Katie Doyle, Girl About Town

Friday, Jun. 01, 2007 - 7:24 p.m.

Oy. What a day I had. Up the ladder. Down the ladder. Up the ladder. Back down the ladder...most of my morning, and then a lot of kneeling to pick up things on the floor. With 4 hours of sleep.

I'm sad to say I think I have to bail out of the bookstore. This is the first week I've finally gotten a full schedule, and already the next 2 weeks I am back to 3 days a week. 22 hours. Working 22 hours a week at $8/hour, I can literally pay my car insurance, cell phone, merchant fees and bank fees, put gas in my car, and eat. Nothing more. And I won't get benefits for an entire year, which is moot anyway, since I will not be able to afford them, as they cost $60 a month. Which, frankly, I believe is the company's plan, since it is at corporate's behest the store is being ordered to hire more part-time people and not schedule any of us full-time. Since I was hired specifically for full-time, I'm not happy and will be leaving. I have to get my teeth deep-cleaned, and that costs $4-600, which I can not afford on the $160 a week I am making.

Yes, $160. I'm not joking. I wish I were. In 2 weeks at this job, I make half (or less) of what I've been making in a solid week of television. I really want to cry, because I don't want to go back to tv, but I can't afford to live on $640 a month. I don't know who the fuck can, and they've cut everyone's hours down to that since I started. I usually make a minimum of $600/week in television. You kinda see my pain, huh? It's super cool not to have to work 50/hours and 5 days a week, but while I can get by for a while on 32 hours a week (which would gross me $320 a month more), I can't do it on fucking 22. God, I love corporate America.

The next time you go out shopping, here are some things to remember, should you end up dealing with me.

1. Do not ask me to help you find a book and then just stand at the desk polishing your nails while I go get it for you. I am not your lackey. Walk with me to find the book. Say thank you when I put it in your hands. Otherwise, I am apt to get distracted by someone else. Someone polite. Someone who *will* say thank you.

2. When you walk with me and know the title and author of the book, don't just stand there leaning against something like you're bored while I look for the book YOU want. Help me look. This is a team effort, people. Otherwise, again, I may be apt to say "sorry, not here," and leave it at that. If you aren't interested enough in finding it to expend some effort, why the hell should I bother either? You are the one who will benefit, not me. I have signs that have to be hung and endless stacks of books and games that have to be put away so that no one in a supervisory capacity comes up to me tomorrow and irritatedly asks why I didn't finish my work before I left. And despite only paying me $8/hour, the company refuses to pay me time and a half for even a minute, so believe me, the work has to be finished or left for someone else, so I catch an earful if it isn't done on time. It's really not worth it to me to deal with your sorry, unappreciative ass.

For the record, the Spanish-American War was fought between Spain and America. It doesn't matter that it wasn't actually waged in Spain or America. It was still fought by the sovereign powers of Spain and the United States. Against each other. Hence, the fucking name. Do not fucking correct me and tell me what a moron you think I am when I say that it was, and then expect me to in any way put myself out to help you find a book about it, you unmitigated ass.

3. Do not open things which are wrapped, especially when there's already an open one sitting right in front of you. Goods in a store are meant to be purchased, not ripped open for your kid to sit and play with while you sit somewhere else and make cell phone calls and review notes in your frigging planner. Likewise, a bookstore is not a library. What part of the term bookstore don't you get? If you want to sit and read to your child, go to the fucking library, where the books for borrowing live. Our books are for buying. And bizarrely, it is hard to sell a book to another person after you have mangled the pages or dust jacket and broken the spine, or your child has gotten peanut butter and jelly all over it. Then you will go around picking up and mistreating a variety of other items in the store, bitching the entire time that the price of things is too high. If you don't want it to be so fucking high, stop creating damaged stock that will not sell and is a financial loss to the company.

4. It bears repeating: "Please." "Thank you."

5. Pick up your frigging trash. Do not leave your coffee cups sitting on books and book shelves, your wrappers on the floor, your to-go bags on the kiddie table. We have several trashcans around the store. I will throw your stuff away if you can't find one or feel it isn't handy enough. All you have to do is ask.

6. When you come in and I can't find the book you called to have put on hold, do not immediately ratchet your angst up to a 10 and bitchily accuse me of rampant incompetence. You probably called Borders or one of the nearby stores in the chain I work for. We do not ask you for your name, write it down, and tell you the book is on hold for you unless we are actually holding it in our hands at the time. If it isn't at the front of the store or back at the information desk, you either spoke to another store or waited longer than the 3-day grace period to come and pick it up. I guaranfriggingtee you that in the 5 minutes since you say you called and was told the book was on hold, it was not then returned to the shelf or gleefully sold to someone else. It is not gross incompetence, negligence, or any other kind of -ence on our part. What it is, is you being a twitterpated ass incapable of considering the fact that you may have made a mistake and called Borders instead. Especially when, after I find another copy of the book for your sulky ass - for which you refuse to thank me, what with me being a complete moron and all - you then try to pay me by using a Borders coupon. I do not work at Borders. You are not standing in a Borders. Gee. I wonder who made the mistake?

That's all I got for now. It was a loooooooong week. I actually worked 5 days this week (or will, by tomorrow). I much prefer the 4-day week, frankly. I cut my hair again a week ago. I liked it longer, but frankly, I wanted to be able to sleep in an extra 20 minutes every day, which is what I save not drying my hair. Not to mention that with no a/c, I prefer not having to point a blast of hot hair at my head every day. Also, I finally got my car back yesterday, and happiness of all happiness, it was only $125 to get fixed, which TB was nice enough to shell out and spring my car for me. Otherwise, I would have just had to stand forlornly on the corner and wave at my car. I love having it back again, too. A car is freedom in this city. And every time I get in it, it's like magic. I just turn the key, and it actually starts. It's awesome. :)

For those of you I know in Big D, I should be coming out your way in July or August, once tornado season dies down. TB is going to front me some cash and take care of the bills so I can come out for a month. :) Get in some R&R and see my friends, who I really, really miss quite badly.

Also, I read The Gatecrasher by Madeleine Wickham, who also writes the Shopaholic books as Sophie Kinsella, and it was all I could do not to destroy the thing and toss it against the wall. The main character is a bitch with absolutely no redeeming graces whatsoever, and everyone else is pretty much a walking carpet. I knew there was no way it would have a satisfying ending, because either the main character cons everyone out of their money and leaves them broken, or she marries the rich guy and gets his money that way. Either way, she gets what she wants while no one else really does, since they either find out she used and betrayed them and are hurt that way, or they continue thinking she cares about them while she uses and betrays them for all of literary eternity. Either way, there was nothing to like about the shallow con artist bitch at all, and in the end, she left the rich man but then came back before he could discover she'd conned him, and decided to continue conning him. Awesome. No comeuppance, no conflict, nothing. It sucked. The reason I don't like the Shopaholic books is that the main character in those is an idiot who continually spends money she does not have while other people constantly bail her out and she spends even more. She never learns a lesson, and there's never any actual conflict. She just thinks oh, I want those awesome 400 pound boots, and she buys them. It's not cute, it's not likeable, it's completely self-entitled and annoying. Amp that up by about a thousand, take away the "charming" ditziness, add a wholloping amount of cold greed and manipulation, and you pretty much have The Gatecrasher. No freaking thank you. Do NOT waste your time or money.

Speaking of, I will have free books available for anyone who wants them soon. I have to get the money together for postage, and then I'll post a list of titles, and anyone who wants can have free books.

I have to go eat, now. I hope everyone has a fun weekend.

Peace out,
Katie

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Yesterday's News - Next Stop

In which Katie shares sad news - Wednesday, Apr. 01, 2015
In which Katie returns after a very long absence - Monday, Jun. 25, 2012
In which Katie pokes her head in and brushes some of the cobwebs away - Thursday, May. 06, 2010
In which Katie asks you to write your congressman again. - Monday, Jun. 02, 2008
In which Katie asks you to please click the link and send the message to protect the rights of artists - Wednesday, May. 21, 2008