I can't say my whole day was bad. It just turned bad after I got off work at 7:30 tonight. First of all, why was I working 'til 7:30 on a Saturday night? You'd think after 22 years I could work a Monday-Friday 8-5 job, wouldn't you? Yeah. Well, I'm a dedicated glutton for punishment. Every time I'm lucky enough to take a position that lets me work that shift, they change the job requirement or I decide to go for something new and exciting that puts me right back on evenings/nights and weekends! What a shmuck I am!
When I took my facilitator position in Seattle, it was indeed Mon-Fri, 8-5 with overtime pay for anything I worked over that and premium pay if I worked on a Sunday. Nice! Then I was part of a pilot program to train assistant managers in the REAL world of Walmart. Back I go to some weekend days, one second shift and a couple overnights in an 8 week training class.
Now that I work at the Talent Center and we run two classes of 30 at a time, we work opposite shifts so we aren't doing the same activities at the same time. Since my first class (May-June) was first shift, starting at 8 AM every day, this class (June-July) is second shift, starting at 10 every day. (Except of course our 2nd shift day and our overnight). Anyway today was a "host store" day when the trainees had to work in the host stores shadowing associates on the front end. They have to spend time at the service desk, following customer service managers, working with cashiers, pushing shopping carts out of the parking lot, cleaning bathrooms and mopping floors with maintenance, etc. I always enjoy this day, because at least for that one day, they all know what it feels like to be those associates and gain more appreciation for them. In Seattle, every time we did this, they were all pushing carts on windy, cold, rainy days. Today it was 96 degrees and HUMID!!! (Sorry if I'm sounding a bit sadistic right now... but I do enjoy seeing them really working beside the associates.)
Anyway... It was a really good, productive day. They were working; they were smiling; and they were learning. When I got off work tonight, I decided to take advantage of the fact that I was actually working IN a store. I miss that at the Talent Center... most of our boxes are empty shells for training purposes and our coolers don't work, so we certainly don't have milk and eggs!
So, I begin leisurely shopping. No reason to hurry home; no one was here, so I took my time. When I was done, I headed to the registers... that's when the day went downhill...
I chose a lane with one woman with the cashier and a man with half a basket he was unloading. It was the shortest and didn't look too bad. Then I realized the woman was ad matching EVERY SINGLE ITEM in her basket! She had a notebook with a list and every competitor's price in the ads and read the price of every item to him. Then I realized the man was with her... so now her order was a cart and a half full! Did I mention that I was REALLY shopping for the first time since moving into my new apartment in Texas? REALLY shopping for me includes some Stouffers dinners, some lean cuisine, frozen hamburger patties and so I can have an occasional Saturday night date, Ben & Jerry were there too! So with each ad match, I'm thinking... my food is melting! Then I'm thinking of the irony of it all... I spent most of last week teaching food related processes to the trainees, more specifically "cold chain" and the fact that cold/frozen food couldn't be out of the cooler for more than 20 minutes!
Then I realize that NOT A SOUL anywhere near me spoke English as a first language. Now I'm not a snob. I enjoy learning about other cultures and respect their languages; even admire their ability to speak their native language and English. A few months before I left Seattle, I had even purchased a conversational Spanish course so that I could learn basic phrases to be able to communicate with customers and some of my trainees better. I didn't feel DRIVEN to learn it, just thought it would be a good idea since I was having more trainees from southern California who spoke Spanish. In Seattle, I was surrounded by people who spoke different languages; especially Filipino dialects, Samoan & Russian. When I found out I was moving to Texas, I thought "Good thing I bought that Spanish course... I better get to work..."
Anyway, so I was standing in this line FOR-EVVVVV-ERRRR, and realized that the family in front of me with the ad matches was speaking Spanish (except for the prices on each item... she could say those well enough in English). Then I looked at the family in line behind me and realized they were speaking Chinese. And when it was finally my turn to check out, my cashier had such a thick Arabic accent (his name was Allaudin, by the way), I had to keep saying "What?" or just nodding my head and smiling like an idiot whenever he said anything to me! I'm beginning to think that I won't be able to communicate verbally with anyone by the time I die!
So, I finally got checked out, got my groceries into the car and headed for home. Have GPS will Travel! Yeah... I'm still learning my way around and it was only the second time I'd been to this store. Anyway... so I was driving home, in the "slow" lane since I didn't know where I was going, but I was still going 10mph OVER the speed limit and this jackass decides to ride my bumper. Two open lanes to my left and he has to ride my bumper in the right lane!!!! I have developed a new philosophy for driving in Texas. If you're going to be a jackass and ride my bumper in the right lane, when I'm going the speed limit or faster and you have PLENTY of room to go around me, I'm going to PURPOSELY go 10 mph BELOW the speed limit just to piss you off!!! And that's exactly what I did! Odd thing was, when I slowed down to 50, he backed off! Say what?!?!?!?! Yep. He stayed behind me for at least 2 miles at 50 mph before he finally pulled into the other lane and zoomed past me! I think he had issues. Course, maybe I did too... road rage Carol style!
I finally got home, unloaded my groceries and put my floppy frozen pizza in the freezer, my warm gallon of milk in the fridge and dished up a bowl full of mint chocolate chip soup. As I sat down at my computer, with soup in hand, a thought popped into my head and now all is right with the world!
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