MY LIFE - JANUARY

Saturday, January 13, 2001

Okay, I have like zero e-mails to check and reply to tonight and I know I've been writing or replying to the ones that I have been getting. Just what is going on people? Is there some reason why replying to something I wrote has become a cardinal sin punishable by death? If so, I'd like to know so that I'd have at least a chance to cheat the system.

No matter. Today was a good day despite Joanne criticizing everyone within earshot and accusing night people of being dumb and stupid and not making any attempt at hiding it from anyone at all. This stemmed from her finding that a box of birth control was empty but still on the shelf, leading her to believe that we had it in stock. Her first words were to blame it on the night people.

I could not believe her either. Then, when Elizabeth told her to just stop, Joanne looked at her and said that you had to blame someone, right? Again, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I wanted to tell her so bad to just get over it, but I was kind of stunned from hearing it. I finally did do something and she's probably pissed that I did it.

The rest of the day, whenever she'd complain or get upset over something, I'd make the sound of a hissing cat really loud so that she could hear it, daring her to say something. I did this after every complaint of hers, but all she did was give me a look that was less than happy. I didn't really care though. She wasn't going to ruin my mood and if she was going to be bitchy, I was at least going to give her a reason to hate me.

I was like that all day. I rang someone out through drive-thru that had a poodle in the car and went on a rant about how much I hated poodles to Jean for about a half-hour or so. It was really funny. I talked about how much I hated those damn things and how much they really scared me, especially the really manicured ones. I kept calling them the damn scariest thing I had ever seen in my life.

Then I lost my scan tag that I was using while filling. I couldn't believe I lost it either. I thought maybe Elizabeth had taken it with her like she's done in the past, but she didn't have it. I looked by drive-thru, by the register, and everywhere else I had been, but couldn't find the damn thing. I eventually had to relog on and start with a new scan tag.

Who'd I blame it on? That damn dog. I insisted that somehow that dog had gotten a hold of my tag somehow and was probably running around the house it lived in with the tag in its mouth, ripping it to shreds and shitting on my very name. I went on that rant for about fifteen minutes much to the delight of Jean who had to listen to me all afternoon.

Then Paul came in and made things even more interesting. He had a haircut and had shaved, but he still didn't exactly smell fresh. It's just so hard to fathom how he lives like he does and every time he tells us something about how he grew up, you're even more amazed that he's made it this far and how he hasn't gone psycho yet.

He also makes it so easy to make fun of him too. The other night we talked about cloning him and HE was the one saying that one of him was bad enough. I looked at him, then looked at Jim, and told him we wouldn't clone him so that there would be two Pauls running around. We'd clone him just so we could beat up the clone as a stress release, kind of like a giant stress ball.

For some reason, Paul didn't seem to thrilled with that notion or the notion of us torturing his clone either. He seemed petrified enough of the thought of a clone of him, so I figure he shouldn't be worried about what we do to it if we ever did anything like that. It's not like we want two Pauls running around either. He's enough by himself for the world to handle. A clone might spell the end of civilization.

It just amazes me how good he makes me look. Before I knew Paul, I figured there weren't a lot of people who were as hard on themselves as I can be and who had self-esteem (or lack of in my case) like mine. This guy makes me look like the most confident person you could ever meet. It's not even funny either. He makes me look like the most outgoing, the friendliest, and funniest person you could ever meet.

Never mind that I'm over most of my self-esteem issues right now. Sure, I make fun of myself still, but I don't look at myself the same way I did before. If I still wasn't so shy, I'd be even more outgoing and probably be a lot more popular, not that I want that. But Paul, he just makes me look that much better and I don't know whether to feel sorry for the kid or thank him.

He has issues and I hope he gets over them and everything, but I don't see that happening. He just doesn't have the mindset to make his own life better. He's so damn smart, you'd think he could get a higher paying job, but he seems reluctant to do so. He's going to be stuck at CVS for a long time if he doesn't get himself together. This guy could be a real good pharmacist if he put his mind to it too.

I've had such an entertaining day though. I just wish that things weren't as rough as they actually are right now. I'm hoping that I can get my car payment in on time. On top of that, Tri-C's suddenly decided that I owe them over $600 and they want it NOW. Where that came from, I still don't know. I'm trying to appeal it, but it doesn't look very good.

In the meantime, I have three more days in a row of work before I get another day off, then at least three more to end the week. I have three day shifts and three night shifts because I was on some drugs or something when Steve asked if I was willing to work the extra day.

That's another thing that irks me about some people. They agree to work longer, then they complain about it until you wish they would have gone home instead. One minute they're happy to work the extra shift, then when they're actually working it, they can't wait for it to end so they can get out of the store.

My basic principle is not to complain about something if I agreed to do it. I said yes, so why should I complain about it? I didn't have to work it, but I agreed to. I have no one to blame but myself, so why even bother? Unfortunately, there are people who do this.

It's just one of many things I don't understand.

There are just some days where people really confuse me. Sometimes, I have the perfect day where nothing goes wrong and every customer is easy to get along with. Then there are days where every customer deserves to be shot and hung out front as a warning to others. Some people can be so unreasonable, so unwilling to listen to you that it amazes you they get anything done.

For instance, why would you talk on your cell phone while being checked out either in a store or in a drive-thru? Did we not learn manners? Do we think that it's appropriate to maintain conversations with people and not focus on what we're doing? I cannot understand why you'd talk on your cell phone in a store for anyway. Sure, you might get a call, but you can tell them to call back or make it quick, right?

Why do people smoke through drive-thru? It's just nasty y'all. I personally do not like cigarette smoke flying in my face (we have a drive-thru facing north and have a north wind a lot of times). It does not encourage me to serve you any faster or better than anyone else who's being rude in another manner to me.

How is it people don't know what their insurance company might be, but they KNOW their copay? Then, when a different copay comes up, why is it our fault? We didn't set the price, your insurance company did? How hard is this to understand? If you have a question about a copay, you call your insurance company. We have no idea what your plan is and what will happen until we bill it.

There's so much more, but it's pretty much pointless to continue to complain about those things. It just feels good to let it out and vent some steam. We take so much shit from customers and still have to try and smile through it all. As much as retail businesses don't want us to say, the customer is NOT always right. In fact, 75% of the time, the customer is wrong.

But again, I'm not going to let those things sour this day. I had too much fun to let that happen. Now I know tomorrow will be shitty because today was so good. Something always has to give.

At least, that's how it seems.