It Takes A Little Shake Up From The Rift

At the beginning of each blog, I assume that there is someone out there reading this. And not only that, but I take it to the next step and I believe that there is someone out there who understands and agrees with me as well. Maybe I'm wrong, but it helps get ideas out of my head, knowing that they may be appreciated. So thanks, I guess. 

I don't know what my issue is, but I just realized yesterday that I haven't been fair to my coworkers. Instead of thinking the best of these people to start off with, I wrote them all off to drama, kids, ex-husbands, smoking, jail, and stupidity. Sure, many of my coworker's lives have been affected by these and other life events. But just because my life has taken a different path, that doesn't necessarily make me any better than them. We've both ended up at the same place. This reminds me of a scene in "Revolutionary Road" where Kate is telling Leo that their life together in Suburbia has turned into every other life that they have so long despised and felt superior to. They were no better than these people. I've done the same thing.

Anyways, all of that was to say that I should give people a little more credit. One of my fellow servers told me yesterday that I don't talk about myself. She said, "I know where you went to college, and what you studied, and that's it." And I said that I didn't want to bore people with my drama, since there was already so much filling the restaurant. She told me that it's not drama, it's OK if people want to talk more than I do, which is hardly at all at work. To which I said, "I still haven't been able to bridge the gap between coworker and friend."

The second I said it, I wished I hadn't. The girl that I was talking to is actually one of my favorite people to work with, and I think I hurt her feelings. I don't know. If I was telling the truth, I should have said, "I still haven't found out how to treat my coworkers with the same respect that I treat my friends." That's my problem, or one of them at least, and I'm gonna work on it.

Bustomer Case

Top 10 Questions Asked By Spicer Bros. Customers:

10.  What time do you close?

9.  Where are the bags?

8.  Will you donate produce to my charity/event?

7.  What do you do with the bad produce?

6.  How much does this watermelon weigh?

5.  Could you pick me out a good watermelon?

4.  When will you have local corn?

3.  Do you have local strawberries?

2. Where Are these tomatoes from?

1.  Are these tomatoes safe?

Answers:

10.  Seven.

9.  In the basket right over there.

8.  No, we already donate to the food bank at the local Nazarene church.

7.  We give it to the pigs.

6.  About 20 lbs.

5.  Yes.

4.  It could be tomorrow, or two weeks from now.  No one knows for sure.

3.  You just missed them.  We had them during June.

2.  Mexico, California, and Canada.

1.  We wouldn't sell you bad tomatoes.

In The Morning

Right now I am sitting in my dad's chair using his laptop computer. My mom is making breakfast behind me in the kitchen. My shift at work starts at 10:30, which is the latest shift possible without being a closer. Shifts that go into the late afternoon are always slow and boring; everything usually gets done by about 4:00. I won't get off until 7:00, which means I will most likely be standing behind the cash register for hours, or walking back and forth around the store looking for something to do. I wouldn't necessarily mind having this later shift on any other day, but I would have really liked to watch the hockey game on at 5:00.

I was looking out the living room windows at my backyard earlier this morning. It is nearly 90% green. the other 10% accounts for the back patio and the brown trucks of the green-leaved trees. I have said this to many people recently, but one of my favorite things about the Portland area is not only the green, but the different shades of green. Anywhere you look there are multiple types of trees and bushes and grass, all with their unique blend of blue and yellow. It has to rain a lot for this to happen, but I think it's worth it.

My mom just put a plate of eggs and toast on the table, and it's starting to get cold.

Strange People Listening to Strange Music

Every time I see a person walking somewhere with headphones on, I go crazy with curiosity.  I would love to know what everyone is listening to.  Sometimes people will walk up to Spicer Brothers with headphones.  They'll shop with their headphones in, and only take them out to talk to the person at the cash register.  As soon as they pay for their produce, the headphones go back on the ears.  It's amazing!  Could their music be that good?  I must know what they're listening to!

I've been working up the courage to ask one customer that is always wearing headphones what she listens to, but it hasn't happened yet.  For now, I just imagine that everyone is smiling and listening to this song.

Before I Go To Bed (Version 1)

I've been home for seven days, and I've worked five.  Spicer Brothers is a good place to work though.  It's work that doesn't require much thinking.  And when the day is over, I can leave work at the store and go home.

I have a habit of worrying about everything I have to do.  This happened at school often, and it has transfered over to work.  At school, I would have five assignments, or big tests in two days, and I couldn't see them getting done.  Or at least without extreme suffering.  Eventually though, I would step back and tell myself, "No matter what, tomorrow, or next week, or the moment after the due date will come.  Whether I turn in the homework or not."  For some reason that always calmed me down.  I still had to do the work, but the prospect of the inevitable arrival of relaxation and carefreeness made the work easier.

I have had to remind myself of that several times in the last week at work.  When I get to the store in the morning, I don't leave again for eight and a half hours.  That's a long time.  But it's coming whether or not I work hard.  So I might as well work hard.  That could be a good way to live the rest of my life.

Also, the guitar player from Kutless shops at our store now.

Time to Relax

School's out. It feels really good to be done. I try not to let myself get stressed out, but it happened a lot this semester. And now that's done.

I'm still in Nampa until Friday. I'm on the schedule to work at Spicer Brothers Produce starting Saturday! I can't wait to just take it easy for a while. I have a lot of books to read, so I'll be out on the patio at my house in Oregon City if you want to find me.

Reppin' and Preppin'

I've decided that if I want to increase the amount of enjoyment I experience at work, I need to try and laugh more.  This has proved to be very easy, because the people I work with do funny things.  They don't walk around making faces or cracking jokes all day long, it's just the things that they say and do normally that make me laugh.

Examples:

One girl gave a manager a prolonged back rub while he was standing at a computer station.  Funny because I thought about how awkward it would have been if I was in that situation, on either end.

Another coworker referred to Ellen DeGeneres as Ellen Degenerate after quoting her favorite lines from Finding Nemo.  Funny because she thought it was funny.

So many people are sick at work on Saturdays and Sundays because of hangovers.  Funny because I don't have to worry about it, and they bring it on themselves.

But I've found the best way to make myself laugh is to try and always say something positive when coworkers are being negative or trying to include me in gossip or degrading jokes.  Even though I'm being positive and encouraging, it often leaves the other people confused.  Most of the time they just don't expect that response.  I don't want to make it seem as if I think I'm above them in anyway, and so I think I need to find a happy medium between encouragement and sympathy.  The whole thing is just so funny to me.  I love work experiments.

Also, I've been preparing for life after college.  This should be the beginning of a running update.  I'll keep you posted as everything starts to fall into place.  Anyways, I sent an e-mail to an apartment complex nearby about their studios or one bedrooms.  I'm still looking around for someone planning on staying in the area for the summer, and maybe I could bum around with them.  Who knows.  Also, I might get a TV.  Nice.