To the Left, To the Left

Yesterday, my coworker Lourdes, was having a bad day. Her second customer of the day called her inconsiderate. Why, I don't know. Lourdes, is one of the nicest people I have met in the store so far (though everyone has been very nice to me) and I have seen her with customers and she isn't inconsiderate so I wonder what was said to make the customer say that. Anyway, Lourdes stewed on it for awhile. I know I would, until a very burly man's cell phone and his ring tone was Beyonce's Irreplaceable. It was the funniest thing I have seen in New York so far. We were all just busted out laughing it was exactly what Lourdes needed to get out of her funk. I guess it really is one of those things you had to be there to truly appreciate the humor of it. I mean, this man was huge. The kind of guy that spends all his free time in the gym, pumping iron and to have his ring tone to be Beyonce! Hilarious!! Sometimes it's little moments like that makes working in retail fun because people are strange and you never know what you are going to get.

In other news, I have today off. I wasn't supposed too but after looking at my schedule again, I realized that that I was scheduled to work hours this week. Which I would have worked no complaints because I need the hours but it's a B&N no no. So, my manager Nancy took me off the schedule for today. So, now what do I do. If I had known last week that I would have today, off I would have tried to get day tickets for today for the US Open instead of night tickets tomorrow but oh well. I know I could have got up early and headed out to Queens and see if they had any extra tickets. I have been told, that on the day of, the USTA makes more tickets available, depending on how many tickets have already been sold for the day but I just couldn't drag myself up and anyways, I was planning on trying this on Saturday on my original day off. I have to reign my enthusiasm. If I had my way, I would go every day but I just can't afford it. So, I'm going tomorrow night and I'm hoping the USTA will come through and put the Roddick v. Santoro match at night because that would be awesome! and maybe Saturday. So back to what am I going to do today. Well, grocery shopping is a must. I'm pretty much out of all my food. I have diet coke and cereal but that is about it. Well, I do have my nutrisystem's meals but I am out of salad and without the salad or bread, those meals are not filling enough. So, grocery store is on the list but that shouldn't take me more then 30 mins., depending on the lines at the store. So, what else? There is tennis I could watch (like I'm doing now) or I could finally unpack the last five boxes I have left. Hmm...I think I'll think on this while I watch more tennis.

So, this is how we do it.

So, after my first week at work, here's the skinny on my new store. There are like eight managers. Ok, I'm not actually sure how many managers there are because I haven't met them all and of the ones I have met, I'm not sure who is an assistant manager and who is just a merchandise manager. The store Manager, Ann is on jury duty this week and last so I have only seen her once. There are two CRM's. One, primarily does events and the other primarily does all the institutional and corporate orders. We have four head cashiers and there is always at least one working at a time. From there the store is split up into upstairs and downstairs. Upstairs, we have a gift, bargain, newsstand and front list leads, cashiers, and info staff. When people are hired they are first cashiers and then after proving themselves on the registers are train to be at info and then their shifts are split between the two. Downstairs, has the children's, zone 1, zone 2 and zone 3 leads and booksellers who are assigned to each zone. There are about three or four employees that work under the lead so there is always at least one person working in each zone. We also have full time maintenance staff, who sweep and mop everyday and security. Plus, police officers that roam around the store from time to time as well. The store seems to be run well but it's kind of hard to tell from behind the cashiers desk. I can only hope that they deem me worthy to transfer me to info or downstairs because damn I'm bored at the cash wrap.

"Aren't you the one who said you can't live without your car?"

The one thing that has been the most to get used to here is not having my own car. The subway is nice and all but it's just crazy to me that it takes me 20 minutes to go a mile and a half. I'm just so used to if I want to go somewhere, all I had to do was get in my car and drive but now I have to figure out which subway line I need and how long it's going to take me to there. And it I have to watch what I buy because I have to get back on the subway to get it home. It's just not what I'm used to. It was suggested to me that I could take a taxi home so I can buy bigger items but that can get expensive and Brooklyn is not Manhattan. We do have cabs here but they are not as present as they are in Manhattan. Like in my neighborhood, I may see 1 taxi at a time driving around instead of the thousands that you see in the city, so really it could take a while to hail a taxi. So, it's a complication but not a major one. I can adjust. It turns out I can live without a car.

Yesterday, I took myself to see Tropic Thunder. So Funny! Now, this is not something I am going to do often because it was $7.50 for a matinee show but my cable doesn't get hooked up until tomorrow morning. Right now I get Fox, NY1 (a 24 hour news channel of just New York news) and a very blurry NBC (very inconvenient for watching the Olympics) so entertainment is on a low around here. So, I went to the movies. Now, I have to figure out the subway, either I am super early to places or just make it. It's all in the timing. If I make it to the station and the train is there, I'm going to be early, if I have to wait for the train I'll be on time. I think there is an art to riding the subway that I haven't mastered yet but I have only been here a week.

I want my MTV and ESPN and Cartoon Network, etc.

I'm spoiled. I realize that. I can not wait for my cable to hooked up on Friday because damn, network TV is boring! Thank goodness for the Olympics or I think I might have gone crazy. Dad and I had this conversation before I left that we really don't watch a lot of network TV and what I do watch is in repeats right now so I watch even less. I like to have my TV on to have background noise but there are just somethings I just can not listen too, like Judge Judy and her ilk. So, dear cable man! Save me from Network TV!

The unpacking is going well. It's weird. I have more room in this apartment then in my old that I just don't know what to do with it. I can have one book case here but it would be just as nice someplace out. It's really nice. One thing I do wish, I had was more outlets. I have one in the kitchen, 1 in my living room and only 1 in my bedroom. It's been a challenge to figure out where to put all my electronics, let me tell you. I think I might have to play around with it some more but for now, back to the Olympics.

A little update!

So, I'm here. In New York! Brooklyn!! I did it and so far it's going good. Let's see, Brooklyn is nothing but hills and stairs. To say nothing my legs hurt, which sucks but I'll get used to it right? I mean after awhile it while it will just become second nature and my legs are going to look fabulous. Today, I got asked out by a guy while waiting for the subway. He wasn't unfortunate looking but I wasn't getting the "I want to spend more time with you" vibe so I passed but flattered. This has to be a good sign for my dating life. I have already had more person ask me directions on the subway so that's cool. Obviously they are more clueless then I am. I found a mall, well it's more of a shopping center then mall but it will do. It has a Target and a Buffalo Wild Wings, which makes me happy. I have, for the most part, figured out the subway system. I at least know which trains stop at my stop and which are local and which are express, a very important distinction. So, now I know how to get to work and home but even more importantly how to get Manhattan's 5th Ave! So far everything is going good. I have the weekend to finish unpacking things. I start work on Monday and I'm really excited about it. BTW, they only sold about 200 copies of Breaking Dawn on the first night. We totally beat them! My new manager was really impressed when I told her that how well we did with our party! We also knew we rocked! Now I'll just have to bring the Rocking to New York!