Last Day of Work

This past Friday was my last day working at the bookstore.  It was also the first day of our bi-yearly book sale.

When I put my two weeks notice in, I was happy that I was going to miss the book sale.  But, when my manager kindly asked for my help I couldn't say no.  All the reasons I don't like working on book sale days are the same reasons I didn't want to leave him one person short.

When I got to the store for my last day of work, all of the tables were already out on the sidewalk.  My first task of the day was to get the large sheets of plastic and tape them to the edges of the tables.  This was so if it rained, the plastic could be pulled over the books and also, so we could leave the books out overnight.

After my plastic job was finished, my coworkers and I started to load the large cart with boxes of books that had no chance at selling without this huge sale.  This means old, damaged books, books that are outdated, books that we have a lot copies, materials we tell people not to donate but they drop off anyway, things like that.  We loaded and unloaded the cart many times, put the boxes on top of the many tables.  After 30 minutes of this, we started unpacking the books and putting them on the tables.  It took about two hours to setup and by this time, lots of people were perusing our selection.  Also by this time, I was very cold and the wind was blowing boxes and various signs and papers around.

Throughout the day I talked to customers and it felt strange that my last day of work would be so different from the days before it.  Aside from the fact that the sale was going on, on my last day my manager asked me to go from the older location to our newer one so a lone-worker at the other store could go on break.

Before I left, I said bye to volunteers and workers.  I told them all I would stop by during the holidays which I meant, but I also didn't want to say good bye forever.  I said good bye to Marc, who always asked me lots of questions about my life and my thought process.  This made me feel interesting.  Like I was worth being a character study.  Marc was a character himself.  In a good way.

Then, I said good bye to my manager.  I thanked him for everything.  He said to call if I ever needed anything.

Finally, I had to say good bye to Dick.

Ninety percent of the time, Dick and I worked alone together.  Being as this was retail work, things aren't always as pleasant as you might wish them to be.  But Dick was always nice and I was always nice and we shared our annoyances as only co-workers can.  Dick has worked in the business of books for a long time and his knowledge of the literary world impressed me and I aspire to have a portion of that knowledge someday.

As I approached Dick, he was working hard unpacking books and I didn't know what to say to make my presence known.  I felt at a loss.  I have left a handful of jobs by now and I am just realizing at this moment, I have never felt so sad to say good bye to a co-worker.

"Hey Dick."  I finally said.

"Oh, hello."

"I'm leaving now.  I have to go to the other store so Curtis can take his break.  But I'll be sure to come back around the holidays and say 'Hi'!"

"I hope you do!"

We shared a big hug and I could see from his eyes that he was just as sad as I was.  Sometimes I wonder why people like me but misty eyes don't need to say why, just the fact that a person likes you that much is enough.

He said to me that he met my sister earlier that day (she came to work with me in the morning because she had spent to night so she could volunteer near by) and he had shared my nickname from work.  He said that she had never heard my nickname before and he worried, "It's your last day and I screwed it up."  I could tell from his face that it had been a worry on his mind.

I laughed and said, "Oh no, it's no problem!  She calls me worse things!"  Both things are true.

Dick laughed hard with relief and I made another joke that may maybe she would call me Bobo instead of her much ruder names.

I told Dick that I loved working with him and would miss working with him and he said that it was nice of me to say that.  I said good bye and walked away with watery eyes.  This wasn't what I imagined my last day to be like.

Neither Here Nor There

In short, New York didn't happen.  I could go into deeper details but I don't want to repeat mistakes from my past and have a bunch of people angry at me.  Least of all myself.  I want to learn from my mistakes.

For a week, I believed and acted like I was moving away.  My plans seemed so sudden and daringly incomplete.  Things seemed too good to be true and at the same time I had vexing mixed feelings.

I knew that I would miss numerous small things and more obviously ones like, friends, family, and roommates.  The place I have been trying to leave for over a year now isn't so bad after all.  It just feels the same.  And this gives me feelings of restless. Sigh...I'm such an INFP...


"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”
                                                                                 ~ Marcel Proust

Hail to the Chef

Guess who I saw yesterday?  If the guessed The President of the United States you are right!  If you guessed The Vice President of the United States you get vegan brownie points.  If you guessed The Roots maybe you were there too.

In the beginning minutes of yesterday, a friend of mine told me that Obama, Biden, and The Roots were going to be in Germantown for a rally.  I was invited to come along and I was pretty excited!  I got up around noon and got dressed up in a black dress that I had only wore once before.  I considered wearing jeans and such but as I thought, "It's the President of the United States!" I just couldn't go in my street clothes.  I even wore my fancy stockings!  As I clipped my stockings to my garter belt standing in front of my Marilyn Monroe poster I smiled to myself thinking of her signature song.  I used to have normal stockings but once I got into Rocky Horror, my stockings from my preteen years and before just couldn't compare.

So, my friend Jared and I hit the road at around 12:30 and we got to our destination at around 1 pm.  As we walked up and down some streets looking for the right entrance, one of my garter clips unsnapped and my stocking was sliding down slightly.  I was annoyed but my dress was knee-length and I thought maybe no one would notice. After being turned away from one entrance for not having tickets, Jared and I walked up a ways.  There were some high school aged kids sitting on a stoop joking around and as I walked by one mischievously called out, "Your stocking is falling down."  Fantastic.

As Jared and I turned on to the street we would wait on for a few hours, we met Stan.  He lived close by and was our age.  He was going to the rally too so we all waited together.  Stan told us about his travels to Japan and his studies in French, Russian, and Japanese.  Jared and he swapped stories about McDonald's in Hawaii and Japan.  Stan asked me questions about my heritage and was jokingly exasperated about how far removed I am from my Japanese roots.

When we were let into the park where the rally was held, we were about 75 feet away from where the podium was and slightly closer to the stand where The Roots would play.  At the time, I could see things pretty clearly and my feet were feeling fine in my heels.  The three of us waited longer, with Jared sharing news updates he got from his iPhone.  There was a DJ playing music and a bunch of speakers that everyone was angry to hear from.  There was a Temple student, Governor Ed Rendell, Mayor Michael Nutter, Joe Sestak, and some other people.  Whenever someone was introduced, everyone got very rowdy.  Everyone would yell, "Where's Obama?!"  After standing through various speeches about getting everyone to go out and vote, The Roots were introduced.  I was excited to see them mostly because of their connection to Jimmy Fallon.  I liked the songs they played although I had never heard them before.  I had a pretty good view of stage, despite the fact that a bunch of jerks had pushed their way to the front.  After The Roots played, Joe Biden came out and everyone was excited to see him.  I had a worse view of the podium now but I was glad that I had worn my heels.  Stan helped me find holes in the crowd so I could see.  Joe Biden talked for a little and then he introduced our President.  Obama came out and the crowd lost their mind.  It was unbelievable. Through the crowd, I caught a glimpse of him.  I smiled at the sight of him.  I couldn't believe I was actually seeing him.

He talked about stuff.  About how we (the voters) had defied the odds two years ago and how we could do it again.  Something about how change starts from the bottom up.  I thought of veganism.  At one point, some people held about some signs saying "STOP GLOBAL AIDS: What happened to the 50 million you promised?!" and started shouting.  People behind them start shouting louder, "Put those signs down, we can't see!"  People on either side of them shouted, "Yes we can!  Yes we can!"  The signs and shouting went on for about a minute and the people put them down.  Not long after, a girl in front of me got up on the shoulders of her boyfriend.  This resulted in her butt being right in my face.  There was an older woman standing next to me who immediately complained, "Oh no!  You're butt is in right in my face!  Get your butt outta my face!  Your ass is hanging out of your pants and everything!"  I was cracking up!  Here I was, I had waited for 3 hours to see the president, he was talking in front of me, and I was looking right at this girl's butt.  I found the situation genuinely hilarious.    

After about 30 minutes or so, Obama wrapped up.  He shook the hands of everyone in the front before leaving.  I wasn't close enough to feel it was worthwhile to stick around.  On our walk back, we exchanged contact info with Stan because we had all talked about wanting to go to Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert's Rally.  So maybe we'll wait together again.

Later that night the Phillies and the Eagles won.  I guess that's pretty cool.           

Something else I have to share is I had some amazing vegan shrimp two weeks ago!  Two weeks!  And I cannot stop thinking about it!  If anyone wants to give it a try check out Kingdom of Vegetarians at 129 North 11th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107.  Hail to the Chef!

On another note, I'm moving to New York City on the 23rd.  I'll give more details later when I haven't see Barack Obama the day before.

I Fall Behind

This week, my work world was changed when the work computer was taken away.  As a result, my blogging fell behind this week leaving me to feel...unexpressed.

At my current job, I sit at a desk waiting for people to come inside so I can greet them.  If no one comes in, which happens more minutes than not, I spend my time looking for new jobs and blogging.  Or at least I use to.  Now I am given projects to busy myself.  I understand, I get it.  If I'm at work, I should be working.  But, the other part of working should be being able to pay for basic, necessary things like housing, bills, and food.  Since these needs are not being met, I find myself resenting my new busy work.  I shouldn't have to busk to pay for groceries and bills on time.  Not when I'm working 4 days a week with a college degree and college loans to pay back.

Luckily, I'm going to New York this week to hopefully fix this situation.  I hope that my prospects can work out.  If not, I maybe heading home soon.  I'm getting tired to barely making it.