3 posts tagged “walmart”
What was your very first job?
Submitted by Laurel.
A had a pretty sweet babysitting gig back in the summer of '01. A friend of mine would walk over to a neighbor's house to watch over their three children and pets. What would constitute the need of two people, you say? Well, our task was to make sure that two rivaling sisters and a 2.5 year old boy with down syndrome were managed. Not to mention keep their very large dog, three twelve* cats, and two hamsters were fed. Oh yeah, and the kid with ds couldn't speak. We learned basic sign language to understand his needs. Man, their parents had their work cut out for them. With their father on TDY and a full-time working mom, Leslie and I were needed every weekday, 5am-midnight, and the weekends weren't much better. Many overnighters but I don't complain. I brought home about $30-35 per day. And where did all that money go?
*We started the job with three cats. One mom and two bastard children. A week into summer, mama gets pregnant. AND HAD THE LITTER IN NICOLE'S UNDERWEAR DRAWER. ...OOOH, THE BLOOD.
Anywho, speaking of jobs, WalMart's not giving me my birthday off even though I've stuck around for way past the general teen turn-over average. *sigh* Coincidentally, I only have one class on Fridays and the teacher will be out this week for a chorus production. So, free day! Marie's birthday will be spent tomorrow. Happy sweet nineteen!
Anywho, speaking of birthdays, Jon and I held a surprise party for Steven and Raymond the other day. It was pretty impromptu but I dubbed it a success. Not as many party-goers as I was aiming for but a bunch attended in spirit.
Marie
And speaking of CRAZY OLD MEN- I was totally and completely violated at work today. As much as I try to avoid blogging about the workplace, this is undeniably inevitable. First and foremost, I'd like to state that odd people stroll through the jewelry department everyday and it takes a bit to phaze me. Alright then. Anyway, so I'm closing as per usual and not too many people come by in the late hours. EXCEPT FOR CRAZY OLD MAN. So here I am, minding my own business, straightening out some gold chains when I hear some inaudible voice call something. I look over and there's this creepy smile just looking back at me. The smile speaks.
COM: Hey, you Filipina?
Me: Uh, yes?
COM: Well, I knew it! I can tell you people a mile away! You are by far the most beautiful women in the world.
Me: Thanks?
COM continues to ask about where I was born, where I lived, where I've been. Not too bad. But those were just the ice breakers.
COM: You know, I'm a professional hair stylist. You shouldn't cut your hair! I love long hair on my filipinas. You see, I have this vision of my perfect woman. Long, luscious, flowing hair, big brown eyes, and a nice body.
Me: Yeah huh...
COM: So you shouldn't cut your hair! I like you with long hair! I'm a hair stylist!
Me: Right. Okay.
COM: *touches my hair* I'd like it around... here. *touches my lower back* Well, I'm looking at getting a job here. Yep, I applied for management so when I start working we can talk all the time!
Me: 'kay...
COM: I own my own business so I should get the job. I should be here in no time!
WELL, after some quite unnerving conversation, he left to shop and the jewelry department was at peace again. UNTIL! I had to drop off some returns at the service desk and said man just happened to be there. He serenaded me with a hacked up version of "Maria, Maria" (my name is MariE, by the way). Over the course of the night, he followed me back to the department a couple times and back to customer service. He's been known to harrass the female staff before. Ugh. Creepy Old Man story end.
Marie
Catastrophe strikes!
3:51pm, getting into little yellow car.
3:57pm, speeding through dense traffic to work.
4:01pm, clock in a minute late.
4:03pm, tell department manager to have a good day.
4:08pm, LIGHTS GO OUT.
4:31pm, WalMart closes.
What a day indeed. Apparently, a motorist hit the Gulf Power lines yesterday, bringing down all of the lines in the process. Though we were without power for some time (aside from the registers which had some back-up power made to last for about ten minutes) shoppers still entered and proceeded with the day's browsing. Just moments later, I found myself dodging very confused, very pissed customers. Luckily, jewelry department associates don't wear the dopey blue smock so I wasn't found out by many. I was called over to help bag groceries to get people the hell outta there. After all shoppers were wrangled, everyone was sent across the store to check for abandoned buggies. Let it be known that all lights, cameras, and deactivators were off at the time. There was no said buddy system. If it wasn't for a conscience I could have, very easily, paid off a few months of car insurance. Aw well. I'm assuming God's giving me a thumbs up from a cloud somewhere.
WalMart gets so creepy in the dark. For a while, I was just standing in the sporting goods section, avoiding everyone (work mostly). The majority of the store was in the food side covering the meat aisles with sheets of plastic. And yes, we sold said meat that day. Sorry.
On the upside, I did get a free lunch from the deli after the meat guy declared that he'd rather not waste it all than give it to the workers. Some people griped about having to drink from the tap (pansies) so management opened up the drink machine.
6:37pm, shopping resumes.
All in all, an interesting day.
Marie S.
