How could the day get worse? Just keep reading...
Wake up... call Andrea. She's not there, so I leave a message. Time to slowly start the day... food, shower, music videos. I check the ColdStone website and see that there's training to be done with regards to the new cake program. Make a mental note to figure out who's going to training and to set things up for it. Andrea calls back... time to make coupons. Will do, boss. Get snow off car (think to self: what great packing snow this is... wish I had someone to pummel with snowballs)... drive to ColdStone. 175 copies? $50 will surely take care of that... pull $50 out of safe. Drive up to Kinkos at corner of Clybourn and Fullerton (you know the one). Go in... notice that it's $0.99 for a color copy. For ONE! Call Andrea... mention it's way too expensive. We decide to print a few test sheets to see what looked best. Drive back to apartment... walk to work... Andrea, Jim, some dude all talking. Ok... I'll talk to Hannah about the aforementioned cake training. Hannah and I talk business... and we joke and laugh a bit, because I'm me. Andrea comes up to us and asks if she can help me... then proceeds to say, "When you're on the clock I need you to be working, ok? And not just standing around talking." This was, apparently not the right thing to say to me unless you want me to be: a) insulted; b) upset; c) hurt. Did you see what I did yesterday? There are SO MANY reasons why that hurt (Sellers would say I'm over-reacting... I missed his birthday on Wednesday like a terrible ex-roommate, or else I'd let him have it about me and not overreacting, but, in fact, just being very passionate about the things I care about... which, in this case, is my perceived work ethic. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. SELLERS!) I told her that Hannah and I had been talking about the new cake training program... Grand Pause. I proceeded to discuss the coupons. We showed her dad, who gave me the most confusing directions ever (I basically didn't know what I was doing when he finished talking). Andrea apologized for "snapping earlier"... I grunted. I left the store to walk back to my apartment in a bad mood, stewing over how crappy her comment had made me feel and why... on my way back to my place, I got a call from Julia. The Julia who worked over winter break... I had been trying to get a hold of her because she needed to fill out a W4 form for us to get her a paycheck. We chatted for a bit until I got to my apartment (and I was actually surprised at how well it went, as our face-to-face encounters never went well), and once I got here >points< we filled out her form. I started re-printing the coupons from my computer... as we were going with the 6 to a page instead of the 3... Ken called. We chatted... not long, I was "on the clock." BACK to Kinkos (on Clybourn and Fullerton, remember?) to make copies (still unsure how many to make). I called Andrea to check on the numbers, but had to leave a message, so I just went with my gut and printed some (to be exact: 21 Color Buy one get on frees, 21 Color $1 offs, 42 B&W BOGOFs, 42 B&W $1 Offs). The "cutter" at this store is broken... I'd have to go to "Bucktown." Do I know where that is? No. Did I ask the dude? No... I'm a man... I'll figure it out. I grab a store locations booklet on my way out. There's another Kinkos at 1800 West North Ave (confusing, eh?). I head there. A young lady (red headed by oddly not attractive) helps me with the cutting. Apparently that costs money... but she told me she'd cut a deal and only charge me nine something. Ok... total cost for copies and cuts: $64. Time of day: 4:30 PM. Andrea calls back, apologizes again saying she was just taking stress/frustrations out on me... I tell her that I was "very insulted" and that I "don't want you to apologize... I just don't want it to ever happen again."
Drive back to apartment... glad to finally be over with the fucking coupon thing. Call my house... needed to hear my dad's voice tell me that it was ok and that it was "life" and just "business" to get shit on as the low person sometimes. We talk briefly and that was that. Crisis averted... now I just need to get into the store and dump the coupons and leave and never come back. Or, at least, just feel good about today. Right? I can do that, right? Right?... Well...
Show up at store and am happy that Jim and Seth are still there... can show them what a good job I did, maybe get some praise to balance out the crappiness of my day. Seth sees coupons "These aren't the coupons we're actually giving out, are we?" Um... yes? "Are they numbered?" Um... no... there was no way to do that. "Oh, Mr. Johnson, you can get places to make coupons and they'll number them and everything" Guy I don't know says "Yeah >name of place< does it... they're great" Seth "We can't give these out... what's to stop someone from going to Kinkos and making their own copies? I mean... not to step on what you just did"
>Deflation< THIS, my children is REAL life. THIS is what awaits you when you get out of your cozy little colleges... working so hard on all these papers and 'oh no, another final'.... you will spend an entire stress-filled day having everyone tell you you're not working hard enough, just to have your final efforts dashed... your entire day wasted.
That was it for me today, sports fans. Jim decided that the $1 Off Color coupons can stay and everything else couldn't be used... I sorted out those coupons and left. I didn't want to think about that fucking store or fucking ice cream again until Monday. That's it. It was around 6 PM by then... I called by my dad, we had a good talk. I called Jim, he was coming over. I called Megan, her back is still crappy, but we had a good little chat. Jim came... we watched the NHL Skills competition. I got a FANTASTIC (and late... but whatever) birthday present from Miss Laura Kraly... called her to thank her and she and Jim and I all watched the Skills competition "together" for a while. It was good. Jim and I continued to watch funny shows (Mad TV, SNL, Chapelle's Show) until he left around 1 AM.
I've got a script for Monday that I haven't even STARTED to do tomorrow... and I don't want anyone from the fucking store to even attempt to contact me all day. Tomorrow I'm not icecream!John... I'm writingbecauseIhopeitcanbecomemycareerorattheveryleastit'soneofthefewthingsIstillenjoy!John.
My advice for tonight: 1) Stay in school... as long as you can. 2) Don't let anyone shit on you if they're having a bad day. 3) Don't shit on people if you're having a bad day because I will personally bitch-slap you into next week. G'night