Hitchin' a Ride (Part II)

It was a nice day in the summer and I had made plans to hang out with my sister.  She lives in the city and we planned for me to meet her at the train station in the city and from there were gonna head to A.C to sit on the beach for a bit, soak up some sun and cruise along the boardwalk.  Whenever I go into the city I take the train for a few reasons.

1) I don't want to fight traffic and pay for parking.  (and I figure by the time I pay for gas and parking a train ticket is cheaper)
2) It's green!  I feel like I'm being more environmentally friendly when I use public transportation
3) As you read yesterday my car is not in the best shape right now.

By the time we got back from A.C I caught the 10:30 (something) train in the city and was headed back home.  The train ride lasts about an hour.  It had been a fun but long day so as the train rolled along I found I could barely keep my eyes open--they felt superglued shut.

After a while the train came to a stop and I managed to open my eyes just enough to squint out the window and I saw that I am almost at my stop.  The station where I parked my car is close to my house and close to the grocery store, too.  As I tried to wake my self up I glanced across the isle and saw someone looking at me.  I realized it was Miguel, one of the guys from the night crew at the grocery store.  He is from Mexico and barely speaks English.  He smiled, pointed at me and "Philadelphia."  I nodded.  I glanced at my watch--by now it was close to 11:30--I'm pretty sure he should have been an work about an hour and half ago (but I'm not really sure).  The train was quickly coming up to my stop and my mind started racing.  I know that his train stop is a few stops after mine and there is a side of me that knows the decent, "right" thing to do is to offer this guy a ride to the grocery store so that he won't have to walk from the train station to work.  It's what I have been taught by my dad and grandparents to do--help people out when they need help.  They have shown me, by example, the importance of doing whatever you can to help people.  So it should have been a no-brainer--but it wasn't.

All I kept thinking about was having to get in through the passenger's side door and climb over to the driver's side.  My logic told him he probably wouldn't have cared--he would have just been grateful for the ride, but it was really, really embarrassing.  I pictured him laughing as I climbed into the drivers seat.  (This is really shallow of me--because it is really funny and if he was laughing I should have been laughing my ass off right along with him!)  I'm really fortunate to have a car and the bottom line is it's a pretty funny situation to have a car that you have to climb in and out of (it could have been worse, I guess--it could have been 'Dukes of Hazzard' style).  My other (very flimsy) excuse is that I was just so tired--I felt like I could barely stay awake long enough to drive myself home let alone drive Miguel to the grocery store.

Like I said, it should have a been a no-brainer, but it wasn't.  The train came to my stop.  I gave Miguel a small smile, waved and got off the train.  I have felt really bad about it ever since.  In my defense he is a slightly creepy and definitely annoying guy but I should have helped him out.  It was a situation that had a simple solution but I made it awkward by not doing the right thing.  Miguel sometimes still points at me, smiles and says, 'Philadelphia'.   Which I'm pretty sure translates to something like, "You are the bitch that wouldn't give me a ride to work when we were both on the same train."

Hitchin' a Ride (Part I)

I love driving.  The freedom of the open road.  Cruising along the highway at 80 miles per hour with a good song playing on the radio.  The wind in my hair.  Actually, scratch the wind in my hair because the driver's side window of the car is broken--it goes down but it won't go back up again.

Ahhh--but the freedom of the open road comes with a hefty price tag.  Gas money.  Car insurance.  Vehicle Registration.  And once a year the state inspection and emissions test.  So when it was time for my annual car inspection I decided the cheapest option was Pep Boys.  But apparently my car was so old (it's a 1995) that they didn't have the equipment in their shop to do the emissions test there.  The guy at the shop told me they could do the state inspection but I would have to get the emissions test done somewhere else.  So I found a small local auto mechanic that had the right machine to do the emissions test on my "ancient" car.  I dropped the car off off, came back about 1/2 an hour later, paid for the emissions test, picked up the car and drove away.

As I was driving down the street I noticed the drivers side window was down (see note above about broken driver's side window).  When I got home I tried to put the window back up but it was off the track and I could only get it 3/4 of the way back up.

Well the window had been broken before and my dad had fixed it so I asked him if he would mind taking a look at it again.  He said sure.  Well, to make a long story short (I know--too late) my dad got the window to go back up but in order to fix it he had to take the car door off the track--I'm not really sure why but that's what happened.  When he was done working on it the door didn't line up with the track so it wouldn't close properly.  So now every time I get into the car I have to get in front passenger side and climb over to the driver's seat.  If anyone ever sees me climbing across the front of the car they must wonder what the hell I'm doing.

Now what does this have to do with work?  Stay tuned.

It's a mystery to me

We have started having mystery shopping come into the store.  I'm sure 99% of you are familiar with the concept of the mystery shopper--they basically walk through the entire store with a sort of checklist they are given.  They give the store a total number of points out of 100 based on how many things on the checklist that were done while they were shopping.

Why is my boss a douchebag?

Does anyone else every ask themselves, 'Why is my boss such a tremendous douchebag?'  It's not just me is it?  I have talked a little about the customer service manager Scott--he's a cool, chill, funny guy and we generally get along pretty well.

Then, on the other end of the spectrum is the store manager--Arnold.  And he is a jerk--not to mention that I think he looks like Chief Wigum from the Simpsons.  I'm sorry I typed that before I could stop myself--it was like writers touretts.

Anyway,  luckily I don't have to work with him much because he works during the day and I work nights so by the time I get there Arnold is long gone.  So I really haven't had too much interaction with him but the few times I have worked with him on the weekends it hasn't been pleasant.

Like one Sunday I was coming into work and I went to the time clock to punch in for work--you know like every employee is supposed to before they start working (duh).  Hank, another cashier, was right in front of me punching in and I was standing right behind him waiting for him to finish (just to give you an idea this whole process of punching in or punching out when you're leaving takes like 2 seconds).  When Arnold walks up to me and goes (while I am standing right in front of the time clock), "Can you punch in, like right now, because the front end is really busy."  in a kind of tone like he is exasperated that he has to explain such a simple concept to me.

In my head I went on rant.  I was having a whole conversation in my head about what I would say to Arnold if he wasn't me boss.  It went something like this--"Ohhhhh is that what you do you when you are standing in front of the time clock?  You punch in for work?  No effing way!  I mean really asshole--when I'm standing right in front of the time clock at the beginning of my shift--what the hell else would I be doing if I wasn't getting ready to punch in for work?  I was simply waiting those 2 whole seconds until Hank was finished punching in."  Not to mention the fact that I started work at 12:00 and was punching in at 11:55.  I was punching in early anyway you douchebag.  And in my imagination he just stood there staring at my--his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish but no real words coming out.

But I just took a deep breath, and said, "sure." and went downstairs and went to work.  Sigh.  

It's not a purse

This may be a slightly dated reference but are there any Seinfeld fans out there?

There was a man who came through my line the other day.  It was a normal order and at the end of his order I gave him the total and I watched as he picked up a bag and took his wallet out it.  I don't know what else I can call it but a man purse--it wasn't a shoulder bag, it wasn't a manly satchel bag, it wasn't even a fanny pack--it was a legitimate purse.  I sort of glanced around to see if there was a woman with him to see if maybe he was holding the purse for a wife or girlfriend.  Nope, he was solo.

I thought of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry gets tired or carrying his wallet and all sorts of other stuff in his pockets so Elaine gets him a "man bag" from J-Peterman.  Elaine insists it's not a purse, it's a 'European carry-all'.  Jerry starts carrying this bag around which looks like a purse.  His girlfriend even convinces him to carry around her lipstick in the bag because she doesn't have any pockets.

Don't get me wrong--I don't mind the whole metrosexual thing and I like guys who are comfortable in their masculinity but I really think there's no need for guys to carry a purse.  Do you agree?

Anyway, so as he put his wallet back into his man purse, I thought to myself, I not a purse it's a European carry-all.

The high cost of higher education

Now I don't want to beat a dead horse but for those of you who have been following my blog for a while you might remember that I have mentioned (or bitterly dwelled on all the money I owe) that I went to law school.  Right now I am (very close to six figures) in student loan debt and working a job that pays $8.55 an hour so if you do the math you will see that my life is obviously right on track!   I will call my law school the Lautener School of Law (in an attempt to protect the innocent) but I will mention that the school has a campus in Delaware and a campus in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania so if you are curious you should be able to use superior detective skills to figure it out what school I'm talking about.  On my way out to work a few weeks ago I noticed the Lautener School of  Law magazine had arrived in the mail and the issue had a cover story called 'The Many Faces of a J.D"--the basic idea of the story was discussing the many different career options that are available to law school graduates and touting the idea that "a law degree is still worth it."--even if you decide not to be a practicing attorney.  First off--in an effort to be fair and objective--let me just say that the article made some interesting and valid points about the value of a legal education...but as I was walking out the door on my way to work, glancing down at my cashier uniform and dreading having to work another midnight shift I also couldn't help thinking that the article was incredibly one-sided and obviously self-serving.  Of course, the Lautener Law School magazine would want to convince (or assure) its readers that having a J.D would create new and exciting job opportunities.  It basically says to alumni, "Hey guys--even if you aren't working as a lawyer or even if you graduated and you haven't been able to find a job because the job market is flooded with lawyers aren't you glad you gave us all that money?"  And it says to potential students considering law school who are reading the article, "Hey guys--law school is totally worth it!  (even if you're not a lawyer when you're done).  The article was one-sided because it talked about the success stories of Lautener graduates who have never practiced law.  I think it's great that the people featured in this article have achieved such success and it's obvious they have worked really hard for everything they earned...but what the article doesn't talk about is that this path can be difficult and it makes no mention of the financial cost of law school (three years of law school can cost $100,000).  There's a whole class of graduates coming out of school (either college or graduate school) with student loan debt and if they can't find a job in their chosen profession that pays enough to support themselves that debt can be absolutely crippling!  What the hell are they/I supposed to do?  Also, as a read the article I had an incredible sense of way too little, way too late.  I graduated years ago and now you want offer me employment advice?  And now you are concerned about graduates getting job?  Because let me tell you--your Career Development office sure as hell didn't care while I was a student there!  As I was entering my second year of law school I actually went to the career services office.  I scheduled an appointment to meet with Karen, the Director of Career Development because I had been working to draft my first legal resume and was hoping to get feedback about the format and possibly some general advice about ways to improve the content.  When I asked her about my resume she glanced at it for literally a total of 2 seconds handed it right back to me and said, "Oh, it's fine."  That was it!  Wow!  Holy shit!  What a brilliant professional analysis!  Maybe she looked at the resume and thought it was hopeless or that I didn't have nearly enough experience.  And that's fine--just say something so that I can do something about it.  Well I wanted the meeting to be as productive as possible so at that point I thought it might be best to change topics.  I took a deep breath and mentioned that I also wanted to discuss the what types of resources might be best to use when you were looking for a job in the legal field.  I asked her where I might be able to start looking for legal jobs that I might be qualified for.  She said, (and I quote) "Oh well, I don't know.  I mean most law firms don't advertise in the paper."  What?  Seriously?  You get paid for this type of career guidance and advice?  At this point I was trying hard to maintain my composure and hold on to what was left of my patience because I was about to lose it.  I didn't expect this woman to find me a job but at least point me in the right direction...I mean that is what she was there for, isn't it?  So now when Lautener writes articles about its concern for finding students jobs after graduation it all seems very disingenuous to me. 

Of course I don't necessarily mean to single out law school or the legal profession--I just chose to talk about that because that's what I have personal experience with but it's a problem in higher education in general.  Higher education has become big business--a highly lucrative industry and it's done at the expense of the students who have all been told if you want to go be successful going to college is the thing to do.  Also I don't want to sound like a bitter and disgruntled Lautener Alum--whining, "Oh I can't find a job and it's all the schools fault."  There's still a part of me that believes my law school education was a valuable experience.  I just think the system of going into tremendous debt to pay for higher education for kids just starting out seems to be unethical.  Families and students all across the country are facing the consequences of student loan debt and if newly graduated students are unable to find a job after graduating that can seem insurmountable--right from the start these graduates are placed in a hole they can't dig out of.

A Twist of Fate

Last week I hurt my ankle--(I couldn't tell if I was seriously injured or if I was just being a drama queen--because I have absolutely no tolerance for pain).  I'm not sure if I twisted it or sprained it but no matter what you call it, it definitely hurt.  When I was sitting in bed with my foot elevated and a pack of frozen peas plastered on my ankle I felt fine but actually walking on it or having to go up and down stairs felt like I might as well have been trying to scale Mt. Everest.  I was scheduled to work on Monday night but when I woke up on Monday morning I could barely hobble the few steps from my bed to the bathroom--I thought there was noooo way I would be able to work (I mean I could barely even stand).  Trying to do the responsible thing I texted some of the people I work with to see if they would be able to switch shifts with me for some time later in the week...but no luck.  I decided I needed the money and didn't want to leave them high and dry at work trying to find someone to work until midnight on such short notice.  So I just sucked it up and went to work with my sprained/twisted ankle.  The first hour or so wasn't so bad but as the night went on my foot and ankle were both throbbing and for some reason my foot had swollen up like a grapefruit.  I considered asking if I could go home early but I glanced at the clock and it was already 10:30.  Since I had made it to 10:30 I figured I could make it until 11:00 and once I made it until 11:00 I could make it to 12:00.  So that was how I did it--one small step (or one small limp) at a time.  Finally, finally, finally it was 11:59 and there were no customers left in the store and I was outta there!  My bed (and late night t.v.--like reruns of Fraiser and the Golden Girls) were calling my name.  When I got home I put on my pajamas, put a bag of frozen peas back on my ankle and crawled into bed. 

A few days later my ankle was feeling better but it got me thinking that I was pretty lucky in was just a minor thing.  My budget is really, really tight and I plan out when I'm going to pay bills based on my pay check each week.  If something serious ever happened were I wasn't able to work for even just a few days that would be like the iceberg hitting the Titanic (or in this case my bank account) and creating financial disaster--let alone if there any medical bills or any other expenses!  There are so many people with serious or chronic health problems who frequently have to miss work--imagine the stress and anxiety and fear of being sick and then on top of that having to worry about the financial difficulties associated with missing work.  I, as a person am fortunate and we, as citizens, are fortunate to live in a country where we have access to excellent medical care and facilities, but many people are just a few paychecks away from being in serious financial trouble if they have to miss work because of illness or family emergency.