Closing Time... You don't have to go home but you can't stay here

Work has gotten a little insane. For example, we were writing some software labeled 7.1.2 to be shipped at the end of 2009. Then management said ship it in June but have all the same stuff in it, then they said, change it to be 7.2, ship it in June with more stuff in it. The more stuff in less time is the insane part.

This has caused several of us to comment that we would rather work at Wendy's. And it got me thinking about my past jobs. I never did work at Wendy's, but my sister did and would sometimes bring home frosty's. That is a nice perk :) My first job was working at Brueggers Bagels. Yea, this was funny because one time I had to stand outside in the parking lot with one of those signs to try to get people to come into the store. Ok, perhaps humiliating is more like it. For my break I would always get a plain bagel with honey because it was 50 cents. Then a coworker introduced me to the everything bagel with a side of honey mustard, also 50 cents. Seriously, you dip the everything bagel into the honey mustard..... it is really really good. And I am not a big mustard fan. My boss had to show me how to make coffee, because up until that point I had never been around a coffee maker. The hazelnut flavor smelled the best, but in general, I don't like the smell of coffee. Also, taking out the filters with soggy wet coffee grinds is gross.
The next job I had was working at a drug store. It was an awesome little drug store where this one guy and I basically ran it because the manager was not around. And I learned alot about the pharmacy because the pharmacist would let us help her behind the counter. I think technically you aren't supposed to be behind the counter if you aren't trained. There would be regulars, who would come in and want the same cigarettes from behind the cash register, so I would always have them ready when they walked in the door. And the manager let me photocopy my AP Euro history book so I could highlight important sections as I read the homework. The best part was opening up new displays and setting them up. It was also a good job during the school year because we closed at 9.
I once worked in a game store for two weeks.... until I got a better offer from WalMart. The game store was really boring, because you just straightened up the games, and ran the cash register and it wasn't very busy.
WalMart was an experience. This was the beginning of my ambition. WalMart paid the most money as a recent high school graduate, and I started out working at 5 am as a stocker so that I could then do the drug store in the afternoon and evenings. But then WalMart offered time and a half for inventory for two weeks, so I worked a lot. Then when the summer ended, I switched to second shift, but they don't stock second shift, so they were going to put me on registers, but that is boring, so I said I would become a customer service manager, which is the person who stands at the podium and has the keys to all the registers. That was an awesome job because I would manage the shifts, when people got breaks, and who was on what register. I would run around the store to get requests from layaway or the garden center. I got to climb the back storage shelves during christmas to put stuff on layaway or get it back out again. I ran that store, and I think I was very good at it. But then my boss, who was very cool with me being a CSM (even though I was barely 18), decided to go and be heroic and try to stop a guy from robbing us..... and broke his leg in the process. So he was out on medical leave for a month. And the manager who replaced him didn't appreciate my youthful vigor and success, and wanted to demote me back to being a cashier. So I decided that it was time to move on. My real boss came back my last week at WalMart, and said I could stay on, but you know how it is when you have made up your mind. The other thing I recall about working at WalMart was wearing tights that matched a solid colored shirt, and patterned skirts (like plaid). Who wears skirts to work at WalMart? Or my boots?

While I probably won't quit my current job to work at Wendys..... it is nice to think you have options. I would probably still be a really good CSM :)