Today I got in trouble for something I didn't do. Granted, my assistant did it, but she was not at work today, so I couldn't pass on the love to her. And since I am basically in charge of her, I got it. I was reading some blog today, and the writer was talking about previous jobs she has had all the way back to the very beginning. So with that in mind let me take you back to my first job. I was 15. Me and a friend of mine went to the mall and tried to talk stores into hiring us. On about our tenth attempt this store hired both of us. It was called -- don't laugh -- The Nut Hut. Yep, seriously. They sold -- you guessed it-- nuts and candies out of a kiosk in the center of the mall. That was the place to be -- let me tell you. Everything imaginable happened in the center of the mall. And, man, the crank calls we used to get, hilarious. There was this one guy there who used to walk me to my car because another friend of mine got raped in the Foley's parking lot, and we were all scared to death after that. Anyway, he worked at Chick-Fil-A and would bring us free Chick-Fil-A cards, just like they have nowadays. We thought we were in heaven eating free Chick-Fil-A sandwiches. That was when they first came out. We also had a "Corn Dog" place that sold corn dogs, corn cheese, and fresh squeezed lemonade. Wow, between those two places and the nuts and candy, I'm surprised I didn't gain a lot of weight. I used to surprise my dad by bringing home a small bag of cashews or almonds. He used to always tell me, "Bring home the most expensive stuff you can." LOL
The worst things about working there? Weekly, we had to clean out every single jar with soap and water. It was sooooo boring. There must have been between 80 and 90 jars. We were encouraged to pass out "samples", but when you're 15 and kind of shy with authority, it's hard to tell an adult that they are taking too many free samples. I swear, people would make a buffet of samples. And at Christmas, the train and Santa were next to us. We had to hear the same Christmas songs over and over and over for hours. And the children crying because they didn't want to have their photo taken with Santa. They would start crying at the end of the line and didn't stop wailing until the photo was done. I worked there a year or so and decided after my cool boss quit that I would go ahead and quit, too, and find something closer to my house.
This will be the last entry for tonight. Don't want to bore you too much; you might not come back. I started working for Eckerd Drugs when I was around 16. I spoke a lot of Spanish, and the pharmacist used to call me on my days off and ask me to translate for customers over the phone. My dad finally made him stop because I could have gotten in a lot of trouble if I told the people the wrong info about the medicine. Plus, hey, it was my day off. My dad NEVER brought work home, never.
Okay, there were a lot of things that went on there that were really bad, really bad, and I was a part of them. Hence the reason that I quit a couple of years later. But stupid me let it go on for so long. I mean, certain people would have been arrested today (probably then, too) if I would have squealed. I am not proud of any of it. I'm not sure why I stayed so long. Maybe I thought I would lose my job, and I really liked my job, I guess because I really felt like I was doing a good job there. My boss really liked me a lot, I think one reason was because my register usually reconciled at the end of the night. I liked him a lot, too, even though I wouldn't admit it. He reminded me of Sabastian Cabot, I guess because of his beard. And even though he was very strict, he was extremely good at managing the store. He would let you know when he was disappointed with you -- would actually say, "I am disappointed in you." Ha ha. I like that. But he would drop it after that and never hold it against you. I always pretended I was scared of him, but deep down he was a teddy bear and wouldn't hurt a fly, and I knew that. If he would have known what was going on, he would have had some of the men prosecuted. My first week I caught a shoplifter, and I think he liked me after that. Whenever someone would come in that we suspected was lifting things, he always made me follow them, even leave my cash register to do so. But I never caught another one. He used to let me train employees on the register and on the floor. He almost fired me once he said because there was a misunderstanding. I didn't know I was supposed to work the day after Christmas. He called the house, and I was still in bed asleep. He said, "Everyone works the day after Christmas. Get your butt down here!" I was crushed. I honestly didn't know. When he left we got a woman manager named Charlie, and Charlie was tough on the outside but she would let people get away with things. When I quit I took less pay and fewer hours, and I was only two doors away at a sandwich shop. I always regretted quitting Eckerd's for some reason. I used to look at of the sandwich shop window when I was cleaning tables at the Eckerd's storefront and wish I was back there again. They might have hired me back, but I just couldn't do it. It just wasn't worth it. A perfectly good job down the toilet...
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