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14 years ago
General
So I've had a second job for about a month now. I still work at the framing store but they've only been giving me 8 - 12 hours a week at 25 cents over minimal wage, so in order to pay the bills I had to find someone to supplement that job. I'm working as a cashier at a Home Depot and while the pay is better and I'm getting 30-40 hours a week, I'm only considered part-time temporary which means I get absolutely no benefits and I can be let go after 120 months unless I do an outstanding job and they decide to hire me on. It's pretty stressful. I'd worked at a pizza place before and this is kind of similar ringing a constant stream of people out, except instead of 12 or 15 items you make yourself, there are thousands upon thousands of items in the store. I'm ringing up things and have no idea what they are. The loose nuts, screws, and bricks have to be looked up, but it's not as bad as when someone brings up and item with no barcode and I have to call someone to look up the SKU while the customer is yelling, "It's 5.97! It said so on the sign! Why can't you just put in $5.97?!"
Most the customers are decent, friendly people, but I get my share of assholes. I have people who tell me they have a 5 foot board and are upset when I measure it and find it's 7 1/2 feet. One guy put flowers in a nice ceramic pot and gave me the evil eye when I scanned the flowers and ceramic pot separately. One lady accused me of cheating her because she thought the was paying with a $100 gift card and there was only $50 on it. I worked in the garden section for a while and a very irate old lady chewed me out for not having marigolds and I had to tell her I had no idea when we'd get another shipment. This didn't happen to me, but two guys hide several buckets of paint in plastic garbage cans. When the cashier looked inside, they said they needed to get their checkbook from the car and never returned. I feel like most people want to do the right thing, but given the chance, they will cheat you. It really makes me made.
So while I'm getting more money, I have almost no free time. I get home and have no energy anymore and have to be in bed early because I need to be at my register at 7 am. So this comic I've been talking about will probably take all summer. I havn't been on any IM in a month. So please don't think I'm ignoring you.
Selling this has been a pain. It's way to big for my mom and I and we can't afford it anyway. We have to keep it in sparkling shape because our realtor can call at any moment and say, "I'm showing the house in an hour, so you have to disappear." So far we've had around 10 showings but no serious buyers. Every other house on our street seems to up for sale so we're really in a saturated market.
Also, things are worse than ever between my parents. The divorce papers were signed in February, but my dad hasn't been paying his share of the bills and we're receiving calls every day from banks, the mortgage company, and the phone company. My sister is still on his health insurance until she graduates college, but since he's not paying the bill, she's been dropped. He's not returning any of our calls and I'm real worried he may have lost his job.
Yesterday was my birthday. I just had some friends over for a barbeque and watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas." We talked about what we've done since college and how none of us are closer to doing what we really want to do. We're all living with our parents, working shitty jobs (if we can find jobs at all), and paying off an education that hasn't done us much good.
*sigh* I need to get laid.
Most the customers are decent, friendly people, but I get my share of assholes. I have people who tell me they have a 5 foot board and are upset when I measure it and find it's 7 1/2 feet. One guy put flowers in a nice ceramic pot and gave me the evil eye when I scanned the flowers and ceramic pot separately. One lady accused me of cheating her because she thought the was paying with a $100 gift card and there was only $50 on it. I worked in the garden section for a while and a very irate old lady chewed me out for not having marigolds and I had to tell her I had no idea when we'd get another shipment. This didn't happen to me, but two guys hide several buckets of paint in plastic garbage cans. When the cashier looked inside, they said they needed to get their checkbook from the car and never returned. I feel like most people want to do the right thing, but given the chance, they will cheat you. It really makes me made.
So while I'm getting more money, I have almost no free time. I get home and have no energy anymore and have to be in bed early because I need to be at my register at 7 am. So this comic I've been talking about will probably take all summer. I havn't been on any IM in a month. So please don't think I'm ignoring you.
Selling this has been a pain. It's way to big for my mom and I and we can't afford it anyway. We have to keep it in sparkling shape because our realtor can call at any moment and say, "I'm showing the house in an hour, so you have to disappear." So far we've had around 10 showings but no serious buyers. Every other house on our street seems to up for sale so we're really in a saturated market.
Also, things are worse than ever between my parents. The divorce papers were signed in February, but my dad hasn't been paying his share of the bills and we're receiving calls every day from banks, the mortgage company, and the phone company. My sister is still on his health insurance until she graduates college, but since he's not paying the bill, she's been dropped. He's not returning any of our calls and I'm real worried he may have lost his job.
Yesterday was my birthday. I just had some friends over for a barbeque and watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas." We talked about what we've done since college and how none of us are closer to doing what we really want to do. We're all living with our parents, working shitty jobs (if we can find jobs at all), and paying off an education that hasn't done us much good.
*sigh* I need to get laid.
I know how disappointing it is that people try to walk all over you -- I've been dealing with those kind of jerks in my job for the last five years.
While it is disappointing, realize that people are constantly trying to test you. If you stand tall, clearly know the rules are and don't cross that line, it doesn't matter what they say. That guy with the flowerpots was in the wrong and he got mad because you caught him red handed. People like him are so used to getting their way, that they get mad when some one calls them on it.
One example that really helped me understand this was when I talked to a coworker who had previously worked in retail. He stated that several individuals would purposely make a stink (i.e. yelling loudly, complaining in front of other customers, being a nuisance) because management would then come out of the woodwork and give the individual a discount on a product or whatever they wanted, just so that would stop complaining. In short, they didn't want other customers to leave because they were being bothered. Those individual are trying to bully you into doing what they want...
However, don't forget that people are capable of doing great things and bring happiness to others. Just look at your art and how many people have enjoyed it (myself included). Don't let people who have been failure in their lives drag you down!
I wish you the best of luck.
-9Lion
*gives chest/bellyrubs*
I do know what you mean though about not getting what you wanted from life, and having an education that seems wasted. People can say we are lazy or just not trying hard enough, but they forget that not only are some things harder to make a career out of than others, but the way the economy is now even people who normally don't have problems finding work are having crappy luck.
I certainly don't begrudge you not being around, whether to chat or post art, I just wish there was a way I could help. But hopefully things will get better soon, for you, me, and everyone else who needs it.
*gives the muscletiger huge musclelion hugs of his own*
But anyway, I hear ya. I hate people trying to be corruptive and manipulative. It almost makes me want to pull out a drill, make a nice fat hole in their heads, then drain their minds out with a vacuum extension hose.
Just keep thinking to yourself, "I'm better than this."
"Go to hell, and take your cheap suit with you!" by the Spy from TF2.
"When you get to hell, tell 'em I sent ya. You'll get a discount." - Caleb, Blood II
Etc.
Well, I have no idea what kind of a comfort this might possibly be to you, but you are very far from the only person in that boat. There are fewer things more soul-crushing than working retail, but just bear in mind that while most people ARE fundamentally good and honest and not-assholey, when your job sees you interacting with a large number of people throughout the day, the chances of you running into those few that make up the minority percentile of assholes are regrettably high.
As for the rest of it... I really wish I had some better words of encouragement for you than to hang tough and keep trying, but a stiff upper lip is the best thing we can do for ourselves in these trying times. Vent when you need to, then get back to it, one day at a time. I promise you things will get better so long as you never stop jumping in and hitting life back as hard as it sometimes hits you.