5/13/05

 Yesterday was pretty cool. Close to where I live, they have this
really big rummage sale on the third Thursday of every May. We’ve been
going to it for the last 20+ years and have only missed a few. It’s
become like a family tradition. We usually take off the day, get up
real early and get there at the opening. We shop for a couple of hours
or so then go out to this great pancake house for a long leisurely
delicious brunch then go home and cuddle and nap then go back to catch
the last hour of the rummage sale later.

True to form we did
pretty much that this year. My older daughter and my granddaughter
joined us there along with an assortment of friends. We had ten at
brunch. The number varies, but it’s usually in that ballpark. (It was
just the two of us for cuddle and nap however 😉 Don’t get the wrong
idea LOL)

We had a great time.

I got lots of neat stuff
too this year. Some years, it’s just a lotta crap as far as I’m
concerned. This year I didn’t do too poorly, especially with my new
size. At the end they let you stuff a bag with clothes for $1.00.
That’s where I really cleaned up. I also got a really cool spring
jacket for $3.00 I got books galore… mostly junior books about God and
Christ to read with my granddaughter. I got a black pashmina shawl for
$2.00 which was cool and a leopard print purse and headband combination
which sounds trashy but actually looks cute… sort of 60s-70s retro. I
got some size 8 stuff that fits and some that’s a little too small… I
guess it depends upon the cut. I also got a few size 10 things that all
fit. I got about 5 summer shirts, none of which are gorgeous but all
are comfy and were part of my bag for $1.00 collection.

I got
two lamps, badly needed, one for the bedroom and one for the living
room. I really got stuff that we needed so I was pleased.

In the
end, however, I was more worn out by our rummage sale day than I am
when I work my shift at Starbucks! Digging through the junk is not
easy, plus being smaller this year I was pushed around a lot more than
any previous year. That was sort of aggravating. I’m only 5’3” so when
the crowd started moving in (when they opened the doors) there was one
point when I felt like I was being swept off my feet. This guy behind
me was trying to push in ahead of me (and, believe me, he GOT ahead of
me). His pushing and shoving nearly lifted me off the ground. Since I
was going in through a different entrance than my husband (he was going
to toys and sporting equipment; I was going to kitchen ware) I didn’t
have my big strong guy to protect me). All of this was tiring.

Then
today was tough. The shift supervisor that I usually open with at
Starbucks was in NJ for her Grandson’s graduation from Princeton(!) so
I was stuck opening with the immature shifts. *Sigh* The usual shift
and I usually get there at about 4:30 or 4:40 AM. We have a system. We
each know what we’re going to do and we do it… calmly and in an
organized manner and things get done well and we’re ready for the
customers at 5:30 when the doors open.

This morning the
substitute shift got there a few minutes AFTER 5am so we already had a
late start. He floundered around doing this and that. The place was a
mess because we’re doing re-decorating. We were already behind and
things just got worse and worse. Nothing got done. He had no system and
everything was sort of chaotic and like the proverbial “chicken with
it’s head cut off.” Instead of realizing that it was because of his
lateness, he chose to blame everything on the state of the store from
the redecorating. He called the other partners who were scheduled to
come in later and asked them to come in earlier due to the mess. One of
them came in much earlier, the other came later than her scheduled time
(so much for the up and coming supervisors).

Then, we got
overwhelmed with customers. It was so busy it was unbelievable… or
maybe it just SEEMED like it because these folks were SO disorganized
and rushing around like nuts but not getting anything done. Then when
the girl who came in late had be on the bar (making espresso drinks)
for about an hour or so, she started complaining that she was hungry
and wanted a break. I was livid because I had been working my butt off
since 5am and she had only been in since 6:45 (or later, actually
because she was late) yet the supervisor sent her on break. I didn’t
say anything because I try to be mature. So ½ before I was scheduled to
leave, THEN I finally got a break. I thought I was going to drop!

I
will be so glad to see my regular opening partner back on Monday. She
is a JOY to open with and really knows her stuff. She has been doing it
for 13 years. And the funny thing is, the younger ones sort of talk
condescendingly about her behind her back, as if she can’t do anything
right because she doesn’t mark cups or do the bar… the thing is she
KNOWS how to run a shift and how to delegate and that’s more than I can
say for them!! What a mess it was. *Sigh*

Thing is… I’m sure I
was EXACTLY the same way when I was younger… a big know-it-all who
looked down condescendingly on the calm and “slow” elders in my midst.
Oh well, what can you do. I just worked my butt off trying to
compensate for their mess and their poor decisions and my own flustered
mistakes! LOL

Then I had to go to the law office and was so
tired it was hard to do the stuff I needed to do there, but I did get a
fair amount done before I threw in the towel and came home.

Bible Study tonight, thank God