November
7
Luckily, my friend took part in training me. I was not, in spite of my self-professed brilliance, a quick study and without her repeatedly assuring my employer that I was bound to catch on soon, I doubt I would have been allowed to remain after the first week. Customers took advantage of my inexperience to drive away without paying for their gas, shoplift, and insult me. I needed index cards to remember how to work the cash register and the gas machine. The minute there were three people in line, I began to panic. Not only had I fallen so low that I was working in a minimum-wage job, I wasn't even good at it. It
reminded me of the time I got a job picking daffodils. Just because a job has no status and low pay does not mean that it is easy. Just because someone has a job with no status and low pay does not mean he or she is stupid. That said, eventually I did become an adequate convenience store clerk and was trusted to run the place alone. The
area where my convenience store was located was primarily commercial
and on a busy highway. Since no one had ever been robbed or murdered
there, I guess one could call it a fairly safe area, but it was not
upscale by any means. The clientelle were largely blue collar workers,
truckers, and people who had recently ingested too many mind altering
substances to deal with the broad selections and long aisles in a
supermarket. I cannot honestly say that these people gave me no moments
of pleasure. "Eeeeek," I screached dramatically, pointing at his chest and taking a little jump backward for emphasis. "WHAT?
WHAT?" he cried in response, jumping back the other direction,
eyes searching where my finger pointed. "OH, thank God," he sighed in relief. "I thought it was a spider. I hate spiders."
Saints o' the day include Herculanus, Florentius (invoked against gallstones and ruptures), Willibrord (invoked against epilepsy and convulsions), Engelbert, and Ernest. *** Since
I haven't behaved myself at all, I know where I am going when I die:
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin--a town bereft of all I find interesting
and overflowing with things I do not. And of all the myriad* things
I would not enjoy, this weekend's 3-day Polka Fest quite possibly
tops the list. A surprising 1,500 polka enthusiasts will fill this
resort town (located midway between Chicago and Minneapolis), dancing
the nights away at the Holiday Inn and stuffing themselves with "ethnic
specialties." *** *The
word "myriad" is too good to use in the same paragraph as
the word "polka." "Myriad" is all tied in with
the Myrmidons and Troy and Zeus. "Polka," on the other hand,
conjures up images of accordions, goat cheese, and female facial hair.
*** Birthdays
today include Mary Travers (1937)(Peter, Paul, & Mary). *** On
this day in 1940, after having been open to traffic only 4 months,
Washington State's first Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed during a
45 mph windstorm, sending Leonard Coatsworth's dog, Tubby, to a watery
grave. The event was caught on film, though you can't see Tubby waving
frantically from the automobile in which he was trapped. Poor Tubby.
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One day, during a financially challenging period in my life, I walked
into a local convenience store and asked the clerk, with whom I had
a passing friendship, if there were any employment openings. "You
won't believe this," she said, "but I just gave notice."
And on the strength of her recommendation, my good teeth and no police
record, I got the job. I readily admitted to no experience, for I
was college educated and how hard could a minimum-wage job be?
