Oddservation: My Sister's Voice.

At my work, we have and use towel buckets.
The white towel buckets say in red lettering, "Clean Towels in Sanitizing Solution."
The gray buckets with black lettering say "Soiled Towels"

As is common, on the opposite sides of the buckets the same info is repeated in Spanish.
"Toallas Limpias" and "Toallas Succias"

Limpias I get. Same root word as limpid, meaning clear/transparent.
Succias I don't get. I can't think of any similar word in English. Whatever the root may be, it does make the use of the word "suck" or "sucky" seem reasonable. Just non-English.

The thing is, every time I see these Spanish equivalents on the buckets, I hear my sister.
I hear her say, "Give me one of those limp-ass towels."
I hear her say, "Here's a sucky-ass towel."

Yes, I have a sister who would say that. It's just how she is.

It bothers me sometimes. Her voice ordering my towels and buckets around is not something I need at the end of my working day.

But it's there.

New

I have a job to report to Monday! Hooray!

You would not believe how difficult getting this job has been. It seems that everything on earth has been against it happening.

First, I lost my Internet, so there could be no instant email connection.
I lost my home phone at the same time, so there would be no phone calls there. I was prepared for that, using the cell phone  number, so that wasn't really a big deal.


The cell phone quit working -- sometimes. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn't. It would ring in a call, but the only sound when I answered would be the echoing emptiness of a bad cell connection -- that tunnel sound. Sometimes I would get calls with no numbers.
The most fun was when I would get voice mails -- multiple voice mails -- without ever getting a phone call.
This is where the calling thing would get crazy -- because one has to call the voice mail to collect the voice mail messages. One of which, I could make out, barely, was from the lady at MultiColor.

Thank God for managing capable sisters. Because Rita stepped in and made the call back and got everything communicated to me, and there was a hectic couple of days as I rushed about for drug screening and trying to get my phone straightened out.

They told me they would send me a replacement phone and I would be able to transfer my  minutes and my number. Wouldn't need to change my number. So I sent in an updated application with the same old number on it.

Well, that was wrong. For whatever reason, they couldn't transfer the number, when I did get the replacement phone. It wasn't compatible, or too old, or something. I didn't understand. They did transfer the minutes.

BUT -- you knew there was a but, didn't you? -- when I make a call on this replacement phone that does NOT have my old number, no one on the other end can hear me. I can hear them. They cannot hear me.

So, I am waiting again, for another replacement phone, while I am waiting to get word about this job. No Internet access, no way to call out without borrowing a phone and using up someone else's minutes, and the job had the wrong damn number -- in triplicate. Plus holidays in the way, libraries closed, or shortened hours.

I did finally get to a library and emailed the contact with the temp service that does the hiring for the factory. I explained briefly there are problems with the phone(s), and I offered two other numbers for them -- one was my sister's, that they already had and the other was the borrowed  minutes phone.

But I did finally get the call, and I am going back to work on Monday.

A new job leading to a new life is a very good way to start a new year.

Blacker than Friday

is 'Black Thursday'
is the early Black Friday sales.

I don't know which I despise the most.
Yes, I said despise. As in disdainfully hate, loathe, and dislike. ALL.

Years and years ago, back in the last century, Black Friday sales used to be FUN! Hurtling through the dark early morning hours to go to stores never worth going to at other times. Hitting the 4 am openers, and then the 6 am early bird stores. Buying gifts that could not be afforded otherwise.

It wasn't even too bad when the "Black Friday" thing became part of the annual routine. The sales weren't as spectacular -- usually they are ordinary mark-downs of last year's leftovers -- and the fun wasn't there because too much traffic was taking its place. Everybody that wasn't working was hitting the sales.

Even the hysteria of  'limited number of items' (because they are selling last year's no-sells) was somewhat tolerable from a distance. Stupid, but tolerable. No one should be assaulted over a toy.

Now however, the whole thing has morphed into blatant money-grubbing. The stores started opening late on Thanksgiving Day, then they started being open "All Day" on Thanksgiving Day.

This year the Black Friday sales all were 'leaked' early, and have been underway for at least a week. There's still a week before Thanksgiving.
I haven't shopped any of them, and there are stores I won't shop, even when it is actually time to do so.

These stores -- Target is one of them -- are making it mandatory for their workers to come in on the holiday day. Yeah, they'll pay time-and-a-half (maybe) but that isn't the point. To many people, especially minimum wage workers, time spent with family is more important than all the money in the world. At least for that one day that is supposed to be about appreciating who and what you have.

I have no problem with the stores being open -- if the people working there want to be there. I always wished I could go to work, maybe, after the meal and the dishes and the guests went home, and the only thing on tv is football games. I'd have volunteered.

There are people to whom Thanksgiving is yet another lonely day, and they'd work or not, however it works out.

And if a store doesn't have the staff to work that day -- that special, family holiday -- then they shouldn't open, or should perhaps only have some areas open (no coffee shop, no fresh-sliced deli, etc.) They should respect the employees who want to respect their families -- not drag them out and demand they deal kindly and patiently with rude and demanding people.

Yes, I categorize the precious customers that way, because for the most part it is going to be the greedy people out grabbing goodies. The "real" people will be at home with their families, especially during the early part of the day.

And if you do go out, after your family's festivities, please remember to thank those who serve you in any capacity. A heck of a lot of them are there because they have to be, not because they want to be, and that's just not fair.

The Great American Temper Tantrum.

Or how to look more of a fool to the rest of the world.

The election is over! One man won, a lot of others (not just Mr. Moneybags) lost. Time for life to get back to normal, or at least head in that direction, right?

Nope. Not right.

Now that the election is over and approximately (an ironic) 47% of people were on the losing side, it's time to show the world that we are populated by whiny ass crybabies who, when they lose, throw down their tools and holler "I Quit" while the world laughs.

This is, of course, the members of the moneybags teams doing this. The first rumbles of the secession story came from Texas and Louisiana. Now, what does Texas and Louisiana have that's so special?
Oh yeah! That's where the OIL is! And the oilmen! I suppose I should say oil barons, or perhaps oil profiteers, because MEN do not quit when they have a setback. They stand up, shake the dust off the seat of their pants and their hands, and get right back to work. (oh but these people don't get their hands dirty, and they can't reach the seat of their pants because their big fat wallets are in the way!)

And work there is for all of us. The NorthEast is still lights-out in many places -- they could use a whole lot more of that oil that Louisiana and Texas are wanting to hold hostage until they get their way. There are homes and no homes, food spoiling, damaged factories, stores, streets. There's work for each and every person who can get there to do it. There are many who would be doing it if they could get there. There is even work for leaders in the field, because the Corporate Chairs are fighting like preschool siblings over who is in charge of what, while friends and neighbors are opening their houses and cupboards to their neighbors. Some of them are even feeding people with no ID, no proof of address. "When I was hungry, You gave me food."
Not a ticket to go somewhere else and get it from someone else because that's just not your job.

It surprises me how many people are jumping onto this secession bandwagon. Yeah, we'd all like to be our own country, especially when we don't like public policies. Yeah, when we have to pay the piper in April, we wish we were our own realm.

Most of us outgrow this by the time we reach double digits. It's hard work making rules and enforcing them and trying to make other people abide by OUR rules because it's our country. If they don't like it, they can go make one of their own.

I have to wonder if these people have thought this through. Who will repair and maintain their roads? Their schools? I suppose with agreements like the once-famous NAFTA  they won't have to worry about tarrifs on foodstuffs, or factory-built parts. But who will pay the governing bodies? How?

There will still be taxes; there will still be public policies that displease individuals. There may be even fewer jobs if interstate commerce becomes international..

In the meantime, the public face of America is showing itself to be the "Ugly American" in truth.
The real Americans are in New Jersey, working.

What is a Cashier?

I've been trying to find work, like most of America. There are jobs out there, but the hoops we must jump through get stranger and stranger. More and more places are accepting online applications only , or online primarily. Translation: your paper in-store application and your written resume are dropped into the trash can as soon as you are out of sight.

It would be nice if there was some standard form or procedures for online applications. Or a way to copy your filled out application to multiple store locations, for places like McDonald's. For now, you have to fill out the same forms over and over again for jobs under the same corporate umbrella. Please, why can't we just CC the applications? Or better yet, why must we select one location only? Why not allow an applicant to apply at multiple stores with one application? Isn't that the sort of thing computerized applications are supposed to do for both employer and hopeful employee? Eliminate repetition and sort by keywords (keywords being the locations)?

Some sites you have to 'create an account' and log in and out of complete with password and your secret identity  Really? I just want a job, not an account. And you'll know who I am as soon as I start the application process. My name IS the first thing you'll ask for, isn't it?

Once we get to the application (if we're lucky) we'll be asked what position we'll be applying for.
 'Any' is not one of the options.
Do we want to be a BOU? A QST? A CRR? Aren't there any two or four initial jobs?  How about a store team member? Well, since I want to work at your store, I want to be a member of the store team. I'm pretty sure that's a minimum requirement.

What kind of team member? Which spoonful of alphabet soup would we like to be? The better sites have a what-is-this drop down menu that will explain what the initials are. Many won't. I always figure that if I don't know what the letters are, I'm probably not qualified for the job.

But wait -- that means these stores no longer use cashiers! No floor service people!
I'm pretty sure I am not going to shop there, with no one to help me find things.

After much searching and thinking I find a couple acronyms that may qualify as cashier: Customer Service Specialist and Customer Relations Representative. There's also Customer Service Representative.' Customer Relations' and 'Customer Service' seem to be ways to pretty up the job title. And everyone is expected to be a specialist -- or at least called one  -- these days. It supposedly makes them feel more appreciated. (Please and Thank You are an easier way to achieve that outcome.)

Who cares? Most people looking for cashier's jobs are looking for cashier's jobs. They don't want to be Representatives. They don't want to be specialists. They want to be EMPLOYED.

Online applications are Okay.
If I were an employer,  I'd rather do a walk in so I could see who I'm getting and gather important 'first impression' details, but I can see that online will eliminate a lot of personal prejudice eliminations.

But quit with the initials and the fancy sounding names for common positions! I want to come and help your customers find what they want to buy, and I want to help them buy it and get out so they will come back again. And I want a paycheck. Not an empty  title made of fancier words.

I want to be a cashier and shelf-stocker and coffee-maker. No Representing Specialist or Specialized representative.

I am a lifelong (although currently unemployed) cashier and proud of it. It is you who are missing a good employee because I don't know what you call me.


.

worth working ?

Today the local news is filled with a long wrap-around line of people hoping to work at the new Jungle Jim's that is opening in September. People are so hungry for jobs that they are waiting in summer heat -- and this summer's heat is especially brutal-- for hours. Jungle Jim's is looking for 300 to 400 people, from inexperienced to specialist. They've probably had about 3000 people turn out. That is my estimate from looking at photos and news coverage.

I've been looking for work, too, but that's a more troublesome proposition. If I start work, even just five or ten hours a week, my husband's spenddown for MedicAid will go up, by whatever amount of money I make. Probably the gross amount, not net, but I'm unsure about that. We'll also lose out food assistance, but that's not a deal breaker for just the two of us. But what if we still had children to nourish so they'll grow, and pay attention in school.

And I won't be at home to care for him. He doesn't need nursing or tending, but he can't stand at a stove -- or even a microwave -- long enough to cook for himself. So would he have to go without any time that I work at or through meal time? What if something were to go wrong? What if the electric goes out and he can't use his nebulizer or his oxygen? How will anyone know to help him? How would they help him? What if a water line breaks? He doesn't have the strength or the agility to shut off the water under the sink behind the jars and brushes.

But I still look for work -- I'm pretty sure it's better than not working. Better for us both in terms of community and personal sanity. I know this isolated life makes me edgy, cross, crabby, and mean-as-hell. So, if there's a local job I hear about, I try for it. In a year and a half, I've had two interviews. For the others (about a dozen) I don't make the cut. I'm not sure if it's the beauty check I fail or the background check. Not that it matters.

But I wonder, as I fill in yet another application, if I should get beyond the interview stage, will the job eventually won be worth it. Or will it cost me more -- in more ways -- than staying at home does?

I don't know, but I would like to have the chance to find out.

As I lay dying (or so I thought)

Yesterday I thought I was entering my final illness, persistent cramping diarrhea. The pain was worse than childbirth (except for the actual birthing). The effects of dehydration were debilitating, as you can imagine. My sister and my nephew had both commented on bellyaches, so I thought there's probably just something going around, and it was nothing major.

As the day wore on, I changed my mind about that. If there had been gas in our car I would have had my husband take me to the hospital, even though I have no insurance and every test, every procedure, every help would have to be paid for by us. At that point (about 3 in the afternoon) even the IV for dehydration would have been worth the cost. Because I was afraid to drink anything, even warm water.

Instead, I went to bed.
While in the bed, I reviewed my life. It's the first time I ever did that when I wasn't contemplating suicide, so it was a novel experience in its way. The results of the review were more satisfactory this way, I have to admit, but there were some things not so satisfactory.
Of course.

I wished I had played more with my girls when they were young. More walks, more pushing on swings, more silly talk, more books read together, more time. Just more time to enjoy them. But pushing swings is boring after the first couple of shoves to get them going, and neither of my daughters had any great interest in books when they were young. We did walk, from time to time, and the walks nearly always had that 'special' air. I suppose that's a good thing. The regret over not taking enough walks is partly because it indicates a lack of special times, so if the times it happened were special -- well, there's just a balance there, so that one is probably okay.
I hope.

I wish I'd had more patience at some times in some of my jobs, but I have no big regrets over any of those. I gave every job I ever did everything I could, everything I had. Sometimes I didn't have much, and sometimes I hated the work, but I gave it my all. Sometimes my all was more, often less, but it was what I had and I put it into the work.

My writing? I have four completed novel manuscripts on top of the bookcases. I have three of those novels on floppies, which do me  no earthly good these days, but maybe somewhere, someday... someone. I have various writings here and there. It would be nice for my family if I could become posthumously famous, so that I'm not leaving my family nothing but a hole in their hearts.
I hope.

The good-bye letters I wrote a few months ago worried me a bit. I thought about tearing them up before I died, but decided I'd just leave a note with them. Don't remember if I dated them or not. Probably not. I wanted them to be generic, any time. I have letters written to Tracy and to Rex and, I think, to Jean. I haven't been able to bring myself to pout anything in writing for Tammy-and-Hailey. No good excuses for saddling her with my responsibilities, which she would be the one carrying the brunt of the load after the dust settles. No good excuse, no reason.
Anyway, I decided to just write a note, or maybe I'd get a chance to tell Jean before I expire in the hospital. "Hey, never mind those. I wrote them for Christmas last year, or maybe the year before."

It was a different thing to look back at my life this way, from this new angle. I didn't have no instant conversion to wanting to continue living in spite of all its pain, which I have seen happen. I wanted the pain to stop. I wished that I had done some things differently, but feel that I did the best I could at the time.

That's what we should all be doing. The best we can, with what we have. The what we have can be time, or energy, or even interest. Money of the lack thereof is a partial excuse, not a good one.

Be the best you that you can be.

Do the best you can with what you have.

Watch and work and learn and live.

Then,  you can contemplate death with equanimity. Is there any better way to live?

ID yes, DL why?

I'm in favor of everyone being required to have an ID, and to have to use it when looking for assistance, or employment, or to vote (once per election,) or other as-needed occasions. I have absolutely no problem with that. In this day of illegal immigrants and Identity Theft and background checks, it's a really good idea. Even then it's not foolproof, but at least it's a start.

What I do have a problem with is the requirement for a driver's license. There are people being denied employment because they don't have this.

Now, there are many reasons for not having a DL, not all of them suspect. Being able to pay for a car and insurance. The cost of gas. The number of traffic accidents and fatalities. The 'suspect' reasons, ones that an employer might have a reason to know about include suspensions and special conditions.

Me, I don't think the employers need to know this stuff, unless your specific job involves driving. (If you don't have a license, you probably aren't applying for such a position.) They don't even need to know your reasons for not having a DL, especially if you do have a valid state ID. It's an epic invasion of privacy  -- invasion of thought processes. Invasion, perhaps, of private fears. Invasion into your bank accounts, finances, and God knows there's too much of that already going on.

My daughter can't get a job with day care centers because she has no DL. She doesn't want to drive a van full of toddlers to the firehouse. She doesn't want to run down to the grocery store when the manager spills the day's milk. She wants to take care of children. She trained for it, she had personal experience with it.
But she can't get the job she trained for because she doesn't drive. Instead, she walks or bikes past the day care centers on her way to work at McDonald's.

A former co-worker, also a McDonald's employee, went to college. She took the classes, so popular on commercials, to learn medical transcription, coding, and billing. She worked really hard, got good grades, passed her classes, acquired references from her instructors, and fared forth into the job market.

She almost got hired several times, but not one of the companies, not even a temp service, would hire her.
Why?
Because she didn't have a Driver's License.

Is it the employer's business how an employee gets to work?
I don't think so.

Now, if it becomes a problem, then yes, it is. But until there is an absentee problem -- and both my examples are exemplary employees at their low-level, low pay jobs -- then no, it is not.

It just isn't.