(no subject)
One of the newer cashiers at work - still temporary, they won't make decisions on permanent employees for about another month - is Emily. Emily is a very sweet girl around 20. Emily is also hearing impaired. She's not profoundly deaf. She can hear and converse 'normally' if the ambient sound in the area isn't too loud. If you're facing her she supplements her hearing by lip reading. She can also talk on the phone. She has a small hearing aid - I really need to ask how it works - that she clips to her hair above her left ear. And Emily has a service dog that accompanies her everywhere including work. His name is Peterson and he's a young yellow Lab and a total chick magnet. Hell, he's just a person magnet period as many Labs are.
Peterson has a service vest, of course, but he also has a Lowe's uniform. They took one of the smallest bibbed aprons, cut it off just below the waist band and made a regular name badge that goes into the little clear plastic window over the right breast - or in his case over his back. The regulars get used to seeing Peterson and one woman even brought in a dog bed (about a 2" thick covered foam mat) for him. Peterson has a blanket to lie on but apparently she thought it wasn't enough. Sometimes Peterson will lay on the bed, sometimes he'll lie half on and half off and sometimes he eschews it entirely to lie on the cooler concrete floor. Vanessa at the front desk made a sign for Emily to put on the floor beside Petersen that says 'Service Dog at Work!! Please do not pet.' She's made an exception for employees (she kind of had to because we can't leave him alone!) and if someone, especially with kids, comes up and asks she'll allow them to pet him but it's amazing how many people see the sign and ignore it. We've suggested putting up cones around him. Seriously! I know most people with service animals can be a lot pickier, with reason. But because her hearing loss isn't profound she isn't as strict. I always ask her permission before giving Peterson one of the dog treats I carry around for customers' dogs and I don't make a habit of it but he still not only wags his tail when he sees me but licks his lips, too. Peterson is such a dolly, and so is Emily.
Three of the cashiers they hired for spring are no longer with us - 2 found permanent jobs and one left to have her baby - and I'm hoping to pick up a few more hours a week because I didn't get the full time position which frankly, I wasn't really expecting. Instead it went to the young man who used to work in the department, the one that didn't like where they put him in tools and constantly took any excuse to wander away back toward his old department. The one I nick named 'The Nomad'. Don't get me wrong, I like the kid well enough and I don't think favoring employees who've been with the company for longer and possibly have experience in the department is a bad thing because I think that's fair. But the truth is that they rewarded him for being a negligent employee. And that sets rather badly with me. When the HR manager told me I didn't get the position she told me that she had just posted a full time cashier position. I looked her straight in the eye and said she knew that was even less likely than me getting the other position because there are several cashiers who've been with the company for awhile with a lot more experience and will really want the full time. If they're smart they'll give it to Tammy. She doesn't call in, she's friendly and cheerful and very good at what she does and she's probably responsible for half of the credit card applications we get in the store. Which is a big deal.
Oh well, I'm doing OK for now although they did just raise my rent by $25. That's going to pinch a little. I am looking for another job but it's going to have to fill a few criteria. It'll have to be full time with competitive pay and not be 30-45 min away on the other side of the city. I may have a newer car but it's not that new and it still has some problems. I have nightmares of my car dying on the other side of the city and having no way home or to pay to have it towed. It's a catch 22 situation. I can't get a job further away until I have some work done on my car and I can't have the work done on my car until I get more work. *sigh* It's also rather important at this stage in my life that I don't hate where I work. I did that for too many years to waste on it now.
I have my six month check in with the clinic to get my prescriptions updated in the next week or so. I'm going to ask the doctor if she'd be willing to sign off on me donating plasma like the doctor at the old clinic. Hopefully she will and that $200 a month will help to slowly dig myself out of credit card debt which is what's keeping my salary from being enough to pay my bills.
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