Today's Mood Is...

Before you read too much into this, I am still employed at Purgatory. In fact, I am here right now, slacking in betwixt posting payments for patients w/names like Ta'Majai and Jarmal (srsly? Ya, srsly). But still, the list is valid...

Some of you know that I started looking for a new part time job recently. And for all intents and purposes I found one, at Helen Keller's favorite convenience store...

Whatchoo lookin' at, fool? My master needs some coffee or some damn thing!

I went through the interview process, and all seemed okay. From the sound of things, they were looking to fast track me into a team leader position. And hey, free coffee while you're on the clock! And then, my first shift happened...

Do NOT Google Image Search "Shift Happens" on a work computer with the safe search off. Trust me when I say I speak from experience.

I knew I was in for a long day when I was told my shift was 10 pm - 7 am. They had mentioned working the graveyard shift, and I was okay with it. It is my fault for not saying to them "Overnights are cool, but since I already have a 40 hour per week job, can we not schedule back to back weeknights?" clearly enough (I did tell them that I prefer weekend nights over weeknights because of the whole "day job" thing, but I am guessing it couldn't get through the sheer volume of Aqua Net that the Store Manager used to keep her hair in place. Seriously, it was Jimmy Johnson-esque in its ability to defy the elements and in fact the very laws of nature). So there I was last night, working a 9 hour shift from hell. And since 2 people called out, there was no one who could take the time to begin my actual training. So I spent the day doing grunt work, sweeping, mopping, cleaning the bathrooms (none of which are anything I am against doing as they are part of the job and since I cannot work the register or make subs, my options to contribute are severely limited).

And now for Good News / Bad News:

The Good News is that Wawa pays you when you are on break, so a 10 pm to 7 am shift gets you 9 hours, even though you get a 30 minute break.

The Bad News is that Wawa doesn't feel compelled to give you that break. If something comes up, you don't get to take a break. I believe it is called the "Too Bad / So Sad" Corollary".

Well, it seems that last night was supposed to be a "So Sad" kind of night. But I figured once a full staff of people came in starting at 5 this morning (including one who, when seeing me behind the coffee station, decided to say - loudly - "Who the HELL is that?!?". My line of thinking is that since the two people who work there that she did know who the hell they were seemed okay with the fat guy making a pot of Costa Rican for mass consumption, she could have probably rolled with it, or come up to me and introduced herself to me and asked me who I was that way. But that's just me, I suppose) that it would be acceptable for me to take a quick 15 and have a seat for a while. From the looks / sounds of things when I came out of the break room, I was wrong. Oh so wrong.

Now let us add to the magical evening. The shift manager last night didn't actually speak to me for the first couple of hours. At one point, when I went up to her to ask her what I could do next to help, she got on her headset and told the other girl to tell me to sweep the store. And she would up being my favorite person there, once she actually spoke to me and stuff. As for the other girl, well, did you ever see the Family Guy when Brian had a girlfriend who was voiced by Drew Barrymore?

Even animated she makes my Top 5 All Time Crushes. And right now you are SO doing what Stewie is doing, so you are in the same boat. Perv.

Well, she did the thing that Drew's character did. Where she'd stop talking? In the middle of a thought? While raising the last syllable higher? Like it was a question?

Yeah, I was feelin' it.

So where does that leave me? Well, there was one thing brought up by the Incredulous Bitch (who the HELL is that?!?). It seems that she had surgery on her foot not too long ago, and in fact just got out of her boot that is very similar to mine

So you have a frame of reference

And she was surprised that I was allowed to work at Wawa in that boot, since she had to wait until she was out of hers to come back. Now when I was in my 2nd interview (the one with Jimmy Johnson), I was asked if I had a shoe that offered more protection than my driving shoe, which has a similar base, but is much more open across the top and toe area (and allows me to actually flex my ankle, which is an important attribute for a driving shoe). I told her that I had a boot that covers my foot. Methinks what this all breaks down to is miscommunication.

Unless I am just misremembering. It has been known to happen.

Either way, the Assistant Manager asked me about having any other shoe / boot that I could wear, and I told her that unfortunately I did not, and that the last time the doctor tried to put me in a regular shoe, within a week a developed blood blisters so bad that I am down to my last strike against having more surgery. As I was leaving, I asked her (jokingly, at least to me) to give me a call if I still have a job after she talks to the manager. And apparently the manager called my house at approximately 7:04 this morning and asked me to call her on her cell phone. Since I was not home, and not on my way home, Wifey dutifully took the message, and as she is not feeling well, promptly rolled right the hell back over and went back to sleep.

Follow Up Report:

I just spoke to Manager Jimmy, and it seems that I *am* still employed by Wawa, and that she called me specifically about my schedule and not about my choice in footwear. So I do work tonight, which means a quick nap this afternoon and back to the hoagie grind at 10 pm.

...but I am still kind of pissed about that whole break thing. Oh well, if it means we get to not eat government cheese...