Anxiety-Inducing Visit

We have a visit tomorrow, and even though I don't work tomorrow, I feel super-stressed about it. I started the closing procedure late, and I feel like I forgot to do something important. Also, this woman that I pretty much hate came in and wanted a canvas print from her phone images. I told her the resolution wasn't high enough to support a good image (and our photo app told her that too), but she said she would "risk it". So of course, they don't look that awesome. My manager said to make sure she gets charged for them because she was told ahead of time they wouldn't look that great. I got the paper loaded, the images printed, one cut, and I started to put together the canvas structure when my manager told me to start facing. I think I might have put a piece in wrong. I just feel like someone tomorrow will be agitated at me.

One of my co-workers noticed that I buy something almost everyday. True. Don't judge!

I got a terrible phone call from the hubs who said he kicked the garage door in to get to his vehicle and his keys. I obviously did not intend to put those turn of events into action.

Around ten or eleven the new girl came by to say 'hi'. I was very startled and asked if she was working. Dumb question because she was wearing her name tag. She was (obviously) and said she had been there since eight. How did I not see her for about three hours? Where was she? What had she been doing? I have a lot of questions.

Let go and let God. It is what it is.

Busy Bugs

We were so busy tonight! We got out late because of the crowds, and tomorrow we'll be getting out late  because we'll be prepping for a visit. If I'm mentally prepared for that sort of thing, I don't get as hostile.  I just can't understand why we're so busy these days.

While I was cleaning the women's restroom, I noticed a freaky-looking bug. It was reddish-brown; possibly a spider. At first I thought it was a Wolf Spider, but then it looked too oblong to be a spider. It crawled under the toilet before I could get too freaked out.
On the bathroom cleaning schedule sheet, someone wrote in that at 3:35 pm, the condition was "Bug flying". Who could have written that?

Yucky Hands Touching School Supplies

The toilet in the regular-sized stall won't stop running, so I finally put an "Out of Order" sign on it. But before I did, a woman used it while I was using the other one. She didn't flush, although she tried to, and she didn't wash her hands either! That is so gross, I can hardly stand it. I feel like my store is very germy, and not washing one's hand's after using the restroom is not making things less germy. I tried not to think about all the things she touched.

We have an endstand of school supplies. Already! And there is a half-page in the ad paper advertising some supplies on sale. I happen to love school supplies, probably because I don't go to school or have an office job. What I don't like about the supplies being on sale is that it means time is passing quickly, almost without my awareness.

A regular saw me and said "Back to Skinny Minnie, I see. That didn't take long!"
I laughed and said "thank you".

Crazy Bread

A woman has been coming in more and more frequently. She talks to herself while in line, but she listens and responds when people (me) speak to her. She has two clumps of chin hair, and the hair on her head is splotchy. Usually she wears a do-rag and I noticed some designs tattooed around her temple. I have to say, she as very pretty teeth, but everything else about her kind of grosses me out. It was about 80 degrees outside, and very humid, yet she came in in a series of layers, including a fleece hoodie. 

She came in several times, and the last time she had a dirty washcloth over her single-serving of orange juice. 

The time before that she had a fistful of white bread, and she left a large piece of crust on my register. 

Twice now she has introduced herself to me. Also, she keep her money and her card in a dirty white sock. Which she pulls out when its' time to pay, then she laughs and puts it away, then pulls it out again. 

I'm afraid that one day she will snap and get crazy on me. But perhaps I watch too many crime shows. 

Crying Over Spilled Milk

I did not cry. But I was very annoyed that the cooler was in the state it was. There was a gallon of spilled milk, which was difficult to clean up because the dang cooler was so crowded. I had to get in sideways, and then find the corner at the end to start filling the milk. My shoes may or may not smell like milk now, and I am very happy I didn't pay much for them. I lost a roll of paper towels and a bag of trash in there...my manager found them later, buried under many crates. It did seem to be a health/safety hazard in there.

I notice that I shop the department I am in, mostly. I was putting up ad tags and clearance tags in our summer/promo aisle and then I bought a few floaties. I was facing my grocery aisle, and I decided I needed the olives that were on sale. On the upside, even with all that crazy, I saved 59%.

Happy 4th of July! Yes, we will be open. But you won't see me because I have the next three days off! Go team!

The Fire Alarm And Crazies

Whoa. We got out 15 minutes late because my manager was on the phone with the fire alarm people. Our fire alarm went off, and my manager and I rushed to the fire doors to see if someone had left the building. The catch on the door was popped and I realized the trash had given someone access to our stockroom. However, upon further inspection by my manager, no one had gone into the stockroom except for employees. So how was the alarm tripped? I suggested something paranormal, and I do not think my manager appreciated my brainstorming. The fireman came one time, even though our alarm kept going off.

I rung up this woman who wanted to do some switcharoos with her photos. I hope I did the transaction right. This woman has come in before...talking about ex-boyfriends. But today she told me she came out on Facebook. And I heard her arguing with the pharmacist about the perscription strength. She had a few teeth pulled and just wanted some painkillers. There is something odd and kind of disturbing about her.

The Photo Department had almost run out of 4x6 photo paper, our most popular size. So I called our sister store and asked if I could have a few rolls of theirs. Whenever I call their store, the automated menu thinks I'm calling from a doctor's office so I have to navigate out of the pharmacy area. I finally get a hold of the manager, who reluctantly agrees to give me a roll. When I went into the stockroom, I was floored! The boxes extend to the ceiling and there are narrow little aisles to navigate around. It was like a freaky game of Tetrus. I got the wrong kind of paper. I will be going back tomorrow.

Economy As Described With Mucinex

We lock our Mucinex up in little boxes that we have trouble opening even with our magnetic key. My manager said that we spent millions of dollars locking things up, but someone will always find away around it. He says that because of the economy, theft is on the rise. Pretty soon, he says, people won't be able to afford to eat. We do price changes relatively frequently, and both of us noticed the rising prices. Our government should think about raising the minimum wage.

There also seems to be a rise of the mentally ill hanging out at our store. When we locked the door, this woman was hanging out in the handicapped spot in our parking lot. She was looking around like she expected us to open the doors back up for her. A car drove by, and she appeared startled. Prior to our closing, she hung out by the door and talked to herself.

Back again tomorrow.