The weather is heating up and with the first pallet of backpacks comes the final toll that summer has officially arrived. With that comes Back to School Season (which, as anyone who has read my journals in the past, know that that is easily the hardest time of the year for me). Things at work have continued to deteriorate and this BTS is setting itself up to be the most trying year yet. We officially have no daytime cashiers. Everyone has quit or moved on to better jobs and the only people we have to replace them have significantly thinned out our work force/customer service. At the moment it is literally just me and one other person in a department that encompasses 3/4 of the store...a department we used to run with 5-6 people, years ago.

To add to the struggle our GM is STILL out on medical leave. He opted not to come back at the beginning of June (like he promised he would) and now he won't be back till the beginning/middle of July. At which point we will be entirely set up for BTS and the sales/busy times will begin. We really needed him here to get summer help hired and trained before we start getting really busy. That won't happen now...

Also, in what seems a more minor note, the manager directly under our GM has quit. And the person filling in for the GM will leave us this Sunday to move on to a new store. SO, for the next 2-3 weeks we'll have yet another temporary GM up in this store, doing their best to hold things together and get any of my coworkers to listen to them. Not to mention that just getting our official GM back won't instantly and effortlessly fix everything. That's the problem...there's still so much work to be done...and I'm SO tired of being one of the only people trying to push this rock up the goddamn hill...

And while all this has been going on, I have continued to apply and try to find work elsewhere. And as has been the case for over 2 years now, all I hear back is...nothing. No phone calls, no interviews, just silence...and hope that is wearing thin...

...

I'm not going to lie... This year, work has pushed me to the absolute limit. Everyone has bad days now and then where they have a deadline to meet or some heavy source of pressure weighing down on them. Since before our store's inventory, back in March, it has been nothing but constant pressure, and worry, and stress just pouring down on me day in and day out... This year marks the first year that I have really and truly considered ending things... And I don't just mean walking out and quitting this dead end job...I mean fucking taking my life and being done with things altogether...

But I won't waste your time with anymore whining though... I'm writing this journal to ask if anyone living/working in or around Richmond VA has any job openings where they work. I'm convinced at this point that the best/only way of getting hired anymore is to KNOW someone who already works where you are applying. So please, if anyone knows of anything or could help me out, I'd be eternally grateful!

I have to get out of this place this year or I'm going to do something desperate. If I have to quit and try taking commissions for a living, so be it. At this point, something just has to give...

As always, thank you to anyone who reads this...