It's been quite the week (and a half). On Memorial Day, Pappy, Mara, Penny, and I visited Spring Grove Cemetery - one of my all-time favorite locations in the world - to gaze upon the copious amount of flower arrangements the "Travelers", aka Gypsies, had placed on the graves.
Holy. CRAP.
Since I was employed as the Bookkeeper/Office Manager for DWF Wholesale Florists for 9 glorious years and my mother was a florist from the time I was in 6th grade until about a year before she passed away, I am well aware of the whole process - and prices - involved.
All I can say is that I am OBVIOUSLY in the wrong line of business (those Gypsies must make the bucks!!!). The sheer amount of flowers (and gaudiness is apparently crucial) was astounding, to say the least.
See for yourself...
And then there was this.... (For real???!)
Truly amazing.
Well....
This week also provided a few days of showcasing my awesomeness....if I do say so myself.
I saved a turtle's life and I saved a little bird's life (mommy bird was going to poke my eyes out when junior let out a screech loud enough to wake the dead).
It was also a week of complete frustration - and some scariness. On Monday and Tuesday nights, some "threatening" graffiti was found in the women's restroom at work. Come on, the women's room? We find a plethora of graffiti in the men's on a weekly basis - penis drawings, anarchy symbols, misspelled words and extremely poor grammar (juveniles).
I'll apologize here, but I want to post my favorite piece of bathroom "Art" I've seen so far...
I have dubbed this masterpiece "Midnight Cowboy".
Now, where was I...oh yeah. Well, since what was found Monday and Tuesday was a smidge threatening, Boone County Sheriff became involved. Okay, shit just got real. I then spent Wednesday and Thursday nights on tenterhooks - for naught. Friday, I wasn't quite so lucky. More mean, scary words were found at the beginning of our shift - in FIVE different stalls. This time the bosses were not messing around. Several Deputy Sheriffs spent all day Sunday/Monday sitting at the front desk as a serious visual deterrent (take that, you marker wielding a-hole). Now, as an additional preventative measure, every stall in the building will be inspected - every 30 minutes.
Aw geez. I am definitely getting my mileage in this week. Jerry has dubbed himself "Commander Commode".
The most upsetting part of this whole incident is that I try to at least say hello or good-bye to every person in the building, regardless of who or what they are. So, this means I have actually spoken to this person. More than once. Why would you do this?
Here's a little story about my first "real" job - waaaaay back when. The day after I graduated high school, I began work at Convenient Food Mart (now Ameristop) as a cashier. The store where I worked was located in Villa Hills (for anyone who doesn't know, Villa Hills is a very large family community and Convenient Food Mart was the only business located within the city limits). We were fairly busy from the time the store opened at 6am until it closed at midnight. Because we were located in the middle of several subdivisions, we had the same customers every day, several times a day. My boss, Paul, had one VERY important rule for every employee - know every regular customer's first name and at least one piece of personal information (such as their child's name or how Grandma is doing) so that there would exist a rapport with the individual. Being treated as a real person creates a unique relationship with the customer - and it makes it 1000 times more difficult for them to steal from you. You just wouldn't do that to someone who considers you a friend.
To this day, I still adhere to this policy. EVERYONE should subscribe to the same philosophy. Could you imagine how nice of a place the world would be? (But - Put your want in one hand....yada, yada, yada)
Well....hopefully this weekend will be a little less "exciting". I can't handle much more.
Be careful (and nice), please?
