Monday, Febuary 7, 2011

Yesterday morning was NOT a good morning.  I had not slept well, and I went back to bed after feeding the cats and reading my on-line devotionals.  I also checked the obituaries from the Knoxville News Sentinel, to see if I was in there.
I got up about 10:00, and lazed about in the house for a while, then felt like I had to get myself together and get up to the Family Dollar.
We were all determined to make Joan proud when she came back this morning.  To get ahead of myself, she is jubilent!
I worked putting up 're-packs', which are large plastic cartons of merchandise of all kinds packed willy-nilly, and have to be put onto the stock racks.  There might be children's socks, tooth paste, hair ribbons, gift wrap, and nail files in the same package, and they all have to be seperated and took to the proper place in the store for display and sale.
It's a LOT of walking, and it takes WAY longer that routine stock replacement.
It looked like it would be a fairly quiet day, but it wasn't.
After church time, the customers came in like a flood.  They've got their checks and food stamps, and they're sure using them.  NOT for useful items, but for cheap junk, videos, and things that are not useful for the long run.
There's so much waste!
After we got stock 'racked', we worked at 'fronting'.  That's pulling all the merchandise to the front of the shelves and racks, to make it look like we have a lot more things to sell than we actually do.  Joan likes everything to look even.  It amazes me how customers will knock four boxes of laundry detergent sideways to get one box.  They will also knock down ten pairs of shoes to get one color or size they need.  They could, it seems to me, just reach around the other pairs until they get what they want.  It's a constant battle to keep things neat.
We also find a LOT of empty blister packs and packages that have been opened and the merchandise removed.  It's almost always things that people don't need.  It's toys, nail polish, flavored food items, and scented candles.  It intrigues me that people will steal a religious candle to burn so that Mary will bless them.  My My.
Barbara called me to make sure that I can move her on Tuesday. 
I bought a bunch of soups that Fern had marked down for clearance.  Some of them are Cream of Mushroom, and I'm alergic to mushrooms, so I'll pass them along to Barbara.
She will be delighted when she reads this, and she's always happy to read my writings.
She would die before she'd admit it, though.
In the late afternoon, Jeri, Elaine's daughter, and I started cleaning floors.  Beth told me to clean the west side of the store aisles, and she would clean the east side.  We could meet in the middle.
I told her she might get there before I would, as I planned to do a really good job.
Jeri was a really good helper, and got down on her knees with me and scrubbed spots off the floor that mopping wouldn't touch.  I told her that she could make a lot fo money cleaning houses in this area for people, and she seemed interested.  I also offered to make her a poster to advertise her services.  She's a really nice lady (21), and so very pretty.
All of Elaine's children are beautiful.  They're really nice kids, too.  They're well-mannered and very devoted to their mother.
Jeri and I scrubbed the floors until 8:45, when we had to quit and help Elaine get ready to close.
I tackled some spots where a huge pallet of dog food had set for a long time.  I think wax had built up there, and it was really hard to get the spots gone, but I did get rid of them.  Elaine told me that the 'floor man' said they couldn't be gotten up, and I told her 'the floor woman' got them up just fine.  She loved that.
About 9:05, Bobby Crumply came to the door, but it was already locked.  I saw him, and asked Elaine if I could open the door and ask him what he wanted.  She said it would be OK, and he said he just wanted some laundry detergent and a six-pack of coke.  Elaine had only closed one of the registers, so I let him in and he got his merchandise.  He looked at me and grinned like a possum.  I could tell he was pleased that I helped him, and that I had a little clout.
I'm always glad to help any of my neighbors, and it was no trouble.  It probably was handy for him, as the Dollar Store was closed, too, and he couldn't get what he needed anywhere else that time of night.  He lives here on our road, and I like him.  All my neighbors are good folk.
I was really tired last night, but it was such a happy tired feeling.  I want to make Joan look good to her superiors.  I called her this morning to see what she thought of our efforts, and she was thrilled.  I told her to walk back where those spots were, and she exclaimed "They're gone!"
She said that the store looked and smelled great.
We all wanted to make it nice for her return.  She's too tired to have to come back to a messy store and have to put up stock.
She said she finished her kitchen floor last night, and she's so proud of it.
She's a great friend, and I'm glad to help make her happy.
Friends are jewels that time and trials polish.