Sketches of Character

Every once in a while things happen at work that lift the monotony. When you work in retail, you have to cherish the small moments or humor when they come along. This week there was the customer who had to lean over the check-out counter to look at my skirt because she said she'd never seen such a long jean skirt before. And there was the couple who came in together for a quick errand, and as they were leaving the husband said to me, "Have a good one." And his wife immediately replied, "You too."

"Belle" bodice for Beauty and the Beast. It looks odd because it's a size twenty sitting on a size zero mannikin. There's a matching skirt, but it wouldn't fit on the mannikin at all.

My coworker's funeral was last Saturday(the Nice Manager went) and then Sunday we were snowed in with the first notable storm of the year. My seventy year Old Manager still went in to work despite the blizzard. For myself I don't feel that minimum wage is worth risking my life for; but my Old Manager, being of the Old breed, doesn't mind blizzards, floods, or fires, and faces all with unflappable and pragmatic calm. If you haven't realized this yet, I have two jobs and a lot of managers. Here's a quick run-through of my different managers:

1. There's the Nice Manager, who does all the training, thank goodness. She never gets angry!
2. The Old Manager, who is seventy, a little prickly at first, but has lived long enough to be interesting and flexible, and as we have seen, she's unstoppable.
3. The Practical Manager, who is nice and fairly standard, with several grown kids, and she thinks I should go to college. I almost agreed with her since as she was telling me this I was well into an hour on my knees sorting spools of thread.
4. The Critical Manager, who is the top boss, and who has this amazing knack for making everything everyone else's fault, even if there is no problem. I never ask her a question if I can help it. She's teaching me good management principles in reverse.

And then at my other job there's the Woman of Energy, who is quickly becoming the Manipulative Manager. She's really nice as long as she doesn't want something from me. If she wants me to work hours beyond my schedule she's pretty low about it, telling me I'm in my twenties, still living with my parents, and not even working full-time hours. Otherwise she's pretty cheerful.

So there's a quick sketch of the people who make my job interesting. I guess if any of my managers ever happen to find my blog, I'll probably be in trouble!