon as she got enough working radios in the store, I would be glad to but that I'm not going to bother carrying a one-way radio everywhere with me. Then she started complaining about us using the paging system and I told her that it would all stop as soon as we got more radios. So it's been this vicious cycle. Let me break it down:
A radio costs around $50 but I was told that our store couldn't afford to buy anymore. The world's largest retailer SELLS radios, it wouldn't even be a drop in the bucket to drop $200 to improve store communication.
I also need to include that I was asked to keep my things in a drawer in the manager's office because they wanted my bag out of the way when Home Office came to the store. I was fine with that and when I went to retrieve my bag, I found a radio. I asked my manager why it was there, she didn't know, so I assumed the little bugger got put in there by mistake. Boom! We've got another radio. Well, two days later, an assistant manager is pissed because I didn't have any business in her drawer and that was "her" radio that she stole from her former store.
Alright back to the board. My request for new radios has been unanswered for over a month. Meanwhile, we're still not supposed to page and we can't communicate with each other. I noticed an overnight support manager making some purchases before he headed out and he had a radio on. I said, "hey we're going to need that, you can't take it with you." He gave me this incredulous look and said "No, this is MY radio, I take it home with me." WELL. Dumbfounded, frustrated and immediately pissed, I made my way to the break room to see how many radios we had. One.
My favorite thing about working in my store is that we can speak our minds with no fear of retaliation. (Largely because my store manager doesn't actually understand anything that we're talking about, I've decided she spends all of her time playing Snake on her phone.)
A couple of my buddies are making breakfast so I started up my motor mouth and let it rip.
"Evidently we all have our own radios now. Mark is taking his home. This is just like the Telxon's, everybody is afraid they won't have the tools they need so they hide them and screw the next shift over. I'm sick of this crap! I get in trouble for not having a radio but they won't even supply me with one! Lisa got all pissy because we were using her radio. I guess I just need to take one with me when I leave and tell everyone it's mine. I'll never have to worry about these stupid radios again!"
I noticed my store manager in her office but I didn't let up because I wanted her to hear it. Maybe I even threw my pen and growled. Sue called from her office and said if I had a problem I could come talk to her about it. I grumbled, "I'M FINE," took a deep breath and decided that I was not fine and stormed into the office.
I started my rant all over again and she said, "nobody has a personal radio, they are the store's radios and I will ensure that nobody takes them home." "Alright thanks, sorry I yelled," I yelled. She told me it was fine.
I'm on a personal mission to reclaim the radios for our store. I'll keep you posted.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
You know what they say about hindsight...?
It's true.
I finally got a job, "Retail Shed" took a chance on me :). The job is incredibly easy, I've always been a fast learner though. They have been trying to decide where they want to promote me to Deli, Stocker, or Customer Service Manager (basically lead cashier). It's a good thing, my punctuality has been outstanding which is something no boss of mine could ever say before. Everybody is really nice and my supervisors are great. Except for sometimes one calls me "the cashier" instead of by name which is clearly displayed on my badge. Oh well. That's a pretty small complaint.
I finally got a job, "Retail Shed" took a chance on me :). The job is incredibly easy, I've always been a fast learner though. They have been trying to decide where they want to promote me to Deli, Stocker, or Customer Service Manager (basically lead cashier). It's a good thing, my punctuality has been outstanding which is something no boss of mine could ever say before. Everybody is really nice and my supervisors are great. Except for sometimes one calls me "the cashier" instead of by name which is clearly displayed on my badge. Oh well. That's a pretty small complaint.
Working for the Man
So it took two months but I finally found somebody that would hire me. Let's call it "Retail Shed." Say what you will about them but they were willing to take a chance on me so I'm grateful for that. Don't get me wrong, I don't like the job. I especially hate it when my boss refers to me as "the cashier" instead of my name which is clearly displayed on my badge.
Update
I've actually worked at my little "Retail Shed" for over a year now and I have to admit that (most of the time) I enjoy it. I work as a Customer Service Manager now and the manager with an attitude got the boot about six months ago. There are a couple of retirement communities behind our store so I've gotten to hear some pretty good stories. It turns out I really enjoy my job, perhaps that's why it's best to try everything, except drugs, I don't see that ever being a good idea.
I'm still not sure what my future is going to look like but I'm starting to accept it. I'm hoping to be back in school by January and I'm thinking of pursuing English/Creative Writing or maybe Art.
Update
I've actually worked at my little "Retail Shed" for over a year now and I have to admit that (most of the time) I enjoy it. I work as a Customer Service Manager now and the manager with an attitude got the boot about six months ago. There are a couple of retirement communities behind our store so I've gotten to hear some pretty good stories. It turns out I really enjoy my job, perhaps that's why it's best to try everything, except drugs, I don't see that ever being a good idea.
I'm still not sure what my future is going to look like but I'm starting to accept it. I'm hoping to be back in school by January and I'm thinking of pursuing English/Creative Writing or maybe Art.
S County
Seriously, they don't know up from down. I know because I had to highlight the "important" parts of the forms they're supposed to fill out. I mean, how many times do you need to fill out a form to remember the parts that are the most important?
The jailers had sexual tension that you could cut with a knife.
My second day in there, there was a guy charged with Minor in Posession. Officer Allen jumped all over it. She was asking what teachers he had, living her whole high school career through him. He told her and they swapped stories about the teachers. Then she told him that she could go arrest him in front of a bunch of girls at High School because that would be "so hot." I guess she doesn't know that an adult harassing a bunch of kids is not sexy but creepy.
These guys/girls were discussing a particularly rowdy party that ended with pouring the jailers into their cars and hoping they made it home alright. You don't have to worry about a DWI if you know all of the officers on duty.
They all deserve to go to jail. I have only met one Officer in my experience with S County that merits any kind of respect and he was the last Officer to deal with me. I'm done with that place, there's no reason to ever return.
The jailers had sexual tension that you could cut with a knife.
My second day in there, there was a guy charged with Minor in Posession. Officer Allen jumped all over it. She was asking what teachers he had, living her whole high school career through him. He told her and they swapped stories about the teachers. Then she told him that she could go arrest him in front of a bunch of girls at High School because that would be "so hot." I guess she doesn't know that an adult harassing a bunch of kids is not sexy but creepy.
These guys/girls were discussing a particularly rowdy party that ended with pouring the jailers into their cars and hoping they made it home alright. You don't have to worry about a DWI if you know all of the officers on duty.
They all deserve to go to jail. I have only met one Officer in my experience with S County that merits any kind of respect and he was the last Officer to deal with me. I'm done with that place, there's no reason to ever return.
Bikes
I love my bike and I can't tell enough people about it. Seriously, a bike is so much better than a car.
1. No gas. I've saved a whole bunch of money because I haven't paid for gas in over a year.
2. It's fun. For real. If you see that smug grin on my face after going through the light before any of the cars, know that it's from a genuine place. I AM faster than you. I AM having more fun than you. My bike is better than your car.
3. Exercise is always a good thing.
4. I get down to my music way more than the folks in their cars do. Seriously, show me a person singing aloud in a busy intersection and doing a jig so publicly.
5. I get to know the folks at my Local Bike Shop (LBS)
6. The folks at my LBS (Nate and Jeremy) take good care of my bike as well as me. Hey Riders Ready in Maumelle, you guys really are the best. I can walk in and say I have a flat and they can tell me what I need and how to fix it.
7. Bikes are cheap! A tire costs about $4 and takes about 10 minutes to replace if you're a newby. No oil change, no gas. The checkups cost about $40 and they make sure everything is working properly.
1. No gas. I've saved a whole bunch of money because I haven't paid for gas in over a year.
2. It's fun. For real. If you see that smug grin on my face after going through the light before any of the cars, know that it's from a genuine place. I AM faster than you. I AM having more fun than you. My bike is better than your car.
3. Exercise is always a good thing.
4. I get down to my music way more than the folks in their cars do. Seriously, show me a person singing aloud in a busy intersection and doing a jig so publicly.
5. I get to know the folks at my Local Bike Shop (LBS)
6. The folks at my LBS (Nate and Jeremy) take good care of my bike as well as me. Hey Riders Ready in Maumelle, you guys really are the best. I can walk in and say I have a flat and they can tell me what I need and how to fix it.
7. Bikes are cheap! A tire costs about $4 and takes about 10 minutes to replace if you're a newby. No oil change, no gas. The checkups cost about $40 and they make sure everything is working properly.
Postcards aren't always nice
So I went to my sister's house and I had a postcard in her mailbox. "There's a warrant out for you arrest issued by S County." Ok that's not a good quote but that's basically what it said. The flowery writing was better suited to an adolescent buddy. I immediately called the number and found out that I could pay the whole fine or pay the warrant amount and be given a court date. This would be nearly impossible to attend because I would have to find a ride to the awful place yet again. I was told the best option would be to pay the whole thing and be done with it.
Now let's look at this: A person could probably pay the warrant fee of $50 but they may or may not be able to pay for the fee that it would take to get rid of the whole thing. In my case, it was $1300. I planned to ask my sister and my dad for $400 each but then I checked my paystub for the next week and I found out that I was only going to be paid $461.
It's hard to ask your parents for money when you're 25. It feels very pathetic. My dad, who always has a sense of humor, asked why he had to pay more than my sister and I did. I told him it was because he makes more than I do. I laughed about it but it just gutted me.
I was one month late with my payment to those bastards that run the S County whatever, and they issued a warrant for my arrest. I called the guy, evidently the one in charge, and he said that it was up to him if they pursued my warrant or not.
I actually work with my local police to stop identity theft. I could not stand the idea of being walked out of work by the "authority" for missing a payment. I thought debtor's prison was over.
Anyway, my family bailed me out and that fact makes me want to vomit. I'm so sorry that I had to ask. I'm sorry because I know it put them both out of money and that's not fair. I want to be the best daughter/sister ever and I know that I fail epically when it comes to financial matters.
I'm working on it though and I hope to be in a position where I can go back to school by January. I may have to lobby to get into the program I desire but...that doesn't seem any harder than participating in the Tour de France. Come on, those guys have a professional masseuse waiting on them when they get done riding for the day.
Now let's look at this: A person could probably pay the warrant fee of $50 but they may or may not be able to pay for the fee that it would take to get rid of the whole thing. In my case, it was $1300. I planned to ask my sister and my dad for $400 each but then I checked my paystub for the next week and I found out that I was only going to be paid $461.
It's hard to ask your parents for money when you're 25. It feels very pathetic. My dad, who always has a sense of humor, asked why he had to pay more than my sister and I did. I told him it was because he makes more than I do. I laughed about it but it just gutted me.
I was one month late with my payment to those bastards that run the S County whatever, and they issued a warrant for my arrest. I called the guy, evidently the one in charge, and he said that it was up to him if they pursued my warrant or not.
I actually work with my local police to stop identity theft. I could not stand the idea of being walked out of work by the "authority" for missing a payment. I thought debtor's prison was over.
Anyway, my family bailed me out and that fact makes me want to vomit. I'm so sorry that I had to ask. I'm sorry because I know it put them both out of money and that's not fair. I want to be the best daughter/sister ever and I know that I fail epically when it comes to financial matters.
I'm working on it though and I hope to be in a position where I can go back to school by January. I may have to lobby to get into the program I desire but...that doesn't seem any harder than participating in the Tour de France. Come on, those guys have a professional masseuse waiting on them when they get done riding for the day.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Servicing my Community Part II
So part of my DWI dos punishments require community service at the jail.
I am a very polite person, direct but, always pleasant. So here I go, my best friend Red took me allll the way there and promised to pick me up. She dropped me off and told me to wave in the window if I was in the right place.
I walk in the building...the first and second window were closed but I turned the corner and could see a person standing in the third window, even with the lights out and the shades down. Nothing gets past this girl.
I yell a couple times into the microphone ("Hello!? I'm here for community service."), completely ignoring the guys in the waiting room that said I need to go to the fourth window (that's across the way). Sure enough, the guy behind the third window tells me to go to the fourth window.
So here I go.. "Umm, Hi, I'm here to do community service." <Smiling as big as I can the whole time to let them know I'm not a threatening criminal>
The girl behind #4 smiles but the guy grumbles, "Yeah well you're going to have to wait a minute."
No problem, I text Red to tell her that I'm in the right place but I'm just about to have a panic attack. She scared the pee out of me the other day so, looking back, I don't feel bad.
Finally the peeps behind the fourth window ask for my papers and ID, I give them both and ask them if I'm in the right place. They tell me I am and direct me into the first door. A nice lady follows behind me. I get nervous by the door slamming behind us and ask her what's going to happen next. "Oh the first door has to lock then they'll open the next one." We seem to be in a 4x4 cage so I start yanking on the door to open it. Finally the latches release and we're free, she tells me to take a left.
"OK! Thanks!" :D -Naive Mego says
I take the left but there isn't a group of people to join so I look back with question marks in my eyes...
"DAY SERVICE TO THE RIGHT."- Random man yells. I go to follow him, he gives me a crazy look like 'WTF do you think you're doing?!'
"Do I come with you?," I ask timidly.
"NO."-RG
So I turned back around in the concrete maze and walked towards the desk.
The girl working is about my age and I tell her I'm here to do community service.
"Take off your jacket." -Deputy Blah (OMG I'm getting strip searched)
"Sorry, this is my first time here, I'm kind of freaking out, I don't know what I'm supposed to do just yet."- Mego turned complete pushover (I'm not getting naked, I will MOVE TO MEXICO so this can blow over)
"I need your purse, your bracelets, and your phone...do you have any weapons?" DB
"Well no, do you want my hair tie too?"-Me in a puddle version
"Does it have metal in it?"-DB
"Well no ma'am?"-M (I even stretched it out so she could see that it didn't)
I asked her if I could text Red so she knew I was in the right place and she wouldn't wait one me.
"What do you mean?!"-DB
"Well I told her I would let her know if I was in the right spot, she wanted me to wave at her in the window but...you know what, nevermind, hopefully she won't sit out there for eight hours."-Fully freaking out Mego
She still acted skeptical. Then she felt me up like they did after 9/11 to check for bombs in my bra. (How have sexual harassment trials not come up from that?)
"Put this on."-DB (It's an ugly dirt orange scrub top that has definitely seen better days)
"Alright well I think I broke my toe so you're going to have to bear with me today."-DB
("What in the world does this have to do with me? We won't have to run as much? I didn't know I was going to be running.")
"Oh yikes, that hurts, not much you can do besides buddy tape it though"-Confused but Relieved to dodge a strip search Mego.
She took me to a stock room for inmates, the scrubs they wear and the items they're allowed to have while they're in lockup. "Organize this" <she waves her hand at the scrubs> "They look terrible"-DB
"Well alright"-Me, thoroughly relieved this isn't a surprise strip search tactic.
I get set at organizing the scrubs, they have orange and black/grey, I started with the black/grey scrubs, refolding everything so it looks nice and is in the place the faded labels deem appropriate.
Soon after a blonde girl joins me, "So what are we doing?"-BG
"I'm not sure, I'm just reorganizing the scrubs."-Me
She's talking so loud that it makes me nervous that we're going to get in trouble for talking. She asked me how many times I had done this..."None" (obviously, hello!)
She started sorting out the orange scrubs, not quite as attentive as I was but I'm not the supervisor and it's not my problem today.
We get that done and ask what we should do next.
"Just sit tight and wait."-Older DB says
So we sit, and she tells me she's been in trouble for all sorts of things, including: theft, shoplifting and battery. She knows all the people that work in the office because she's been there so often. It's surprising how much you can curse and not get in any trouble.
She also tells me that she wants to go to school to be in Criminal Justice or to be a Doctor.
Not to be judgmental but...I don't think she could ever be a doctor. I mean, I've searched everything it takes and all of those crimes do not a doctor make. Call me crazy.
So we were sitting far too long and we fell asleep. She told me we could sleep all day but I didn't believe her. I sat in my chair for an hour and finally succumbed to my two hours asleep the night before.
I was only asleep for a few minutes.
I snore a lot so I woke myself up with that. (Thanks, Pops)
Seriously though, the officer came to see how we were doing and he told the lady officer (ODB) that "it's pretty bad when your inmates go to sleep." -I was awake for all of this. I nudged my bud so she would wake up to talk to the officer that was curious about why she was there that particular day.
It took a few nudges but she never cared. She woke up and told the officer why she was there.
We sat there for a few minutes and they pulled in all of these new inmates...my fellow community service companion knew some of them.
She asked one guy why he was there, he said, "Don't matter, I'll be out by Monday."
All of a sudden, the officers start screaming at him to quit talking...then they direct their fury into our room:
"SHUT UP, SHUT UP. YOU TWO DON'T SPEAK. I'VE WARNED YOU TWO!"
-I am terrified that this time I've spent in Hell is in vain. I didn't talk to the villains! I don't understand why I'm being lumped in with my terrifying community service buddy.
No fair!
That's typical though, they have terrible peeps come through and I'm a relief. ...But, I asked to go to the bathroom and Officer Blah said "uh, Suck Ass, you can wait."
Pretty sure every person in the world would be happy with polite manners but she wasn't having it.
So...when I was cleaning the inmate's bathroom, I should wash the sink, then the toilet with one towel. My bud in service should wash the shower. For some reason that seems nastier.
We then moved to the officer's bathroom...I may have used that tiny piss towel from the inmate's bathroom to wipe down every area your "god hands" could imagine touching.
I was so polite but yet you all decided to treat me like I was scum...I hope you chew your nails.
Perhaps that's the lesson for today is...treat everyone with respect
I am a very polite person, direct but, always pleasant. So here I go, my best friend Red took me allll the way there and promised to pick me up. She dropped me off and told me to wave in the window if I was in the right place.
I walk in the building...the first and second window were closed but I turned the corner and could see a person standing in the third window, even with the lights out and the shades down. Nothing gets past this girl.
I yell a couple times into the microphone ("Hello!? I'm here for community service."), completely ignoring the guys in the waiting room that said I need to go to the fourth window (that's across the way). Sure enough, the guy behind the third window tells me to go to the fourth window.
So here I go.. "Umm, Hi, I'm here to do community service." <Smiling as big as I can the whole time to let them know I'm not a threatening criminal>
The girl behind #4 smiles but the guy grumbles, "Yeah well you're going to have to wait a minute."
No problem, I text Red to tell her that I'm in the right place but I'm just about to have a panic attack. She scared the pee out of me the other day so, looking back, I don't feel bad.
Finally the peeps behind the fourth window ask for my papers and ID, I give them both and ask them if I'm in the right place. They tell me I am and direct me into the first door. A nice lady follows behind me. I get nervous by the door slamming behind us and ask her what's going to happen next. "Oh the first door has to lock then they'll open the next one." We seem to be in a 4x4 cage so I start yanking on the door to open it. Finally the latches release and we're free, she tells me to take a left.
"OK! Thanks!" :D -Naive Mego says
I take the left but there isn't a group of people to join so I look back with question marks in my eyes...
"DAY SERVICE TO THE RIGHT."- Random man yells. I go to follow him, he gives me a crazy look like 'WTF do you think you're doing?!'
"Do I come with you?," I ask timidly.
"NO."-RG
So I turned back around in the concrete maze and walked towards the desk.
The girl working is about my age and I tell her I'm here to do community service.
"Take off your jacket." -Deputy Blah (OMG I'm getting strip searched)
"Sorry, this is my first time here, I'm kind of freaking out, I don't know what I'm supposed to do just yet."- Mego turned complete pushover (I'm not getting naked, I will MOVE TO MEXICO so this can blow over)
"I need your purse, your bracelets, and your phone...do you have any weapons?" DB
"Well no, do you want my hair tie too?"-Me in a puddle version
"Does it have metal in it?"-DB
"Well no ma'am?"-M (I even stretched it out so she could see that it didn't)
I asked her if I could text Red so she knew I was in the right place and she wouldn't wait one me.
"What do you mean?!"-DB
"Well I told her I would let her know if I was in the right spot, she wanted me to wave at her in the window but...you know what, nevermind, hopefully she won't sit out there for eight hours."-Fully freaking out Mego
She still acted skeptical. Then she felt me up like they did after 9/11 to check for bombs in my bra. (How have sexual harassment trials not come up from that?)
"Put this on."-DB (It's an ugly dirt orange scrub top that has definitely seen better days)
"Alright well I think I broke my toe so you're going to have to bear with me today."-DB
("What in the world does this have to do with me? We won't have to run as much? I didn't know I was going to be running.")
"Oh yikes, that hurts, not much you can do besides buddy tape it though"-Confused but Relieved to dodge a strip search Mego.
She took me to a stock room for inmates, the scrubs they wear and the items they're allowed to have while they're in lockup. "Organize this" <she waves her hand at the scrubs> "They look terrible"-DB
"Well alright"-Me, thoroughly relieved this isn't a surprise strip search tactic.
I get set at organizing the scrubs, they have orange and black/grey, I started with the black/grey scrubs, refolding everything so it looks nice and is in the place the faded labels deem appropriate.
Soon after a blonde girl joins me, "So what are we doing?"-BG
"I'm not sure, I'm just reorganizing the scrubs."-Me
She's talking so loud that it makes me nervous that we're going to get in trouble for talking. She asked me how many times I had done this..."None" (obviously, hello!)
She started sorting out the orange scrubs, not quite as attentive as I was but I'm not the supervisor and it's not my problem today.
We get that done and ask what we should do next.
"Just sit tight and wait."-Older DB says
So we sit, and she tells me she's been in trouble for all sorts of things, including: theft, shoplifting and battery. She knows all the people that work in the office because she's been there so often. It's surprising how much you can curse and not get in any trouble.
She also tells me that she wants to go to school to be in Criminal Justice or to be a Doctor.
Not to be judgmental but...I don't think she could ever be a doctor. I mean, I've searched everything it takes and all of those crimes do not a doctor make. Call me crazy.
So we were sitting far too long and we fell asleep. She told me we could sleep all day but I didn't believe her. I sat in my chair for an hour and finally succumbed to my two hours asleep the night before.
I was only asleep for a few minutes.
I snore a lot so I woke myself up with that. (Thanks, Pops)
Seriously though, the officer came to see how we were doing and he told the lady officer (ODB) that "it's pretty bad when your inmates go to sleep." -I was awake for all of this. I nudged my bud so she would wake up to talk to the officer that was curious about why she was there that particular day.
It took a few nudges but she never cared. She woke up and told the officer why she was there.
We sat there for a few minutes and they pulled in all of these new inmates...my fellow community service companion knew some of them.
She asked one guy why he was there, he said, "Don't matter, I'll be out by Monday."
All of a sudden, the officers start screaming at him to quit talking...then they direct their fury into our room:
"SHUT UP, SHUT UP. YOU TWO DON'T SPEAK. I'VE WARNED YOU TWO!"
-I am terrified that this time I've spent in Hell is in vain. I didn't talk to the villains! I don't understand why I'm being lumped in with my terrifying community service buddy.
No fair!
That's typical though, they have terrible peeps come through and I'm a relief. ...But, I asked to go to the bathroom and Officer Blah said "uh, Suck Ass, you can wait."
Pretty sure every person in the world would be happy with polite manners but she wasn't having it.
So...when I was cleaning the inmate's bathroom, I should wash the sink, then the toilet with one towel. My bud in service should wash the shower. For some reason that seems nastier.
We then moved to the officer's bathroom...I may have used that tiny piss towel from the inmate's bathroom to wipe down every area your "god hands" could imagine touching.
I was so polite but yet you all decided to treat me like I was scum...I hope you chew your nails.
Perhaps that's the lesson for today is...treat everyone with respect
Monday, March 12, 2012
Servicing my Community
So I guess a bit of back story would be necessary so that this next entry would make sense.
I had a bit of a problem with drinking when I got fired from my job. Maybe "bit" is a bit of an understatement...I drank a lot.
I am currently suffering the consequences.
I would show up late for my beloved job and I didn't understand why they didn't like it. I still stand by the fact that I was really good at my job; I was knowledgeable, understanding and able to do more than my job title required. Honestly, I didn't mind because, I really liked it. I felt like it was preparing me for something bigger.
Then they got fed up with me being unreliable and I got the boot. I was bitter for a long time but now I understand their point.
I don't think I would have gotten to this point had I not had my downfall.
So after the boot, I got DWI numero dos. Yikes. I cried all day on my 24th birthday because, of course, that was just on the heels of all my other troubles. Seriously though, I don't want you to feel sorry for me.
It took a great deal of humbling and a few kicks in the pants BUT, I think I'm on the right track.
I'm in a supervisor position now and I know what trouble it makes when I can't rely on people to show up on time or at all. I can honestly say that I never understood the repercussions of my actions. It makes me feel like a fool but sometimes it takes people a bit longer to learn the simple lessons.
It's been just over a year now since I got fired and I can honestly say that I'm in a much better place now. I've grown up and taken responsibility for myself. I'm not completely independent but I'm working on it.
Sometimes it takes time to sort the shit out but, it will happen eventually.
-
I had a bit of a problem with drinking when I got fired from my job. Maybe "bit" is a bit of an understatement...I drank a lot.
I am currently suffering the consequences.
I would show up late for my beloved job and I didn't understand why they didn't like it. I still stand by the fact that I was really good at my job; I was knowledgeable, understanding and able to do more than my job title required. Honestly, I didn't mind because, I really liked it. I felt like it was preparing me for something bigger.
Then they got fed up with me being unreliable and I got the boot. I was bitter for a long time but now I understand their point.
I don't think I would have gotten to this point had I not had my downfall.
So after the boot, I got DWI numero dos. Yikes. I cried all day on my 24th birthday because, of course, that was just on the heels of all my other troubles. Seriously though, I don't want you to feel sorry for me.
It took a great deal of humbling and a few kicks in the pants BUT, I think I'm on the right track.
I'm in a supervisor position now and I know what trouble it makes when I can't rely on people to show up on time or at all. I can honestly say that I never understood the repercussions of my actions. It makes me feel like a fool but sometimes it takes people a bit longer to learn the simple lessons.
It's been just over a year now since I got fired and I can honestly say that I'm in a much better place now. I've grown up and taken responsibility for myself. I'm not completely independent but I'm working on it.
Sometimes it takes time to sort the shit out but, it will happen eventually.
-
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