I planned on writing a completely different post. It’s even drafted. For a variety of reasons, though, it won’t appear here–a little too much about corporate myopia and tunnel vision. This evening I conducted an interview. Store managers in the district send employee candidates to me for a second interview, and after a few fitsContinue reading “On My Day”
Category Archives: Work
On Thumping the Head against the Wall
The difference a night of sleep makes. I wanted last night to thump my head against the wall. Either that or break out the red pen and bleed it on a document. I was given a document to review, a training guide to a new program at work. The sales tracking chart the guide explainsContinue reading “On Thumping the Head against the Wall”
Sunday Morning
The forecasted winter storm came and brought nothing but rain. Good news for the grocery stores–even the rumor of snow clears out their stocks–but bad news for other sectors of the retail community. Last night, at eight-thirty, the mall down the street was a ghost town and I might have been one of a dozenContinue reading “Sunday Morning”
More Wisdom from the Elizabethan Age
Let’s turn back the clock, shall we, to 1661. Lord Edmund Blackadder, favorite of Queen Elizabeth I said famously: If you play straight with me you’ll find me a considerate employer. But cross me, and you’ll soon discover that under this playful, boyish exterior beats the heart of a ruthless, sadistic maniac. Brings a tearContinue reading “More Wisdom from the Elizabethan Age”
The Daily Grind
When I made the schedule for this week, Sunday was one of my two days off for the week, Thursday being the other. So, I spent four and a half hours Sunday morning at one store’s inventory, and six hours Sunday evening and night at another’s. I worked a full day, basically, and sometime SundayContinue reading “The Daily Grind”
The Evil Eye
A woman gave me the “evil eye” at work today. I didn’t experience it personally. I didn’t see it. My assistant manager, however, did. My sister came by the store in the afternoon. She took a look through our used DVD selection which fills a single dump bin at the store. A few weeks ago,Continue reading “The Evil Eye”
Daily Recap
I overslept this morning. Looking at the clock, I’ve only been awake for twelve hours. I went to an inventory at a store in Raleigh last night. I arrived about half past six, scanning began about an hour later, and at four-thirty in the morning we were done and ready to go home. A lotContinue reading “Daily Recap”
Snow Day
It snowed in Raleigh today. A week ago the temperatures were in the seventies. Two days ago the high was twenty-five. Today was slightly warmer, and for three hours this morning snow fell. The snow hadn’t started when I arrived at the store at nine. Half past ten the flurries started. By one-thirty it wasContinue reading “Snow Day”
Christmas Eve
Business was quiet, but a busy quiet. No mobs swarmed upon the store. Instead, customers were patient, orderly. Traffic was never overwhelming, but in the final analysis sales were solid, better than I anticipated. As with every Christmas Eve traffic fell off in the afternoon as people left to travel, to wrap, to cook–the pauseContinue reading “Christmas Eve”
Going into the Weekend
The fates weren’t willing. The creek did rise. I worked on Thursday. My supervisor called me yesterday afternoon. Earlier in the week he announced that managers should take this coming Monday off. Now his supervisor wanted managers to work six days next week, taking only Christmas Day off. Half a day on Monday would beContinue reading “Going into the Weekend”