hack hack hack

[dragonlady7]

I slept with the humidifier going last night, which meant that I awoke... well, still with a sore throat, and still coughing, but maybe not so badly? I don't know. I'm drinking tea at the moment, and my ears are feeling slightly stuffy. I have Nobly Sacrificed The Car for the day so Z could drive it-- if my hours are switched to 12-8, I can take the bus. The bus arrives at either 10:07 or 11:54, making it utterly impractical for an 11 am start time, but perfect for a 12pm start time at work. The bus home is less perfect-- it leaves at either 7:06 or 8:28, and that's the last bus out for the night. So I absolutely must get off the floor by 7:45 to wait in line at the cash office to get the last bus, or I'll have to have Z pick me up, which would suck. It would not be a problem of any sort, except that after a full year of this problem, Management has not yet figured out that the fact that they dismiss the cashiers from Every Single Unit at precisely 8:00 is a problem. Only two people can count their banks and make their deposits at once, and the rest must sit out in the hallway and wait. I have spent up to two hours sitting in that goddamn hallway, racking up overtime pay and doing sweet fuck-all. It's an uncomfortable hallway, not climate-controlled; cold in the winter, too hot in the summer, always stuffy, and also, it's the place where they keep the big rolling garbage bins, so it smells like hell. And we sit there, and sit there. Normally, I finish working, go down the hall, and have counted my bank and finished for the night in less than twenty minutes. So it would not be a problem for me to work until 8 and then go cash out; it would mesh well with the flight schedules as well because usually there are no more customers after about 7:45 and so I can spend 15 minutes closing everything out and cleaning and be out at 8. But no; if I leave at 8, I will arrive at the office alongside the cashiers: usually about six of them. And I will finally punch out around 9:30. And then will have to call for a ride home. Fuckers.

Bah. But I digress.
I'm not in a particularly good place today, which is unexpected-- I did have a lovely evening last night. But I'm tired, and sick, and don't feel like working, and still don't have much of a voice, and I know that since I'm waiting tables I will have to do a lot more shouting. And I am going to rant for just a second about something else: I am so, so thoroughly sick of having a group sit down, and I come over and ask, "Can I get anybody anything?" And one person says, "I'll have a (something)," and then the rest of the group is so busy talking to one another that they don't answer. Often, I will just walk away and go get the (something) and come back. Either the other members of the group will start furiously flagging me once I have walked away, or when I return, they will still be ignoring me. There have been times when I have actually shouted: "CAN I GET ANYONE ANYTHING!" and they've regarded me with startlement. "Oh! You're here! Yes, I want (the entire world, enumerated, in alphabetical order)." Or, my favorite: "Oh right, let's order. I don't know. WHat do you want? I think maybe we should try the wings. What about the wings?" "The wings," I say, writing them down. "Oh no-- I think we'll have the chicken sandwich. Do you want anything? I don't know. You decide." (Of course, not speaking to me. And then they start talking about something else entirely, because they're speaking to one another, and they forget I'm there.) And of course, if I say, "I'll let you look at the menu a moment," they're all, "No! Let's order now!" and then they're all silent like in competition because the first to speak will have to order. Like that's some sort of horrible fate. Look: Our menu has ten items on it. Really, you can't go wrong.
Jesus. It is not a me vs. you situation. I want to get you something you want. I want you to be comfortable and order what you like. But it is a crowded, busy place, poorly-organized, and filled with customers on tight but ever-variable deadlines. I would love to stand there all day and wait for you to notice me. I want you to be a happy customer. BUT I HAVE TO WAIT ON OTHER PEOPLE TOO. And I don't have time to stand and listen to half of your cellphone conversation until you deign to acknowledge me. (The "Wait a minute" cellphone-talker finger (always done without making eye contact) means that I am walking away and not coming back until I am ready to deal with you. I think it's hysterical when someone pulls that shit on me, and then hangs up their phone and is all immediately "where did she go?" You wouldn't make eye contact with me before, I'm not suddenly going to let you catch my eye. I understand, it would be the most convenient thing for you, but you are likely to be a shitty tipper if you're that rude, and it's not actually worth my time to put your convenience before mine when I'm that busy. I will wait on the polite people first. Sorry, and fuck you. Actual humans usually can manage to mouth a "just a minute" or something at me, actually looking at me like they notice I'm actually a person. The Finger is rude.)
And of course the worst part is that the tables are so close together and everyone has luggage. So I cannot actually get to some tables, and have to take their order at a shout across the room, and then have to actually climb through piles of shit to bring their drinks to them. The other day I set someone's Diet Coke down on the table and their rolling suitcase fell over, and the extended handle which she'd left up neatly thwacked the drink into her dining companion's lap and all over the other woman's suitcase.
As I ran to get the mop, a Grab-N-Go customer tripped me with her rolling suitcase, which she was absentmindedly trailing behind herself as she stared into space vacantly.
I will someday find the person who invented the suitcase with the rolling handle, and made one that was ostensibly suitable for being carry-on luggage, and I will BEAT THEM TO DEATH WITH THEIR OWN ROLLING WHEELS. Jesus fucking Christ. I hate luggage so much.

All of which is just a way of saying that I *will* lose my voice today, and it *will* be painful and ugly and unpleasant. Do I need a vacation? Yes, yes I do.
I had other things to talk about, however, other more pleasant things. What were they? I don't remember.

Z is IMing sad faces at me because he forgot his iPod adapter and can't listen to music at work. Now, if I had the car, I would bring it to him on my way to work. It's on the way. But I don't have the car. I told him he can certainly come home on his lunch break and get it since he has the car. Well? What else does he want me to do? Does he want me to walk it to him? The bus will not take me anywhere near his workplace. And yet, he is sending me sad faces, like this is something I can help. I am sure he thinks it's funny, but I am really, actually, truly in a state where his sad faces are distressing me.

Which is sad.

Cough, cough. My ears hurt now too. Bah. Fiona diagnosed me over the phone with something viral because apparently the color of the goo you cough up indicates whether it's viral or bacterial. So there's no point to seeking medical attention, because viruses are, of course, untreatable. Bastages! I howl with rage.

All of which is my way of saying that I just cannot deal with today. I need a nap, and badly, but don't have the time for one. I hate working in the middle of the day because there's never time for anything beforehand and by the time you're done it's bedtime. Bah!

Also I hate how when you're IMing with someone and they sign off, iChat hides the window you were typing into. Uh, what if I was saying something important and wanted to copy-paste it into a different form of communication? Give it back, you piece of crap!
A
r
gh.

Looks like somebody's got a case of the Mondays. It's really a friday for me, but that doesn't mean I don't totally resent it being Monday.

Comments

[kittyc1978.livejournal.com]

"Does any one ever ask you if you have a case of the 'Mondays'?"

"I believe someone would get their ass kicked if you said something like that"

Office space has to be the best movie ever!

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but imagine my horror, having assumed it was fictional, when I took my first office job and found out that it, along with Dilbert, were true to life.

Horrors!

[kittyc1978.livejournal.com]

I know! My husband works for Safeco insurance co, and cube life is exactly like that!