Surprise!

With my fairly recent entrance to the working world, a few things have become evident. I don't just mean learning I can make it through most of the day on a bag of Cheez-Its, but some other experiences I consider learned, and am ready to no longer practice.

Since this one is the most obvious, I will get it out of the way. Gas. I work so I can drive, and that's about all I can do.

Economic Decline? A few sympathetic individuals claim lack of employment is due to our struggling economy. I sure hope that is the case. I would much rather not be able to get a job because of that silly economy than it actually be a personal issue.

If You Don't Need To, Don't. This can go so many ways, I don't know where to begin. I will leave it a bit abstract. Let it linger, but not too much.

Scheduling. In desperate cases, one may be willing to offer any and all availability just to obtain a position. Don't. Did you know that if you list your availability at 7 a.m., they will actually do it? Strongly consider what you're signing up for ahead of time. This might occur to people naturally, but it didn't really hit me until I was waking up at 5:40 this morning for that Sunday morning rush of shoppers.

Technology. I've heard a bit of skeptics speak of disliking modern ways. I usually disagree, until today. I have a machine to dictate everything. The cash register calculates change, instructs steps of payment methods, even communicates with my bosses. This is great, until something I don't recognize happens. I stood there waiting for about a minute before finally realizing the register wanted me to do something else. This means I was no longer thinking for myself, and it took at least 60 seconds for me to realize this. Wow. I might also consider a portable register, as it can inform me when I am no longer functioning on a human level. This could save me approximately 19 minutes several times a day, as long as the 60 second response time is consistent.


Fortunately, I have the next four days off.