Good Customer/Bad Customer

Here are some tips to being a customer that won't annoy me (if you ever find yourself in this situation)
--don't start off by shoving something in my face "i'm not buying this" or "no tax"
--put your cart away, don't leave it sitting there in the lane. (that should be common sense, but well, i'll leave it at that)
--put your own stupid basket away, it crowds my work area
--don't just stand there with your debit card, tell me you're using debit, or credit or whatever
--don't try to swipe your own credit card. Where on earth do they let you do that? Other than gas pumps.
--always use the grey bar to separate orders. I can't read minds nor do i watch you put everything on the conveyor belt.

These are common cash courtesies. Don't be a jerk

Interesting encounter of the week. We'll call him Tony. That may be his name actually, I don't know what it is. We close at 10. He rolls up to my cash after 10pm with two carts overflowing with groceries. So i ring it it while 3 other employees help him load it. The whole time he's slurring his words. Thats right, completely drunk. His comment of the night: "Can I sue you if I get a hernia here?"
As he motions to a big bag of dog food. I patiently tell him that he will lift what he chooses to lift. He then goes on to repeat that to me a few times in wonder about how true that is.

I was informed that on his way out I guess he had failed to properly fasten his pants. Those things happen when suck back a few too many.

ps. I quit wally world. Two weeks and I only have one job!

A Day in the Life

A day in the life of a Walmart Cashier. Well first I worked from 9-5 at Rotary then 530 to 1030 at "Wally World" as some old man called it today when he said "How do you like working at Wally World?". I can't lie so I said, "Well, it keeps me busy"
Best question of the day: Two older American women come in. They ask me what the exchange rate is like. I say 5 cents on the dollar. (yeah, crazy, i know). Then one of them asks me "So, are these all Canadian Prices?". I don't need to comment.

Something else I have been asked 4 times at work now "Are you a Vi**en?". I didn't know it was that obvious. Two of them had never even met me, and the other two hadn't seen me since i was like 8. I guess I really do look that much like my family.

As a segment or column of sorts I will record the crazy characters who come into our Rotary office. First, lets do the computer technician. I'll call him JimBob. So Jimbob designs a program for our cardraw and he has to come set it up. We have a few problems so we call him and he comes during lunch. I'm the only one in the office and he walks in. I say hi, (cheerfully) and he just nods and sits down. Heather (other office girl) comes back and we sit at the table and chat, work.
I decide to eat lunch and it came up that I had hummus. As i'm taking it out JimBob suddenly pipes in "Hold onto to your Hummus!" or something to that effect. Then he quizzes us to see what movie it comes from. Its Aladdin (i might just have to watch it). Then he's silent again.
As he's leaving he looks down at my hummus and says "you don't have any crackers?" (me, having only carrots, say no). So he reaches into my carrots, takes a bunch, dips into the hummus and says "your dad made this" and leaves.

Thanks Jimbob. I'll bring crackers next time.

So I go to the Dentist today...

I have 9 minutes to write this blog, as I am nearing the end of my lunch break today. The dentist thing wasn't a great lead in. But I did go, and as usual he praised me for the wonderful job I do in taking care of my teeth and I smiled and tried to remember the last time I flossed (no, its not gross).
Today started with a meeting for the ROTARYFEST (i'm not yelling it, they've just brainwashed me to type it that way). We have one every second week. I look forward to it for the sole reason that I have a major crush on one of the men at the meeting. He runs that company there, fairly young, (ok...early 30s, but married so don't get all worried), the bookish type. I won't give out any names, but he dresses well too. Ok, done swooning.
For the rest of the day I'll likely spend it calling big shots all over the city and leave them lots of messages "Hi, this is Katie calling from the Rotary Office, I'm calling in regards to..." Insert some sort of festival function like "The Pony Signs" and there you go.

Never Have to Drive well Again!

I am now fully licensed with my G. There is no insidious "2" after it, insinuating that I am not a capable driver. I guess I fooled them. Right before this post I also discovered that a miss Fisher also passed her test today. A hearty Congratulations to you!
I will say I was nervous. I think I can be an 'over preparer' sometimes. Last week my mom paid for me to have a lesson, which was good because I can't beleive how many times I said "what?? you have to do that?? every time??". He was a very nice man. I'm supposed to call him tomorrow to give him the good news. he taught me how to back in. I almost want to do it all the time. But that will wear off. To practice I would go to the mall parking lot and pick a random car. But in my fear of looking stupid (who backs in beside another car in an empty spot?) I would quickly bail if anyone came my way.

I realized that I hadn't parallel parked since my last driving test. I hadn't backed into a parking space either. Maybe I never will again. I'm ok with that. I also realized that I like going 60. I spent a wekk practicing the speed limit. It was so difficult. Everyone else on the road hated me. Now I don't have to do that again for a long time either!

Funny: this Tuesday my boss (at the Rotary Club) signed up myself and Heather (my coworker) for 4 hours of defensive driving! How perfect is that? So in all I got two go's at the test route with professionals. Our Tuesday teacher looked like Catherine Willows from CSI. Weird.

The actual test: conquered. I drove the speed limit. I changed lanes like a pro. Glanced all over the place. Parallel parked. Three-point turned. Emergency-stopped. Improvement: watch for hazards more. I AM SO ECSTATIC. FINALLY!!!

ps. I lied on the form. I have never driven on a 400 series highway.

Garage Sale Guru

Some updates over the past week. I am now officially double-jobbed. I got the other job at the Rotary Club. My official title is "Special Events Assistant". That means I : answer phones, hound people to fax me the insurance forms for the parade, organize kids games, crafts and shows for ROTARYFEST (3days of summer festival fun right here in s.s.m).

Its going to be great. I did it two summers ago and I loved it. The best part my boss was great and she's still there, and the other student I worked with before is back again. Our office is in the back of this random building downtown near the sketchy end of queen street. It smells a little musty, with some bathroom spray smell in the background. No windows in the office but we painted it yellow at the end of the summer. I start Monday.

Garage saling. I drove, my mom navigated. We ventured into the west end. Decent, but I think i'll stay central. My bro and sis even came. I had the most finds as usual.
-Two beaded necklaces (a blue one and a hot pink one...woot) -50 cents each
-One sewing box to someday keep all my thread and pins and such - $3.00
-A book, "The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night Time". 50 cents
-Roller blades, practically brand new $2.50. (now I just have to learn to use them)

TOTAL: $7.00