Thoughts on Re-Entering the Workplace

I have forgotten how tiring it is to work in a retail store.

For that matter, I have forgotten how tiring it is to work any full-time job.

For many months, I had woken up early in the morning to take a neighbor to work and I believed that because I was waking up as early as the guy I was driving to work, that that alone constituted a big sacrifice. Now I'm working again and when I get off work -- even if I work only five hours -- I feel so beat that I can barely make it to my car. And once there, I have to rest a few minutes before I can summon up the energy to drive home.

Maybe it's my age catching up with me.

Or my health.

I don't really need to be working in a stressful job like the one I recently obtained but then it's not like I have much choice. Most of the jobs that seemed like better fits for my personality were under the control of people who did not believe me to be all that qualified for those positions. And quite frankly, I'd rather be working an imperfect job right now than be waiting forever for a perfect job.

At least, this way I still have a chance of getting out of debt. And I don't have to beg for money from my friends and relatives in order to pay my bills. And it feels so good to finally have money coming in again.

I just hope I make it through probation. I don't think I could stand to go through the whole job search process any time soon.

Wow! Better Than Sharknado?

Spied at a local DVD store last October.

Something Fishy This Way Comes

I took a female friend to a local store last week because she needed some food and medicine, and while we were there, we stopped by the pet department where she promptly noticed that at least two of the fish tanks in that department contained at least one dead fish. As if that wasn't bad enough, the fish that were still alive were obviously starving. Fortunately, there was some fish food nearby which we could use to feed them but the sight of those poor fish so hurriedly gobbling up the fish flakes as if they had not been fed for days was enough to break one's heart. Worse yet, the chart for the tanks seemed to indicate that the last time the tanks had been cleaned was in February of this year.

I don't know what was going on with that store's management but one would think that common sense alone would indicate that it not be a good idea to sell fish if you don't have enough store employees to maintain them. Moreover, one would think that sheer fear of bad publicity would reinforce that opinion since it seemed obvious that the store management wasn't being motivated by sheer common decency. In any event, it was lucky for the fish that my friend and I had come by that day, but such fish shouldn't have to depend on sympathetic customers in order to get fed. And I'm both shocked and surprised that no one working at that store could see that.

Ay caramba!

These Boots Were Made for Walking but Not Selling

Geez, I didn't realize it until I passed not one but two such stores with a sign advertising a going-out-of-business sale, but apparently Western Warehouse is going out of business. And so is Boot Town.

Not that it's likely to affect me much. After all, I don't wear boots. But it does say something rather ominous about the local economy when even a store that sells boots can't stay in business here in Texas.

Friday, Bloody Friday

This is depressing. One man was trampled -- apparently, he was later found to have died of a heart attack -- and one woman suffered a miscarriage at the opening of a Long Island Wal-Mart last Friday.

If that wasn't bad enough, there was a shootout at a California Toys R Us in which two men were killed on the same day.

Nice to see this year's holiday season getting off to such a pleasant start.

They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Mall

Yes, I know. Smart Americans aren't supposed to wax nostalgic over shopping malls any more than we should wax nostalgic over disco, Nehru jackets or Elvis movies.

And yet the shutdown of a local shopping mall had my girlfriend so depressed that I could not help but share her sadness. After all, I had spent a lot of good times there too and though most of the places where I had the most fun (the mall movie theatre, the Orange Julius, the local Barnes & Noble, etc.) closed down a long time ago, I still found myself sad when it was announced that the mall would be permanently closed down and torn down in order to make way for a new Lowe's. Yes, all things must pass, but it's still surprising how fast they do.