People As We Know Them

Well, today was muggy but beautiful. I found myself washing trays this morning and thinking, "I am not even using 10% of my brain capacity doing this." So I began talking with myself, to get some cerebral juices flowing. Incidentally I had quite the conversation with myself, but at one point I got stuck because I couldn't think of what I wanted to say. I was trying to imagine myself as a 90 year old woman, and I was wondering if I would have lost my mind by then. Then I added (to clarify for myself),

"But this is only metaphorically speaking... Is it metaphorical? No... That's not the word I want. What's that one word? I used to say it all the time..." It bugged me and bugged me, until I waylaid one of my managers and he helped me out.

"Hypothetically speaking."

"Thank you so much! Hypothetically speaking."

He looked at me oddly and I continued to humbly wipe trays. Have you ever had that happen to you? Where you just...can't...remember? Or worse - a song is going through your head and you keep humming it and you can't figure out where it's from. That's pretty much the worst thing that can happen to you, because it's easy to explain a word that you can't think of, but it's a lot more humbling to try to hum the song swimming around in your head (especially if you get all the lyrics wrong, and the person just looks at you, like, "O-kay....") I hate that when someone looks at me like I'm wierd. It really is interesting to me, though, how some of the wierdest people in the world consider everybody else wierd. (Hopefully that doesn't come back to bite me-lol.)

Speaking of forgetfulness, my whole family has been asking each other all day, "So, have you heard the news about Brett Favre? You know... how he had is officially last day on Lambeau Field today." Pretty sure I heard that on the radio like twice, and then my mom told me about it as she read it on the internet, and then my dad just asked my mom if she heard the news. What's funnier yet, is that each time I heard it "announced" it was as though each person "announcing it" had breaking news and they were the first to share it. "Did you know..." People make me laugh (which means I have an ongoing affair of amusement with myself).

Did you know that the study of people is called 'anthropology'? I knew that, I just thought I would make sure you did. I should major in 'anthropology' instead of 'journalism'. It's just that I find both the study of people and their effect on the world so interesting, I can't help but write about both. It's not that I'm a young, fresh, wet-behind-the-ears intern who is exhaustingly excited about intricate political affairs. No. I am a person who happens to be young and happens to be interested in the things going on around me. If I happen to live in America, and my country happens to be winning a war in a foreign country, well, then I find that interesting. And... if my coworker begins complaining about a customer, or my mom confesses to me how many chips she ate in one day, well, that's interesting too. (Granted, it get's a little boring if someone talks about how 'good' so and so is. That doesn't interest me. Give me blood, betrayal, and sarcasm any day.)

I think it was yesterday that I was writing something down about myself that was horribly conceited (and I quote), "I marvel that I can both observe and interact with my fellow man so well". That's like ASKING to get jinxed. And, yes, today I was completely uninterested in conversing with customer after customer, saying the same old thing to each uninterested person.

ME: "Hi!" (Said brightly for emphasis), "How you doing?" (Joey style)

THEM: "Yeah, I'm doing good, good. Real good. And you?" (Shutup, and give me my food all ready)

ME: "Well, I'm doing well, thank you. It's a beautiful day!"

THEM: (silence)

ME: "Well, your sandwich will be out in a little bit, but until then you can decide what you would like on your sandwich. Did you know whether you would like to eat here or to go?"

THEM: "Yeah, to go. I'll take (and the rambling ensues)."

See, I've discovered that if I try to save time and say the exact same thing to every customer, not every customer responds the same. You may say that all they want is their sandwich, but that is rarely true. People (myself included) really do want to be treated like they matter. Thus, I must prove my individual ability to make every customers' sandwich... over, and over, and over, and over again. So, I should probably not do what I did today - and totally bomb the whole "I care about you, what can I get for you" customer service thing.

I did see one of my old metivante customers today. That was really pleasant! He was actually nice, AND he asked how I was doing! I had to hurry and go put trays away, but I felt all warm and skippy when I walked. It's really nice to feel loved and cared about.

There. That's my people study. And I conclude that if everybody is just like me, well, they honestly just want people to treat them with respect, treat them with understanding, treat them with something other than a company line, and treat them with love.

Thus, a sandwich made with love still applies. Stop looking at me like I'm wierd.

I hate that, remember?

La... What a beeootiful Saturday... Live, Live, Live

I'm going to free-write here, so you (my dear readers) are well-warned. Today I was very ambitious! I started a second job today! Yay- first days! I love first days. Initially on first days I always feel apprehensive, and I have big bad thoughts about all these things that could go wrong. Predictably, I felt that way today - being my first day and all. But there's something awesome about first days. One doesn't have to be afraid to fail. If one does fail, one can smile demurely and whisper, "Tis my first day. Do accept my pardons." That sounds wierd, but picture me saying it and it'll be okay.

My new job is at Potbelly (a Sandwich-with-the-works store). I worked all day today before I finally had my first official Potbelly Sandwich. It felt funny because I was garbed in this huge Potbelly t-shirt and had a Potbelly visor, but I didn't even know where to stand in line. The lady who helped me - my new coworker! - was amply-sized and had a no-nonsense face. She was one of the many new co-workers I was to meet. When I first saw her, I thought, "Oh dear, she's going to take an instant dislike to me." At first she ignored me and I felt quite non-existent. But then half-way through my day, she looked at me sharply and said, "Have you been checking the bathroom every 30 minutes?" I nodded responsibly and said, "12:00, 12:30 and we're just coming up on 1:00 here." She smiled and said, "I knew I was going to like you the minute I saw you." I felt pleased but did not venture to tell her what I had thought when I first saw her.

My boss warned me that "first days are never glamorous". I nodded, took that with a grain of salt, and set about my tasks with a shy fervor. Basically, after going through orientation and getting the 'official tour' of the place, I was assigned to keep people's tables clean, sweep the floors, sanitize baskets and trays, take peoples' trash, and check the bathrooms every 30 minutes for total toilet-paper efficiency. They called the position a 'fronter', and I was the 'fronter associate' of the day. When I told my friend Kim that, she said, "Oh, so you're like a bus-boy." Groan - but it made me laugh and I clarified, "I'm the best bus-woman around."

Anyways, so I now have two jobs. That's kinda cool. I was warned by my Potbelly boss that I was not allowed to take Potbelly secrets and share them with Grace at my other job. Hahaha, I wanted to laugh. I couldn't steal secrets even if I wanted to. I'm one of those who just knows good food when I taste it. And today, I had some mighty good sandwich food. My mom's a southern cook -- quite good, in fact. Grace is a Korean cook -- extremely good and in some cases just downright unique. Then, to top it all off, I'm a pretty good cook myself if I'm allowed to say so. I make a mean batch of Ramen noodles and baked potatoes. Watch out, future hubby.

It's funny because my boss thought I was married for the majority of my orientation. I thought it was wierd because he kept referring to my 'hubby' and my 'significant other' and then I realized that I would have to clarify my state of singleness or I would be introduced to my coworkers as "Mrs. Andria so-and-so..." La, that seems so laughable.

Anyways, so I was exhausted after that first five-hour shift, but it was a new experience for me! I love learning new things! I can now ask people for trash with the utmost efficiency, and I can clean off tables in a sort of mesmerizing dance-like fury. La I'm laughing at myself. All week I've been so tired and I've just wanted to go to bed, and then suddenly it's like... hey, I'm living. This is life. Whoo! See, you gotta make it happen. Don't expect it to all come crawling to you. Live, live, live.

More later. Expect it, dear readers of mine.