Xmas in July

That’s what I thought today as I stood at my demo at work putting samples out as fast as I could get them into cups and onto the trays.  I never saw this much traffic in the middle of summer.  Not everyone has left town to escape the heat. 

Speaking of heat, the desert has been in the triple digits for the past three weeks with no end in sight.  We have to wear so many clothes to work that I was practically sick from the heat by the time I got off today.  A penguin suit isn’t the coolest thing in the world.  And on top of that we have an apron, gloves, hairnets and hats and heavy duty shoes with socks.  I wasn’t made to wear this much clothing in the summer, but its part of the job and probably why I always have an athlete’s foot problem.

Costco

I knew it was going to be a rough day when I arrived at work and there were already about a hundred people there ready to rush in with shopping carts once they opened the doors.  Today most people weren’t the least bit interested in hearing anything about the product at all.  They wanted to eat and even announced they were there for lunch.  Of course this isn’t everyone that comes in shopping and eating, but probably ninety-five percent of them.  People can be the most impatient creatures I ever saw sometimes.  We have barrier screens up to give us a place to prepare the samples before we’re ready to put them out for the hoards that are waiting.

Sometimes these guards do no good.  People will reach over, or snake their hands and arms through a tiny crack to get a sample early since they have no intention of buying anything anyway.  Would you go into the kitchen of a restaurant and help yourself?  I don’t think so.  And then they look so aghast when we have to throw the whole tray away and start over.  They don’t even seem to care if we’ve just swept up the messes on the floor and need to change our gloves to serve them.  They want the food NOW.

Thank goodness for the understanding shoppers because they do make us feel better about doing our jobs the right way.  It’s really nice when those people come along because preparing food and cleaning up after people while I’m smiling and acting cheerful all day is a tough situation.  Just standing on my feet all day is hard enough and the sweat running down my back doesn’t help either.  So the friendly people can really make my day.

Have a wonderful July Fourth everyone.  Be safe out there and cherish family and friends.

Raven's ready for the holiday

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.

Does a Santa hat change anyone’s attitude?

Okay, guys, I guess I do way more thinking than I should about some things.  And heaven knows I’m way past my prime, but the last two weeks before Christmas we were allowed to wear a Santa hat instead of our usual food demo hat.  Naturally, wanting to get in the holiday spirit, a few of us took them up on this offer. 

Now we all know people get more ornery around the holidays simply because there are lines in all the stores, lots of traffic and a lot of the time they’re already sold out of what you went to the store to get.  Some people are just stinkers all the time, but I think this happens more during the holidays.  I decided I would evaluate the situation while wearing the Santa hat

I really think seeing this hat reminds people that it is Christmas and it’s supposed to be a time of cheer and goodwill toward all.  The hat seems to have an effect on people because I found I had a lot of more mellow customers and none of the ones who spew garbage on a normal day if things aren’t going their way.  This is such a positive thing when we have to serve the public for hours at a time, smiling, engaging them in conversation, and standing on our feet the whole time, not to mention cleaning up all the messes people make that they seem to be oblivious to.

The holidays seem to bring out the worst in mankind as well as the best.  And we certainly see some odd things, such as dumpster diving in Costco.  In this case I’m referring to the trashcans we have everywhere in the store.  It amazes me the things that people will do for a free sample of anything.  I would never pick through a trash can, but it happens.  We have to throw away samples that end up on the floor because, of course, we can’t serve that to anyone.  My coworker had to throw away a piece of chocolate and two young fellows wanted it so bad that they actually fished it out of the trashcan and then split it.  So not only was the candy on the floor, but also in the trashcan.  Now I don’t want to tell you what also ends up in the trashcans, so I’ll let you use your imaginations.  With this sort of behavior I’m surprised more people aren’t sick around here.

Sadly Christmas is over now and we’re back to the normal attire, but I’ve decided I would kill people with kindness for a while and see what effect that has on their attitude.  Sometimes you can’t help change anyone, but sometimes there a few you can.  That’s what I’m striving for because rude people get old very fast.

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas holiday and all of you are enjoying the last week of 2016.