Don't Count Your Chickens before they hatch

I'm going to switch gears alittle this week and talk about being unemployed and I hope by the time you've finished reading this you'll see how unemployment and working as a cashier are sort of related for me. So each blog this week will discuss various aspects of being unemployed--job interviews, looking for a job and some suggestions for what to do if you have some extra free time. Now you may wonder why I'm writing about what to do when you're unemployed when this blog is about my job as a cashier? As I mentioned before I worked in law firms in the city. Awhile ago I was placed by a staffing agency at a really nice law firm in the city. I knew right from the start that this was a temporary position and so I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Then after being there for about 4 months I got the news that the project was ending and I wouldn't need to come back the next week. Even thought I sort of saw it coming I was still disappointed. It was also sort of embarrassing to have to say to people, "Oh, I don't have a job anymore." It's still a tough thing for me to say. Then there were the practical issues I had to consider. First question--was I going to tell the grocery store that I could work either full time or tell them I could now work during the day? Well, I decided against that. Mostly because I wanted to keep my days open for applying for jobs and for job interviews. So after months of applying for jobs and sending out numerous resumes I got a call from a law firm and right from the start I thought it sounded pretty promising. The firm had a really good reputation. It was in a nice area of the city. There were 5 attorneys--which was the Goldilocks Law firm for me (not too big, not to small...just the right size). Then I went into the city for the interview and I went from thinking "oh, this sounds like a pretty good opportunity" to thinking, "Oh my god! I really, really, really want to work here." It started right from the beginning. The office was in a beautiful office building. Then I arrived at the office. Like I mentioned before it was a perfect size law firm with 5 attorneys and 7 support staff (including a receptionist and office manager.) Everyone was friendly and nice but also very professional. The office was clean, bright and spacious. Then the interview started. I met with all of the attorneys at once. I won't bore with the details but I really thought things went really well. I had a lot in common with a few of the attorneys--in fact I had even gone to school with one of the attorneys. The attorneys seemed impressed with my experience. Then the owner of the law firm took a minute to meet with me privately. We discussed a few more things about the law firm and then he asked what salary range I was looking for. I told him the range and he nodded and said that was totally doable. We discussed the benefits the firm offered to full time employees. As the interview wrapped up I shook hands with the owner of the firm and thanked him for taking the time to meet with me. The interview took place right before Christmas and he said, "Normally you would hear back from me in a day or two but with the holidays it might take some more time. I'm actually going out of town for a few days but you'll hear back soon." I thanked him again and went home feeling really good. I was so excited about the prospect of working at this firm. I was so excited that he had said the salary range I gave him was reasonable and doable. I was so excited that I was going to have health benefits, including vision and dental. I was budgeting with my "new salary". I could start to put a little money away and save up for a new car. Then I got to thinking about the grocery store. Would I still continue to work there? Hell, no! I COULD QUIT! No more second job. No more bagging groceries for $8 an hour! So you guys see where this is going, right? I mean after all I'm still working at the grocery store and writing this blog and the title of this blog is Don't Count your Chickens before they hatch. Christmas passed and I still hadn't heard back from him. Everyone kept telling (and I kept telling myself) not to worry until after the New Year. So the week between Christmas and New Years I was waiting on pins and needles. New Years passed and I still hadn't heard back from him. I tried not to panic. I thought maybe he's just catching up on work after getting back from the holidays and any hiring just sort of got put on the back burner. So I sent a courteous follow-up e-mail, just basically thanking him for taking the time to meet with me and expressing my interest in job. And I still never heard anything back. So I was pretty much just left wondering what the hell happened. What had I done wrong? So even though I work at grocery store I consider myself unemployed. So I think (or at least I hope) it's not too off topic to talk about being unemployed. I think it's related to being a cashier because the whole reason I am working part time as a cashier is because I haven't found a full time job yet.

Just for Laughs

A woman went into a pet shop to buy her husband a pet. After looking around she realized that all the pets there were very expensive. She went to the counter and was talking to the clerk. "I wanted to buy my husband a pet, but all of yours are so expensive." She said. "Well," said the clerk, "I have a huge bullfrog in the back for $50. Would you like to see it?" "$50.00? For a frog?" asked the woman. The clerk said, "It's a special frog. It gives blow jobs." Well, the woman did not particularly enjoy giving head, so she thought this was a heck of a deal. She'd get her husband a gift he'd surely enjoy and she'd never have to do that again. The woman decided to buy the frog. She took it home to her husband and explained the strange gift. Of course, her husband was a bit skeptical, but said he'd try it out that night. The woman went to bed that night relieved to know that she'd never have to give another blow job. About 2 in the morning, she woke up to hear pots and pans banging around in the kitchen. She got up to see what was going on. When she got to the kitchen she saw her husband and the frog sitting at the kitchen table like best buddies, looking through cookbooks. "What are you doing looking through cookbooks at this hour?" asked the woman. The husband looks up at her and says, "Well, if I can teach this frog to cook, your ass is outta here."

FAQs

Here are the top 5 questions I get asked pretty regularly by customers:

Question 1: Are you coupons really worth it?

Answer: The short answer is yes, absolutely!

The slightly more detailed (and probably obvious) answer is that shoppers who use coupons save money and if you can combine that with any in-store sales that might be going on in the store you can get some great deals!  I have personally seen customers save $40-$60 dollars with coupons.  I had customers whose original bill was $390.27.  Then they gave me their store card and with those savings it took the total down to $384.81.  Then they handed me a stack of coupons.  The final total for their bill was $323.47.  Doing the math--they had $61.34 worth of coupons.  So to me to save all that money is well worth taking the time to clip the coupons.  So if you have a little extra time before you go shopping to to flip through coupons on the weekend paper or by going online, you could find that it will pay off.

But just a quick word of caution--don't fall for the "coupon trap".  If you let a coupon "trap" you into buying an item that you normally would not have bought anyway then you're not really saving any money.  Or often there's a coupon for a $1.00 of of 2 of something.  Ask yourself, "Do I really need 2 of these?"  and if the answer is no, you'll save yourself money by not using the coupon and just buying one.

Question 2: Can I return this?

Answer:  Sure!  Ok, here's the deal...buying food at the grocery store is not buying a shirt at Target.  You take a shirt home, you  try it on, it doesn't fit and you can bring it back.  A grocery store is always happy to return/refund/exchange any item if there is something wrong with the item.  Or when someone buys batteries or lightbulbs that are the wrong size.  But what about returning food jut because you decided you didn't want it?  The other night a woman came up to the courtesy desk with 4 bags of potato chips and soda.  She said she wanted to return them because she bought them for a party but didn't use them.  Now, I personally think we shouldn't have to take something back simply because she misjudged the amount of food she needed for her party but she was refunded her money.  Just as a note to keep in mind--anything perishable that leaves the store  (no matter for how long) can not be put back on the shelf so if you return it (even if there's nothing wrong with it) we have to throw it away.  There was a woman who bought a pack of chicken.  She was out in the parking lot and as she was loading her groceries into the back of her car she realized she bought the wrong size package.  She immediately came right back into the store and we exchanged the chicken for her--but we had to throw away the package of chicken she had just returned.  There is a part of me that understands the logic in this.  Once a perishable item leaves the store, if it's returned it can't be put back on the shelves because there is no way of knowing how long it has been left out and improperly stored items can make people sick.  On the hand it is unfortunate to have a policy where so much perfectly good food is not able to be put back on the shelf to be sold.  It is so wasteful that this food just gets thrown away.

Another (holi)day, another dollar!

So yesterday was about how work can be a convenient excuse for getting out of something that you really don't want to do. Today is the flip side of the coin--when your friends and family are all out doing something really fun or it's a holiday when everyone you know has the day off and you are stuck at work! When you're in the retail or grocery store business it seems like you're busiest times are when everyone else has off from work! Like for example--this year New Year's Eve was on a Friday and I always work on Fridays. The store did close early--at 9:00 p.m-but that didn't seem early enough for me. I was picturing my family at home eating and drinking and laughing as they geared up for midnight and by the time I got back from work the party would be half-way over or relatives would already be drunk and passed out on the couch. A friend had invited me to her party and that didn't start until 9:30 or 10:00 but after a four or five hour shift at work I really didn't know if I would feel like going back home and getting dressed and heading out to a party. (I know that makes me sound very, very old!). The policy for working holidays at the grocery store (and I think it's pretty common in most customer service or retail businesses) is that there are certain days during the holiday season that are "blocked off". This is either because the expect to be very busy and need as many people working as possible or because it's a day when no one wants to work and they want to avoid everyone requesting off for the same day and having no one there to work. I have to say though that my store manager is really good about scheduling over the holidays. First, he puts up a sign up sheet so that you could volunteer to work certain shifts over the holidays and if he didn't have enough volunteers then he just scheduled people based on their normal availability--which seems to me to be the fairest way to handle it. And certain employees do get holiday pay (which I think is time and 1/2) but I an not one of them. So a week before New Years I started scheming about how I could get that Friday off. Well it turned out I did get that Friday off and I enjoyed some time with my family and then went to my friend's party for the rest of the night. I came home around 1:00 and feel fast asleep. So congratulations to everyone reading this for making it through another hectic holiday season! Only 361 shopping days until next Christmas!

Too much of a good thing

O.k.--I want to start off by saying I love my family, of course I do! They are smart, funny, kind, generous and caring people. Over the holidays we have a lot of fun and nice family traditions. We decorate and hang stockings, we bake Christmas cookie, someone lights a fire in the fireplace and we sit around and eat (too much) and drink (too much). We have intense, marathon games of trivial pursuit or sometimes Charades. We talk and laugh (and argue) and then laugh (and argue) some more. So that being said, over the holidays we have A LOT of family time and by the time Christmas is over sometimes I just want a little time to myself. Is that so selfish? (actually that might be pretty close to the definition of selfish...but anyway). Recently, when my grandmother told me my aunt and uncle were having (another) party I was dreading a night of the same small talk we had on Christmas and Christmas Eve and again on New Years day. And before I knew it I told my family I wouldn't be able to go to the party because I had to work. Convenient excuse, huh? I didn't have to work. I went to go see a movie instead. It was nice to sneak off for a few hours and sit in a dark movie theater with a bag of popcorn and a huge, overpriced soda. So while I love my family and I love being able to be with them to celebrate the holidays together, it is nice to have things getting back to normal after all the of the holidays! And so while I do feel guilty for lying and sneaking off to the movies I have to say it was a relaxing few hours. I guess just like having too much egg nog or too many Christmas cookies, maybe family time can be a little too much of a good thing.

Just a little midnight snack

I went to put my jeans on the other day and I have to be honest I really had to hold my breath and really, really suck in to get the button done. And the jeans hadn't even just come out of the dryer so I couldn't blame the dryer for "shrinking" them. Sigh. I glanced at the calendar--I mean, it was just after new years--and I thought I had just put on a little weight over the holidays...but I had to be honest, it was more then just a little weight. I realized the weight has been creeping up on me for a while now and it's because I really, really like food. Now, some of you may be asking, what the hell does this have to do with a blog about being a cashier? Well, besides working in a grocery store and being surrounded by food I also realize the hours I work definitely contribute to very poor eating habits! I normally work until midnight and normally before I leave I get something to eat. And let me tell you I am not picking up a salad or an apple. I get instant ramen noodles (loaded with sodium), or a candy bar (loaded with fat and calories), or a bag of potato chips, or a doughnut, or a microwaveable pizza (have you ever read the nutritional information on a box of pizza?--wow). Oh, you get the idea. So I get off work at 12:00 at night and get home shortly after midnight and I eat whatever junk food I bought at the store. Sometimes I am actually hungry but sometimes I am not hungry. I'm just bored and I want to sit and watch t.v and mindlessly stuff food in my face. I know that I shouldn't really be eating that late. Sometimes I try to compromise with myself so I will eat when I get home from work but I won't eat the junk food. So that means I plan ahead and when I go grocery shopping during the day I anticipate that when I get home at midnight I am going to want something to eat--so I buy fruit or those 100 calorie snack packs or cereal. But the junk food is like a one stand after a night of heavy drinking in college--it seems like a good idea at the time and it's satisfying at midnight--but you will likely regret it in the morning.

So starting here and now I'm going to change the way eat! Maybe it won't happen overnight but I'm going to make a conscious effort to eat better and feel better and have my clothes fit better! Wish me luck!

Turning over a new (years) leaf

Why does everyone make such a big deal out of New Years? Well, I think the simple reason is that it's fun. You go to a party, eat, drink, dance and have fun with your friends. And I can't speak for everyone else but for me I like New Years because it's a chance to look back at the last year--think about what the things you did right, think about the mistakes you made and more importantly to think about what you have learned from the mistakes you made. I think New Years is so nice because it's a chance for a fresh start.

Over the holidays I was sitting in the living room talking to my aunt. The rest of the family had gone to bed and it was just the two of us left talking. She asked me if I was happy. Well, I was curled up in a nice, comfy armchair, drinking egg nog and sitting by the fire so my toes were nice and toasty. So, I said, "Yes, I am pretty happy and overall I think our family has been pretty lucky." Well, by this time my aunt had had a few drinks and she said, "Well, what are you unhappy about?" And without a moments hesitation I said, "My job at the grocery store, obviously." I mean overall my life is good and I am a pretty content, happy person but this job is the thorn in my side. I want to take a minute here to sort of explain what I mean by that because I don't want it to sound like I think I am too good to be working there. There are all sort of jobs I can think of--a garbage man, for example. There is certainly nothing wrong with being a garbage man. They perform an absolutely vital function. I mean, imagine if there wasn't garbage collection in your community. But I just know without a doubt in my mind that I don't want to be hanging off the back of a garbage truck collecting trash.

Ever since I was young, my family has stressed the importance of education and hard work. And since I was about 10 years old I have wanted to be a lawyer. I had the idea that lawyers helped people. Lawyer fought for fairness and truth. So I did the "right" thing. I graduated from high school (with average grades) and went to college (with average grades) and finally applied to law school. Imagine my surprise when I was actually accepted. I graduated law school with a sense of excitement and I was really looking forward to the future. I was excited to do something that contributed to society. I was excited to embark on a challenging career. I was excited to help people. And now, here I am working at a grocery store--no closer to becoming a lawyer. So for the first time in my life my faith is slightly shaken. I find myself wondering if maybe just hard work isn't enough. I mean, Kim Kardashian has become a household name and she no discernible talent. She made a sex tap, signed a deal for a reality t.v show and suddenly she's making millions of dollars a year. I have gone through years and years of schooling trying to establish a career and I end up at a grocery store. That just seems sort of messed up to me. I'm not saying I need to be a millionaire--I would just like to make a comfortable living. I don't need a Ferrari--I would just like a cute little Honda Civic with a sunroof. So that is why working at the grocery store is so frustrating for me--It's not that there is anything wrong with being a cashier at a grocery store it's just that I have worked pretty hard and I just feel like I have more to offer then scanning groceries.

Recently, I have really thought about giving two weeks notice at the grocery store. I was thinking that if the store wasn't there as a sort of safety net I might push myself harder to find something better. I can honestly say that I have really been trying to find a better job. I spend hours on the Internet researching law firms and reading job postings. I have been sending out resumes and I have even been on a few job interviews recently. But I need to keep working at it. I realized that I just have to take a deep breath, take things a day at a time and set goals for myself. And it is up to me to make sure that I meet the goals I set. No one else will do it for me. The job at the grocery store is just a part-time, temporary thing. But whenever I walk in there it just reminds me that I am not the lawyer I want to be and I feel like a failure. Then I have to remind myself that it doesn't define me. Maybe it will ever help give me character and remind me not to take myself too seriously!

So, I shared this story with you guys because I hope that if someone else reading is in the same boat they won't give up on their dreams. Set goals for yourself and keep working toward them.