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  This means old, damaged books, books that are outdated, books that we have a lot copies, materials we tell people not to donate but they drop off anyway, things like that.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.