Good Sunday evening/Monday morning to all of my readers.
Contrary to the name of my blog, I don't know that I can muster up the courage to write about anything happy or hilarious based on the events that took place in our nation over the past week.
In the course of my life, I've done the best I can to keep a positive attitude regardless of what life throws my way. My father was sick for the greater part of my childhood. I watched as my father's health deteriorated year after year. In 2009, when two consecutive years of miracles began gracing my family's presence, I rejoiced. But, I never forgot the pain of the challenging years. Still today, I have strong memories of what it was like to have a heavy heart every single morning as I woke up to another day of life.
I've allowed my heart to be broken, at times; shattered. As I matured, I made the decision to create my own happiness and to never depend on others to put a smile on my face. This has proven incredibly successful for my well being over the years.
On Saturday morning (and Sunday morning) I woke up with a heavy heart again. The first time in years I woke up feeling sad, depressed even. Not from a bad break up or from a sick father, but for the absolute sadness that I feel for the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary, their families, the Newtown commuity, and for our country as a whole. I am in a semi-permanent state of shock and horror and I'm not sure how long it will continue.
What I do know is that these tragedies don't ever go away. No one can bring back the children or adults that lost their lives in Newtown, in Virginia Tech, in Columbine, in a Colorado movie theater, in the mall food court last week, at LA fitness in Pittsburgh two summers ago, or at intersections and in homes and street corners across our country each and every day. All of these tragedies have happened, and unfortunately, the likelihood that more will occur is high.
Instead of arguing about the cause of these tragedies, I encourage everyone to reflect on them, and use them as a tool to become a better person. Evil exists, and there is absolutely no doubt about it. We can't eliminate the evil. We can only work to combat it.
As happy as I am, I can't change the world alone.
This week, and from this point on, I challenge everyone to embrace the good things that are left in the world. I encourage anyone with positivity and happiness left, to try each day to impact someone's life. If we all did this, we may make a dent on all of the negativity and pain in the world.
In a conversation with a friend after the Newtown shooting, he told me "I'm going to stop watching the news and focus on what I can do to improve my life and the lives of those around me." I think that you have the right idea, Wano.
Everyone should ask themselves what they can do for humanity.
The families of the victims and of the demons lives will go on, but they will never forget the pain of their tragedies.
I don't believe that the world will end this month. But, I do believe that the world that we knew up until this point has ended, and I'm not sure that we will ever be able to get that back.
Here's to spreading positivity in a world with so many negatives,
Xoxo
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Righting (and Writing) Wrongs
Happy Monday, everyone!
This week, I only have to work four days! Thank you Abercrombie and Fitch for the comp day! I am going to spend it ice skating down town!
In last week's blog, I discussed what it was like working in the retail world during this time of year. I also talked about the fact that I have witnessed countless adults throwing temper tantrums in my store. I proposed to my readers, that if you witness one of these temper tantrums, you stand up for whoever it is that is having their day shit on.
This week, I was given that opportunity... twice.
Early in the week, I went to the tanning salon where I had a lengthy conversation with Kayla; the pleasant girl working at that time. Kayla told me about a customer that regularly gave her a difficult time. Though the tanning salon closes at 9pm on weeknights, and there is CLEARLY a sign posted that says the last tan is at 8:40pm, some idiot (the same idiot) shows up at 9pm and bangs on the door until Kayla lets her in to tan after hours.
Kayla doesn't get paid for the extra time that she stays at work, because she is only scheduled until 9. Yet, multiple times per week, this idiot shows up after close and demands that Kayla let her tan. Kayla is 17 years old and in high school. This middle aged woman has bullied her over and over again, and to be honest, it's juvenile and absurd. After I tanned, I sat down at the tanning salon until close. If this moron showed up, I was going to put her in her place. She didn't, and she was lucky. Kayla, I'll always have your back girl.
Fast forward to Friday night. I stepped out of the store to grab some food with one of my part timers. It was here that I witnessed a middle aged woman knock over her entire tray of food at Villa Pizza. She knocked over her drink which spilled onto the counter and floor, causing a chain reaction for her marinara sauce to also spill about the counter top. Do you know what she did? She picked up her plate of pizza and walked away. Initially, I thought that she maybe was going to look for a towel to clean up her mess with.
Nope.
I watched as she walked across the food court, found an empty table, and sat down to eat what she had salvaged from her meal. I asked the man working at the pizza place to please give me a wet towel so that I could clean up her mess. "You don't have to do that," he said. But, I insisted. After cleaning up her mess, I walked right over to the table where she was sitting. Now surrounded by three teenage girls I proclaimed to her, "Don't worry ma'am, I cleaned up the mess that you made over there." As she stared at me, dumbfounded, I told her to have a nice evening. If I really wanted to do her a favor, I would have taken the pizza away from her. To put it nicely, she didn't need it.
And last, but certainly not least, allow me to address the issue that continues to plague my life. There seems to be one idiot that won't leave me alone. It seems like someone's mother never told her "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." What her mother really should have told her was, "don't wake up in the morning and think up rumors to tell about people that have done nothing to you but help you." I digress.
After I spent a few hours feeling bad for myself regarding these straight up fallacies that this idiot spread about me, I took a second to remember everything that I stand for. At the end of the day, you can't please anyone but yourself. If other people want to make up lies, or talk badly about you, or be a moron in general, don't let it have any effect on your life. It's the best thing that you can do for yourself. I know who I am and the things that I stand for. The people that matter to me know who I am and what I stand for also. Really, nothing else matters.
With that being said, you my friend (just kidding) are the epitome of hell on earth. Not just to me, but to many.
Yesterday, I spent the early afternoon with Amy, Connie, and Theresa at Starbucks catching up on our week. I truly love each one of you ladies, and I'd like to let you know that you complete my Sundays.
Last night I went shopping for Christmas presents, not for myself or my family, but for less fortunate children. I have everything I could ever need in my life: happiness, health, and a life surrounded by great family and friends. I made a few purchases but my favorite was a glitter jump rope. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't contemplate getting a second one for myself. One little girl is about to be VERY happy.
By the time most of you read this, I am probably already elbow deep in Monday morning paperwork. At any rate, I hope you all have a fantastic week. God knows I will.
Here's to living your life for you,
Xoxo
This week, I only have to work four days! Thank you Abercrombie and Fitch for the comp day! I am going to spend it ice skating down town!
In last week's blog, I discussed what it was like working in the retail world during this time of year. I also talked about the fact that I have witnessed countless adults throwing temper tantrums in my store. I proposed to my readers, that if you witness one of these temper tantrums, you stand up for whoever it is that is having their day shit on.
This week, I was given that opportunity... twice.
Early in the week, I went to the tanning salon where I had a lengthy conversation with Kayla; the pleasant girl working at that time. Kayla told me about a customer that regularly gave her a difficult time. Though the tanning salon closes at 9pm on weeknights, and there is CLEARLY a sign posted that says the last tan is at 8:40pm, some idiot (the same idiot) shows up at 9pm and bangs on the door until Kayla lets her in to tan after hours.
Kayla doesn't get paid for the extra time that she stays at work, because she is only scheduled until 9. Yet, multiple times per week, this idiot shows up after close and demands that Kayla let her tan. Kayla is 17 years old and in high school. This middle aged woman has bullied her over and over again, and to be honest, it's juvenile and absurd. After I tanned, I sat down at the tanning salon until close. If this moron showed up, I was going to put her in her place. She didn't, and she was lucky. Kayla, I'll always have your back girl.
Fast forward to Friday night. I stepped out of the store to grab some food with one of my part timers. It was here that I witnessed a middle aged woman knock over her entire tray of food at Villa Pizza. She knocked over her drink which spilled onto the counter and floor, causing a chain reaction for her marinara sauce to also spill about the counter top. Do you know what she did? She picked up her plate of pizza and walked away. Initially, I thought that she maybe was going to look for a towel to clean up her mess with.
Nope.
I watched as she walked across the food court, found an empty table, and sat down to eat what she had salvaged from her meal. I asked the man working at the pizza place to please give me a wet towel so that I could clean up her mess. "You don't have to do that," he said. But, I insisted. After cleaning up her mess, I walked right over to the table where she was sitting. Now surrounded by three teenage girls I proclaimed to her, "Don't worry ma'am, I cleaned up the mess that you made over there." As she stared at me, dumbfounded, I told her to have a nice evening. If I really wanted to do her a favor, I would have taken the pizza away from her. To put it nicely, she didn't need it.
And last, but certainly not least, allow me to address the issue that continues to plague my life. There seems to be one idiot that won't leave me alone. It seems like someone's mother never told her "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." What her mother really should have told her was, "don't wake up in the morning and think up rumors to tell about people that have done nothing to you but help you." I digress.
After I spent a few hours feeling bad for myself regarding these straight up fallacies that this idiot spread about me, I took a second to remember everything that I stand for. At the end of the day, you can't please anyone but yourself. If other people want to make up lies, or talk badly about you, or be a moron in general, don't let it have any effect on your life. It's the best thing that you can do for yourself. I know who I am and the things that I stand for. The people that matter to me know who I am and what I stand for also. Really, nothing else matters.
With that being said, you my friend (just kidding) are the epitome of hell on earth. Not just to me, but to many.
Yesterday, I spent the early afternoon with Amy, Connie, and Theresa at Starbucks catching up on our week. I truly love each one of you ladies, and I'd like to let you know that you complete my Sundays.
Last night I went shopping for Christmas presents, not for myself or my family, but for less fortunate children. I have everything I could ever need in my life: happiness, health, and a life surrounded by great family and friends. I made a few purchases but my favorite was a glitter jump rope. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't contemplate getting a second one for myself. One little girl is about to be VERY happy.
By the time most of you read this, I am probably already elbow deep in Monday morning paperwork. At any rate, I hope you all have a fantastic week. God knows I will.
Here's to living your life for you,
Xoxo
Monday, December 3, 2012
Bad Attitudes EVERYWHERE
Happy Monday and happy December!
This past week has been filled with so much excitement for me that I can hardly keep track of it all! Last Friday, I kicked off my first holiday season since my promotion to store manager and I couldn't be more excited! I continue to absolutely adore my job and my coworkers each and every day. In fact, if I could go to work every day and only have communication with my the associates and managers at my store and throughout the company, every day would be like a vacation.
However, that is simply not possible.
The problematic part of the equation is really the fact that at some point, the doors open up and customers begin shopping. I use the term "shopping" very loosely. Most people that come into the store, make a big mess, and leave without making a single purchase. Less than half of the people that come "shopping" will respond to you let alone even look your way when you say hello to them. If I had a dollar for every time I asked, "Hi, how are you today?" and a customer responded with "No, I'm just looking." I would be able to retire. During the non-holiday time of year, I'd say that somewhere between 5-6% of people genuinely suck. When they enter the store, there is nothing that you can say or do that can fix it.
During the holiday season; however, that 5-6% turns into roughly 30% of permanently dissatisfied customers. You don't even have to work in retail to witness these idiots though. If you have ever waited in line at the mall, chances are you have seen someone throw an adult temper tantrum. You know, there's always one person in line that thinks that their time on earth is infinitely more important that anyone else's time. The person that huffs and puffs because, well gosh, it's CHRISTMAS TIME AND THEY HAVE TO WAIT IN A LINE because they aren't the only person that woke up on a Saturday in December and decided to go to the mall to go Christmas shopping. Please, spare me.
In the last week, I have been screamed at four times. When I say screamed at, I mean it. Four separate people gave me the business on four different occasions. I was verbally assaulted and told about myself on four out of five days that I worked last week. Luckily for me, I am resilient.
I'd like to take some time to talk about these individuals that gave me the business but before I do, please let me kindly remind you where I work. I work at a shopping mall. Nothing that I do, in any way, has any serious impact on someone's life or well being. I'm not providing chemotherapy to cancer patients. I'm not performing brain surgery on severe head trauma victims. I'm not an air traffic controller. I don't work in payroll. Nothing that I do at my place of work should have any substantial impact on someone's life. Nothing that I do should cause an adult temper tantrum. And, do you know why? Because, I sell tee shirts.
First adult temper tantrum of the week: The middle-aged mom that decided to create her own line on black Friday at approximately 12:20am. I approached the woman, and the small group of people that had followed her lead and politely pointed out that the line to the register had formed in the opposite direction. Every person casually walked to the other side of the store. Everyone except for the woman that started the problem. She yelled at me, basically because she was an idiot and couldn't use context clues, and when I said "okay" that made it even worse. "Yeah, it's okay to you because YOU haven't been waiting in line." I walked away, end of story. Reminder, my store opened at midnight. She yelled at me at 12:20. If she entered the store as soon as we opened, grabbed an item, and got into line, she had been "waiting in line" for 20 minutes AT THE MOST. I worked from 10:30p.m on Thanksgiving until 2p.m. on Friday. Yet, this bitch had the nerve to insinuate that I didn't understand her time contraints. I legitimately hope that her vehicle ran out of gas on the way home.
Second adult temper tantrum: An average mom that thought that she was a lot hotter than she actually was AND thought that she understood how my point of sale system worked. This bitch told me that she wanted to talk to me while I was still wearing my coat and purse. I just walked into my store and she was pulling me away from the register and into a different room. She wanted to lecture me in private, so that was nice. Her ranted started with "I work at Coach..." and from that point on I made the decision to go ahead and block out whatever came out of her stupid mouth for the next five minutes or so. The last thing she said was, "You probably think I'm a bitch." I said that I didn't but, well, I lied. In the end, she told me that she just wanted to let me know how she didn't like the fact that she could only use her coupon once. In the words of Jesse, "Oh, so she wanted a forever coupon?" But yes, that is exactly what she wanted. I hope that someone poops on the floor at the Coach store.
The other two women that told me about myself this week were in regards to a return with an un-scannable receipt and an out of stock glitter sweater. If the worst thing that happened to either of these women was that they could only get cash back instead of having the money refunded to her American Express or that my store was sold out of a glitter sweater, then they have fantastic lives. But, not if you ask them. The performance that the woman with the American Express card deserved an academy award.
I'll leave you with a few final thoughts.
There are people dying, right now, as I type this. There are people starving. There are people that are homeless. There are people that are alone. There are people that are illiterate. There are people that don't know their families. There are people that won't get to celebrate Christmas.
Instead of being angry because a store doesn't have the sweater that you want, be grateful that you have the ability to leave your warm house and drive to a shopping mall to spend $50 on a sweater that you probably don't need anyway. Be grateful that you live in America. Be thankful that you have food to eat, that you have a family to love you, and that you have good health. Just be grateful to be alive.
Once you we can wrap our heads around the idea that there are 7 BILLION people in the world and that your "problem" of a sold out sweater or a long line or an expired coupon isn't a problem at all in the grand scheme of life, perhaps we could spend more time being thankful for all that we have.
And finally, if you see someone throwing one of these adult temper tantrums in public, please tell them to fuck themselves. First off, because they should. And secondly, because whoever they are unloading all of their troubles on cannot tell them to do so without losing their job.
Here's to tackling bad attitudes and spreading holiday cheer,
Xoxo
This past week has been filled with so much excitement for me that I can hardly keep track of it all! Last Friday, I kicked off my first holiday season since my promotion to store manager and I couldn't be more excited! I continue to absolutely adore my job and my coworkers each and every day. In fact, if I could go to work every day and only have communication with my the associates and managers at my store and throughout the company, every day would be like a vacation.
However, that is simply not possible.
The problematic part of the equation is really the fact that at some point, the doors open up and customers begin shopping. I use the term "shopping" very loosely. Most people that come into the store, make a big mess, and leave without making a single purchase. Less than half of the people that come "shopping" will respond to you let alone even look your way when you say hello to them. If I had a dollar for every time I asked, "Hi, how are you today?" and a customer responded with "No, I'm just looking." I would be able to retire. During the non-holiday time of year, I'd say that somewhere between 5-6% of people genuinely suck. When they enter the store, there is nothing that you can say or do that can fix it.
During the holiday season; however, that 5-6% turns into roughly 30% of permanently dissatisfied customers. You don't even have to work in retail to witness these idiots though. If you have ever waited in line at the mall, chances are you have seen someone throw an adult temper tantrum. You know, there's always one person in line that thinks that their time on earth is infinitely more important that anyone else's time. The person that huffs and puffs because, well gosh, it's CHRISTMAS TIME AND THEY HAVE TO WAIT IN A LINE because they aren't the only person that woke up on a Saturday in December and decided to go to the mall to go Christmas shopping. Please, spare me.
In the last week, I have been screamed at four times. When I say screamed at, I mean it. Four separate people gave me the business on four different occasions. I was verbally assaulted and told about myself on four out of five days that I worked last week. Luckily for me, I am resilient.
I'd like to take some time to talk about these individuals that gave me the business but before I do, please let me kindly remind you where I work. I work at a shopping mall. Nothing that I do, in any way, has any serious impact on someone's life or well being. I'm not providing chemotherapy to cancer patients. I'm not performing brain surgery on severe head trauma victims. I'm not an air traffic controller. I don't work in payroll. Nothing that I do at my place of work should have any substantial impact on someone's life. Nothing that I do should cause an adult temper tantrum. And, do you know why? Because, I sell tee shirts.
First adult temper tantrum of the week: The middle-aged mom that decided to create her own line on black Friday at approximately 12:20am. I approached the woman, and the small group of people that had followed her lead and politely pointed out that the line to the register had formed in the opposite direction. Every person casually walked to the other side of the store. Everyone except for the woman that started the problem. She yelled at me, basically because she was an idiot and couldn't use context clues, and when I said "okay" that made it even worse. "Yeah, it's okay to you because YOU haven't been waiting in line." I walked away, end of story. Reminder, my store opened at midnight. She yelled at me at 12:20. If she entered the store as soon as we opened, grabbed an item, and got into line, she had been "waiting in line" for 20 minutes AT THE MOST. I worked from 10:30p.m on Thanksgiving until 2p.m. on Friday. Yet, this bitch had the nerve to insinuate that I didn't understand her time contraints. I legitimately hope that her vehicle ran out of gas on the way home.
Second adult temper tantrum: An average mom that thought that she was a lot hotter than she actually was AND thought that she understood how my point of sale system worked. This bitch told me that she wanted to talk to me while I was still wearing my coat and purse. I just walked into my store and she was pulling me away from the register and into a different room. She wanted to lecture me in private, so that was nice. Her ranted started with "I work at Coach..." and from that point on I made the decision to go ahead and block out whatever came out of her stupid mouth for the next five minutes or so. The last thing she said was, "You probably think I'm a bitch." I said that I didn't but, well, I lied. In the end, she told me that she just wanted to let me know how she didn't like the fact that she could only use her coupon once. In the words of Jesse, "Oh, so she wanted a forever coupon?" But yes, that is exactly what she wanted. I hope that someone poops on the floor at the Coach store.
The other two women that told me about myself this week were in regards to a return with an un-scannable receipt and an out of stock glitter sweater. If the worst thing that happened to either of these women was that they could only get cash back instead of having the money refunded to her American Express or that my store was sold out of a glitter sweater, then they have fantastic lives. But, not if you ask them. The performance that the woman with the American Express card deserved an academy award.
I'll leave you with a few final thoughts.
There are people dying, right now, as I type this. There are people starving. There are people that are homeless. There are people that are alone. There are people that are illiterate. There are people that don't know their families. There are people that won't get to celebrate Christmas.
Instead of being angry because a store doesn't have the sweater that you want, be grateful that you have the ability to leave your warm house and drive to a shopping mall to spend $50 on a sweater that you probably don't need anyway. Be grateful that you live in America. Be thankful that you have food to eat, that you have a family to love you, and that you have good health. Just be grateful to be alive.
Once you we can wrap our heads around the idea that there are 7 BILLION people in the world and that your "problem" of a sold out sweater or a long line or an expired coupon isn't a problem at all in the grand scheme of life, perhaps we could spend more time being thankful for all that we have.
And finally, if you see someone throwing one of these adult temper tantrums in public, please tell them to fuck themselves. First off, because they should. And secondly, because whoever they are unloading all of their troubles on cannot tell them to do so without losing their job.
Here's to tackling bad attitudes and spreading holiday cheer,
Xoxo
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