Reasons I left Warwicks

July 21, 2014

Ten minutes on each side in the backyard, thankfully on a padded deck lounge, facing the sun. Oh, and a towel. Say to have enough sun until it starts to hurt just a little so you get enough  Vit D, so I go out every few days or when I feel like I need to lie in the sun. I wish I’d been more careful when I was younger, especially from keeping the sun off the left side of my face when I drove across country. That is the worse skin damage. 

A skin specialist friend said to get rid of the magnified mirror and use a softer light in the bathroom so I don’t get worried every day about how I look. People just don’t look at you close enough that they would notice the skin peeling off the left top side of my forehead, or the rough skin that goes down my left temple, or the wrinkled skin and sun spots on my left arm, which I rested against the window and door. 

I have lots of little ailments but I’m hoping that will all clear up after I leave Warwicks. I have two days left, Wednesday and Saturday. Then every day is free.  There are a couple of things I will miss at the store. I won’t see Phoebe as much, and I won’t be able to recommend books I’ve read and loved. But other than that I am stoked that I’m retiring. I guess when I was 30 stoked meant really happy. God knows now. 

I will feel so relieved when I clock out for the day on Saturday. I could list at least 25 things I won’t miss when I stop working.

Having to make my lunch every morning

Hurrying to get to work, walking to make sure I’m not late

Clocking in, out, in, out, in out, in out

Having to deal with anyone’s attitude, customers especially

Having to be nice to staff when there are two people you ha

Memoing books (borrow from the store), and saying nice things about it even when it sucked.

The 30percent discount, which I seldom used (I will sort of miss that. What can I buy this week for half off? Sure they’d give me that, at least)

Merry Christmas greeting

Happy New year greeting

Good morning, afternoon greeting

Making other staff mad about whatever

Retrieving shopping bags from the outside closet

Retrieving receipt tapes for the register

Answering the phone

Trying to hear people on the phone and having to give it to someone else because I can’t hear them or understand their words

Getting heat from different staff for just that

Making mistakes

Charging too much/not enough for items

Making up pen and pencil prices when not clearly listed on our cheat sheet.

Having to wait for 11:15, 1:30, and 3:45 breaks to eat

Getting really hungry and nothing to eat at 5 pm

Eating chocolate (bad day? Chocolate; mad, chocolate)

Being around all those books and only reading the front covers and maybe The inside jacket

Being tempted to steal money out of the cash drawer (I never did, but wanted to several times – see “compulsion, above)

Making calls to tell customers their special orders are in

Making second calls to tell customers same

Making third calls, same

Pulling books marked for one week, been up there a month, and then the customer gets mad and John says, I don’t know why you take down any books, honestly, and knowing that if I didn’t there would be no room on the shelves, and not being quick enough with a snide response

Adrian and her running a personal business out of her office

Adrian saying how much more she’ll be out on the floor now that Lydia is doing all the crap work (time cards, schedule, being nice to us) and some days not even know if she’s in the store until 5 pm when she has a call

Being excited about Adrian’s Christmas presents of lemon tasting olive oil, a cookbook that she got free from the book rep, the coffee cup with J on the side (which I have used for three years and will throw away when I leave)

Fucking up on the register like, four times in as many minutes

Being left out of conversations and then ridiculed because I didn’t know something they had been talking about in the pod for weeks “where have you been??” because I 1) couldn’t hear them and 2) getting tired or rebuffed to come into a conversation and asking what they are talking about

Wearing my hearing aids every time I’m in the store

Forgetting my hearing aids at home and getting grief for that

Seeing how stupid, dumb, careless, or uncaring and unfriendly fellow staff members, who don’t smile at customers, run their purchases and then turn back to talk to someone behind the counter

Having to be the only one on the floor telling people about books when there are three or four people behind the counter talking with one another

Being around a lot of people

Need I go on? This is definitely the cons outweigh the pros. Julie said when it’s no fun anymore, time to go. But the only reason I stayed on as long as I did is because I got insurance, which cost $400 from my paycheck every month. But then there was the affordable care act, and now I’m paying $57 a month for Kaiser. I’m getting social security ($1,450) on the second Wednesday of the month and $500 from investments every month (I have 250k in my retirement account.