So I just worked my first actual lane at Baker's for the summer. Before working tonight I caught up with two great high school friends. It was a blast... so much fun walking down memory lane!
Working 4-Midnight really isn't too bad, like most retail shifts it has its ups and downs. Firstly, you don't stand around at all when you first get there, unlike early shifts. I hate standing still and the nice thing is since you start at 4 it's pretty busy and it stays mostly busy until 9ish. However, right around there it drops off and you have nothing to do for 3 more hours. So, I clean, put things away that people decided that they didn't really want, clean again, read the tabloids, and then finally do a till exchange at 11:20 before reverting back to reading about "who's too fat", and "who's pissed off at who's about sleeping with who".
Pretty epic. Unfortunately, I didn't have any particularly interesting customers tonight. I did have one particularly irritating man who wrote a check out for the wrong amount and blamed me. No sir, the total was this and you wrote the check out for some random amount. Did I question you? No. Should I have? Probably, since most people don't write checks for $5.67 over the amount. Usually people do normal amounts like 10 or 20 dollars over. Not this dude. In my defense we were really busy and I thought maybe he just wanted some change to have for something later in the evening. My bad, but you should have taken the high road since at least I didn't mess up amount and over-bill you or something.
After working late shifts for about 2 years, I've found that people who come to the grocery store after 11 are either in and out and don't want to talk to you or are desperate for attention and will talk your ear off. I met a couple who are originally from fargo, both went to MSUM, and told me how cool it was that they met a Cobber so far south. I met a man who was visiting on business from Denver and we talked about how cool Denver is. Etc.
The shift kind of dragged at times but it wasn't too bad. I got my schedule for next week. Nearly 30 hours. Good but could be bad. I work 20 hours for free on Monday and Tuesday at the capitol and I'm exhausted. Perhaps I will cut back on hours at Bakers to keep myself from dying.
Midnight came eventually and I went upstairs, grabbed my crap and headed out. I walk to and from work to part one reduce my carbon foot print, part two additionally increase the amount of exercise I get in the day, and finally I walk to save money on gas. My mom's house is about 3 blocks from Bakers so it's not bad at all. However, walking home at Midnight is kind of creepy. I always walk with a purpose but I usually make sure to do so when I head home late. I also text someone randomly before I leave so that in the event I'm stabbed or something and when I don't respond to my phone at least someone knows that something's going down.
Walking past Bakers and through the strip mall to which it's attached was particularly depressing tonight. There are so few stores in the strip mall now, it's kind of sad. Hollywood Video is gone, a recent victim of "The Red Box", "Netflix" and poor management. Hallmark is also gone and so is the Tanning Salon, Blimpie's (a ghetto version of Subway for those of you not from Omaha), and the Travel Agency. The stalls they once occupied are still empty, nothing has filled them. As Omaha continues to move West it leaves behind in its wake these vast empty strip malls. Baker's is having financial difficulty and although I know it will never close I can imagine they are considering moving out to the "mystical West" where somehow there will be better business.
Sure, move West where all of the homes are exactly the same, neighborhoods sit partially completed with endless empty streets lined with streetlights, and lower retail taxes... Move there and once you've dried it up move West again....
Came home form Work and am now catching up on some Bravo. Send a thank you/ follow up email to the 4-H internship people. Keep your fingers crossed for me on this one. They haven't called back and said no yet so that's at least promising...
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