I went to Leesburg today
I went to Leesburg with my Mom today. She needed to see an older couple she used to take care of, and I needed to return a book that I checked out from the LSCC library last semester. I figured we could also stop by Books-A-Million since I needed a new calendar.
So we saw the old couple first, then went to the bookstore. I managed to lose my mom and get to the other side of the store before I was noticed. XD Kandi spotted me. Kandi is a manager, I believe she's about 50 years old, and she's very small and thin and always so nice to everybody. She liked me, too, and she was really excited to see me again since I hadn't been to the bookstore in several months. We chatted briefly before she was called away about how the store is basically the same as it was before I left, and whether I was going to school and if I was getting a job.. it was nice to talk to her again.
After I'd finished talking with her, I finally found my mom down the Science Fiction aisle. XD;; I was helping her find something when I thought I heard Leslie's voice (my manager in the Cafe), so I looked over the top of the bookshelves and I could tell she and Kandi were talking about how I was in the store. Then I saw her looking for me, so I came down the aisle to say hello.
We probably talked for about half an hour. ^^; That was one of the things that always made me uncomfortable about Leslie - she would just stand and chatter on forever with a friend if there was somebody else to help the customers. At least she wasn't hypocritical about it - she'd do it on her lunch breaks, too. Not like some people who have no problem wasting company time, but are in too big a hurry on their own time.. :3
I don't remember what all we talked about. She's very gossipy, so she was telling me about the new hires and some of the people that quit or were "let go".. which I don't think she was supposed to tell me about, but whatever. XD;; Basically, just about everyone I expected to leave the store or quit, did. A few people surprised me by staying, but for the most part the store was filled with familiar faces for me. The managers are still the same, the stock boys are still the same, cashiers are still the same. Only difference was the Cafe girl - they never could keep one of them for very long. XD We did have the hardest job, after all.
I was just thinking it was time to wrap up the conversation when Leslie says to me, "OH! Max passed away."
My Mom and I were both stunned. Max used to work in the Cafe with me, and he trained me when I first started. He was a great guy, his customers absolutely adored him, but he was also barely making ends meet by working for us and had a paper route too. He was let go for "loss prevention" reasons (he wasn't doing anything that anybody else wasn't, he was just the one who got caught) and ended up getting a job at the McDonald's that was two blocks from his apartment.
He was 35 years old.
Leslie told us it was from Carbon Monoxide poisoning, and my Mom and I both had this brief moment of terror, because we gave/sold him a car a while back because his had completely died, and we were just saying to each other on the drive up that we wondered how it was working for him, etc. But it turned out that there was a gas leak of some kind at the McDonald's he worked at, and he got very sick from it to the point of throwing up. Somebody managed to help him back to his apartment, and he died there.
I just can't believe it. Max? Max is gone? I never went to see him. I wanted to go to that McDonald's and see him more often, but I didn't know how to get to Umatilla, and I never eat at McDonald's. He was such a sweet guy. It's so strange.. even though I haven't seen or spoken to him in ages, it's strange to know that he... just isn't there anymore. He isn't out there somewhere, living his life. He isn't giving his reassuring grin to new trainees, sharing his stories about previous jobs, or winking at customers as he wishes them well.
I found this online obituary created by one of his friends. I found it by googling his name. I also found two other websites that made mention of his passing, the blog of an old friend of his, and "3 Bears Beading Classes," where he was a teacher for wire wrapping.
Well, anyway.. I don't want to end my entry on such a depressing note. I returned my book and the fee was only $11. The hold on my grades was lifted and I got to see my transcripts. Failed everything but that mini-mester course where I got an A and the physical science class where I got a D. So, basically, I completely wasted my time and money. I was doing so good in my classes, too, until I just stopped going. Wtf? I am going to try to take summer classes - hopefully I'll stick with those the whole time. But first, I need a job. ;-;
So we saw the old couple first, then went to the bookstore. I managed to lose my mom and get to the other side of the store before I was noticed. XD Kandi spotted me. Kandi is a manager, I believe she's about 50 years old, and she's very small and thin and always so nice to everybody. She liked me, too, and she was really excited to see me again since I hadn't been to the bookstore in several months. We chatted briefly before she was called away about how the store is basically the same as it was before I left, and whether I was going to school and if I was getting a job.. it was nice to talk to her again.
After I'd finished talking with her, I finally found my mom down the Science Fiction aisle. XD;; I was helping her find something when I thought I heard Leslie's voice (my manager in the Cafe), so I looked over the top of the bookshelves and I could tell she and Kandi were talking about how I was in the store. Then I saw her looking for me, so I came down the aisle to say hello.
We probably talked for about half an hour. ^^; That was one of the things that always made me uncomfortable about Leslie - she would just stand and chatter on forever with a friend if there was somebody else to help the customers. At least she wasn't hypocritical about it - she'd do it on her lunch breaks, too. Not like some people who have no problem wasting company time, but are in too big a hurry on their own time.. :3
I don't remember what all we talked about. She's very gossipy, so she was telling me about the new hires and some of the people that quit or were "let go".. which I don't think she was supposed to tell me about, but whatever. XD;; Basically, just about everyone I expected to leave the store or quit, did. A few people surprised me by staying, but for the most part the store was filled with familiar faces for me. The managers are still the same, the stock boys are still the same, cashiers are still the same. Only difference was the Cafe girl - they never could keep one of them for very long. XD We did have the hardest job, after all.
I was just thinking it was time to wrap up the conversation when Leslie says to me, "OH! Max passed away."
My Mom and I were both stunned. Max used to work in the Cafe with me, and he trained me when I first started. He was a great guy, his customers absolutely adored him, but he was also barely making ends meet by working for us and had a paper route too. He was let go for "loss prevention" reasons (he wasn't doing anything that anybody else wasn't, he was just the one who got caught) and ended up getting a job at the McDonald's that was two blocks from his apartment.
He was 35 years old.
Leslie told us it was from Carbon Monoxide poisoning, and my Mom and I both had this brief moment of terror, because we gave/sold him a car a while back because his had completely died, and we were just saying to each other on the drive up that we wondered how it was working for him, etc. But it turned out that there was a gas leak of some kind at the McDonald's he worked at, and he got very sick from it to the point of throwing up. Somebody managed to help him back to his apartment, and he died there.
I just can't believe it. Max? Max is gone? I never went to see him. I wanted to go to that McDonald's and see him more often, but I didn't know how to get to Umatilla, and I never eat at McDonald's. He was such a sweet guy. It's so strange.. even though I haven't seen or spoken to him in ages, it's strange to know that he... just isn't there anymore. He isn't out there somewhere, living his life. He isn't giving his reassuring grin to new trainees, sharing his stories about previous jobs, or winking at customers as he wishes them well.
I found this online obituary created by one of his friends. I found it by googling his name. I also found two other websites that made mention of his passing, the blog of an old friend of his, and "3 Bears Beading Classes," where he was a teacher for wire wrapping.
Well, anyway.. I don't want to end my entry on such a depressing note. I returned my book and the fee was only $11. The hold on my grades was lifted and I got to see my transcripts. Failed everything but that mini-mester course where I got an A and the physical science class where I got a D. So, basically, I completely wasted my time and money. I was doing so good in my classes, too, until I just stopped going. Wtf? I am going to try to take summer classes - hopefully I'll stick with those the whole time. But first, I need a job. ;-;