Up In Arms

Today at work, someone was fired.   He had it coming.  All summer he had been slipping out back and taking a smoke break on the clock.  Smoking on the clock is not allowed and he knows that.  He was frequently reminded of it, by notices on the employee boards, in meetings, etc.  He broke the rule so frequently that I secretly nicknamed him "Smokey".

I didn't really like Smokey very much.  He wasn't a bad guy, just an immature guy.  He went out of his way to prove how good he was at getting wasted, at saying stupid things, and making fun of his sister.  I didn't dislike him, though.  He was just there.  Someone with whom I worked.  Someone who was harmless.  He was only a year younger than me, but, in many ways, he was still just a kid.

Lots of coworkers were really put out with his behavior at work.  They were tired of being left to finish his work.  I was too.  We were all hoping that the managers would crack down on him and the two other guys at work who are almost always slackers.  So, today, when Smokey was fired, I wasn't surprised, or even upset.

What did surprise me is that I wasn't glad either.  You see, Smokey's sister works with us and a lot of his friends.  When he was fired, they were all clearly distressed.  His sister started crying.  They were angry with the managers.  And in a way, I understood why. 

After all, the managers at my work are extremely inconsistent.  They only crack down on someone once in a blue moon.  They pick favorites.  They let some get away with rule-breaking and are completely intolerant with others.  They clock out early, while there is still work to be done, then criticize employees who stay late to finish for "riding the clock".   They ignore people's requests off, mess up the menus, and periodically disappear right during the middle of service, when they're supposed to be seating dining guests.  In short, the manager's frequently fail to do their jobs.

How can someone support the decisions of managers that are hypocritical and inconsistent in regards to ensuring the staff members do their assigned work?

I want the managers to crack down on the slackers.  I want them to step up to the plate and do their job as managers.  I want the work environment to improve where I work.  Not only for myself, but also for those of my coworkers who are not likely to move on to a new work place until the distant future.   I'm still sorry, though, that this process will involve people losing their jobs.  I'm sorry that family members and friends will suffer for such changes.  I'm sorry too that Smokey didn't wise up and that other coworkers are not likely to in the future.

Smokey liked his job.  He complained a great deal, especially because he was at work so often.  He worked two different jobs, so he was able to pick up a great many hours.  He needed the job.  He lost it.  He was fired in front of his friends and his family.  There are no two ways about it, whether he deserved it or not, that's rough.

So I learned a lesson today.  Things are never as simple as they seem.  If people are involved, it's rarely clean cut or damage free.  So, from now on, I'm going to consider problems much more carefully.  Also, I'm going to start praying regularly for all those without jobs and also remember to thank God that I have a job.

This One's For the Girls

I hate shopping.  I always have.  I have been blessed with one of those figures that just isn't in style.  Ever.  That is not to say that finding nice, well-fitting clothes is impossible, but it's extremely difficult and discouraging.


I have many friends, both male and female, who love to shop.  Others, like me, find it to be a very inconvenient task.  Some days, I can spend more than five hours going from store to store, searching through countless racks of clothing, and only have one shirt to show for it.  That can be so frustrating and is nearly always accompanied by feelings of self-doubt, insecurities, and an overwhelming desire to crawl under a rock and hide. 


On top of that, I've occasionally had some unpleasant run-ins with extremely insulting sales persons.  Once I was at a small boutique in town, where the floor sales assistant curtly informed me that, "We don't carry clothes in your size."   Needless to say, that left me feeling pretty low.

So, what's the point of all this?  I have fount a delightful solution to women of all shapes and sizes!  Whether you love or hate shopping this site is the site for you.  The site I'm talking about is myshape.com.  On this website, you set up a free account, type in your measurements, and then have full access to a personal shop filled exclusively with clothes that are suited to your shape and exact size. 

Already I have ordered three pieces from this site and with each one I have received numerous compliments on the outfits.  Each one was a perfect fit.  AND as an added bonus MyShape not only has multiple promotional sales, it also has a special section for clothes which are already on sale.  Basically this site is great and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a fast, convenient, and relatively inexpensive way to purchase clothing.  So, there you go.  Enjoy!


P.S. With MyShape, I'm in danger of liking shopping.

Independence Day

I'm very patriotic.  I love America.  Liberty and Justice under God are really awesome!

I know that we haven't always done such a great job of fulfilling what our Founding Fathers were trying to achieve, especially lately, but there is still something really special about living in America.  In my field of study(International Studies) a lot of America bashing goes on.  Sometimes it's so bad that I wonder if my classmates remember that they are, in fact, Americans too.  Yet, when it comes down to it, they can't really say that there is another place that comes as close to being what America tries to be as we do.

Reading the writings of our Founding Fathers(i.e. the Federalist and Anti-federalist papers, the Declaration of Independence, etc.) is really inspiring to me.  After watching the John Adams mini-series starring Paul Giamatti, I was ready to become a politician.  I get all choked up when the national anthem is sung at events.

This country is so beautiful and so blessed.  I just want to take this moment to realize all we have and not let it go to waste.

Here are just a few of the things I really love about America:

- There is a representation of at least half of the worlds ethnicities to be found in America.
- Hamburgers
- Hollywood (although it disappoints me a lot, there's some good stuff there)
-The American Dream
- Country Music
- Broadway
- Free Speech
- Freedom of Religion
- Louisiana
- California


What are your favorite things about America/being American?

What Makes You Happy?

If you could do anything you wanted today, what would it be?  I don't mean if you were all-powerful.  I'm talking about if the schedule was completely open and money wasn't an object what would you do?

If you could choose any career, which would you choose?

If you could spend the week with any person or group of person, who would you choose?

Do you know what you want?  Do you know what you're good at?  Do you know who you love?  Do you know who loves you?  Do you know how you like to spend your time?  Do you make the decisions in your life or do you let others decide for you?  Do you believe in yourself?  Do you believe in others?  What makes you happy?

Moods

Some days, I wake up in an odd mood.  I don't want to be alone, I'm restless, I have trouble focusing on one thought process for very long, and I just want to do anything but what I'm supposed to do(i.e. work, cleaning, running errands, etc.).  On those days, I just want to blow everything off and just do something fun. 

As I can't actually do that, I end up procrastinating instead.  Essentially, that it what I'm doing now.  I don't want to clean my room and get ready for work, so instead, I'm writing a blog post about moodiness. 

I know that I'm not the only one in the world who experiences such days.  Actually, I'm pretty confident that this is a regular occurrence in the human condition.  So what can we do to combat such moods?  I've got to go to work.  If I want to keep my job, then work is pretty much unavoidable.   My room has needed to be straightened up for a good week now, so I really do have to get on it.  It stresses my mom out when the room stays messy and I personally am trying to lick the habit of letting it get messy in the first place.  So, the cleaning, too, must be done.

The picture of the little pouty girl perfectly illustrates my reaction to these inevitable elements of my day.   Unfortunately, in such cases as these, resistance really is futile and will probably only make things worse.  So, pouting aside, I need to snap to it. 

My solution: prayer, family, and song.

I'm at home for the summer, with my wonderful family constantly at hand.   I shall make use of this by hurrying to clean up before work so as to have time with them before I leave.   I went to Mass today and I'll probably run by the chapel after work.  That will definitely help me push through the mood.  Finally,  I bought a new song on iTunes and am now listening to some fun tunes while I blog/clean.  Win!

Anyway, that's my three step solution to pushing through moodiness.  It probably doesn't work for everyone, but it usually works for me.  If anyone has additional suggestions for me, I'd love to hear them!  Either way, I have to go clean now! ^_^

Have a good day!