Random segues

A short blog tonight, because I've had a long day with a longer weekend lined up...

When I worked in retail, one of my many tasks was answering the phone--and did we ever get a lot of wrong numbers. Such as this memorable gem;

Me: "Thank you for calling Store Name, how may I help you?"
Caller: "Is this the bakery?"
Me: "No, sir. You have the wrong number. This is Store Name, the clothing retailer."
Caller: "That's impossible! You have to be the bakery!"
Me: "I'm sorry, but you have the wrong number."
Caller: "Listen, you little--oh, I get it! Is this an April Fool's joke?"
Me: "No, sir. We--"
Caller: "Ha! That's hilarious! But seriously, can you put aside twenty ham and cheese rolls? My names X, I'll come pick them up in half an hour."
Me: "...of course, sir. Have a nice day."
Caller: "You too! Haha. April Fool's."

Note: It was September.

I despised that store. There were many reasons; the perpetually pregnant manager who thought paying us eight bucks an hour should ensure her right to sexually harrass whoever she wanted as well as being a racist/sexist bitch was probably the biggest (both physically and metaphorically) but the long, boring shifts and ridiculous location probably didn't help. I only stayed there for a month or two, before moving on to the fast food place.

It's probably not true, but it seems to me that with the exception of a few independant stores, all managers in the retail industry are absolute bitches. I have friends who are still working in retail, sometimes in more than one store, and they've all confirmed this impression; no one particularly nice hangs around long enough to get the manager's slot. In the food service industry, most owners/managers that I've met have been decent (it's usually the assistant managers that are bitchy) and I'm yet to meet a stable owner I didn't like (although I bet there's quite a few out there that'd have me in a beserker rage in record time.)

Speaking of horses, some good news came through--due to my not losing the office bitch job, and a sudden increase in the hours and shifts available to me, I am no longer walletscraping (which does make the URL of my blog a little redundant, but what can you do.) Since I'm now living at home while my mother is sick, it's lead had a very comfortable increase in my weekly spending money--I have about a hundred extra dollars padding my wallet, and it's now simply up to me what I blow them on.

And since I've recently had a yen to get back into riding, I think that's exactly what I'm going to do with it. Hell, if one of the local stables is hiring, I might even drop a resume in--though I think I should probably get back in the saddle and have a few lessons first. I'd bet money that right now, I'm apallingly rusty.