Working - the Good, the Bad, the Ugly

When I retired a few years ago I was so busy that I wondered how I ever worked and managed to keep the house clean, do the laundry and cook meals.  There was no time for anything else.  So retirement was bliss for a while, aside from the issue of not having enough money.  I don’t really need anything though except groceries and to pay the household bills, but it’s still nice to be able to do extra things and not have to watch all your expenses so closely.  That’s when I decided to start working part-time.

I did freelance jobs for a while, which was great, but working at home isn’t as easy as you think, especially when you’re not the only one in the house.  So I got back into the work scene by taking a demo job at Costco.  It wasn’t long and my eyes were really opened to what the public is really like.  Now I did work retail for quite a few years, in the jewelry industry mostly, and had to deal with people.  Some were nice and some were contrary individuals, which is always how it goes in any job.  However, if you really want to see what humans can be like, a job doing food demos will show you in a hurry.  People do amazing things just to get free food.  I think I have enough material to write a book already and I haven’t been there quite two years yet.

Thank goodness it’s easy to get along with most of the people I work with because very few of the customers ever thank us for being there and handing samples out, etc, even though we have eaters that come in the store daily just for free food.  There are some who never buy anything, but I guess it gets them off the couch and out of their house for a while.  I just hope I’m never in the position where all I have to look forward to is my daily visit to Costco for free food samples.

Costco store front

Despite all that, I do enjoy what I do, even though we encounter the rudest human beings you ever saw.  We do get paid well for standing up all day to prepare food and that has allowed me to do some things I wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise.  But this part-time work has turned into way more hours than I thought it would when I started because we’re always shorthanded.  It sure feels good to sit down at the end of the work day and after five or six days I really need a break from the public.  The food division can also be very chaotic and disorganized sometimes.

Working isn’t all that bad except for the standing and the grumpy customers and not having time to clean house, or do much of anything else.  So I currently live in a pigpen most of the time.  I cook as little as possible when I’m home.  I haven’t had much time to work on my book either so that’s not a good thing, but hopefully I’ll get it finished one of these days.

So there you have it, money and no time, or lot of time and no money.  I guess that’s where everyone of us needs to decide what’s more important.