Multiply 365 Day 217 - From the top

 

Hopefully I will get to bang out a few words here before my battery dies. Yes me and the laptop are on a road trip of sorts today, sitting in the friendly confines of the Squirrel Cage, with me snacking on a cajun chicken sandwich and fries with an iced tea chaser.

It is roughly 3:30pm and this is my first stop after work, which explains why I have my laptop with me to begin with. But it has been a relatively long day already so I might as well start at the beginning, if only I could remember where the beginning actually begins.

I gu8ess technically it would have been last week, when Ed asked me to make sure the basement got organized at work. He wanted a bunch of stuff priced that wasn't tagged, the shelves straightened up and stuff that could be brought up to the sales floor brought up. I am sure he would have been content if I had just delegated the work out to someone, but I am always of the notion that if you want something done right you do it yourself. So I said I would come in and do it. Of course by agreeing to that I was agreeing to 13 straight days at work, because the day I would have the most opportunity to get that project done would be on Sunday, so I would be working from July 25^th through Aug 6^th without a day off. Then people starting fucking up.

Probably the most important one for our story would be Stephanie, who made a habit of either being late on Sunday morning or just calling off. So on Thursday Ed asks me if I can come in and run the store this Sunday morning, which means my time without a day off now gets stretched to Aug 14^th at the earliest. And while it would be very easy for me to stomp my feet and bitch and moan about such a run, there are a few reasons why I haven't, at least not at work. First among them is the simple fact that I accepted keys. Maybe I shouldn't have, I know my life would be easier if I didn't, but since I did I have to assume the responsibility that goes with it, even if the other people who have keys are less than likely to do so. Second would be that Ed has been treating me well recently, almost too well in my book. I get why he is, not to be too egotistical or anything, but I am the best employee he has. I don't like to brag about that fact, but it is pretty much a reality. And while Ed and I would have much different management styles if I were in his position (I would be firing about 40-50% of our crew and starting from scratch) as long as he is going to retain the people he has it makes the bar relatively easy to leap over and be the best. And in that regard it works to my benefit.

On four different occasions in the last two weeks Ed has just handed me money. A couple of times it was $20, he would just tell me to take myself out for something to eat after work, a third time was just yesterday when he asked what plans I had for Saturday, besides coming in to do our order and I had mentioned that Clare had offered to take Sammy and I to breakfast. Now I know that almost every time Clare says she will go to breakfast with us she ends up sleeping in, or something else comes up and she doesn't go, but I had planned on going to Deluca's this Saturday even before she had made the suggestion, so for me it became a no harm, no foul commitment. If she went great, it would be a free breakfast for me (I bought the only time she went with us, every subsequent time she has said she would go she claims she will buy, but then she doesn't go) if not I was going to go anyway, so I already had money for breakfast for Sammy and I. Ed asks if it would be okay for him to buy breakfast for us. I say that isn't up to me, since I wasn't buying, Clare was but I would ask her. Not that I expected her to say no to a free breakfast but maybe she had it in the back of her head that she would be adamant about buying. There was no need for such a concern though, she was mor5e than willing to let Ed buy.

So I go back to the office and let Ed know and he asks how much breakfast is. Usually it runs about $10 a person, depending on what you get and how many people are going, so I tell ED it would probably be about $30. He wants an exact number and I say if it is over $30 I am sure I will have the money to cover any difference there may be. And now kids you are going to get a lesson on how ED talks and why I find him to be funny. He is probably just about as blunt as I am, I think it is part of the reason we get along so well. But Ed looks and me and says “Matt, If I am with a woman and she tells me I can fuck her but I can't ejaculate, then I don't want to fuck her. Now I am either buying your breakfast or I am not, so how much do you need?” So I say with tip and everything, probably $40. So he just pulls out $40 and says to go enjoy breakfast.

As it turns out, Clare didn't show up so Sammy and I had the free breakfast and the waitress got a $10, I didn't keep any of the money, Sammy got the Bionic Omelet (a 6 egg monstrosity) and I went with the grilled country chicken breakfast, both items are on the pricier end of the menu, on average they probably ran $12 each. Throw in the coffee and we had a $30 check, so I didn't make any personal profit from this venture, despite Clare's absence. The money was designated for breakfast and that is exactly what I spent it on.

There was also something that came up last week, a situation that I am not overly proud of, but I did ask Ed for a loan. Not that I expected him to say no, he rarely tells an employee that they can't get an advance on their paycheck but it is a job perk that in my 2 and half years of being there I have used all of three times. I am just not comfortable being in debt like that, and when I do go that route I pay it off on the next check, rather than break it up into payments as some employees do. So I get an advance of $50 against my paycheck, and on Wednesday Ed hands me my paycheck and as I am looking at it something seems odd. I can't put my finger on it, but something doesn't seem right. I did get a raise recently, so I am making more money, but it almost seemed like too much money. I look at the pay stub on my check and I see why. Nothing is taken out for the $50 loan. So I go talk to Ed and say I think you made a mistake, I owe you $50 and there is no deduction for it. I grab $50 from my wallet and go to pay him back and he will not take it. He just says to not worry about it, I earned it. So when he asks me to work an extra day, even if it means pulling 20 days in a row, it is hard for me to say no to him.

That being said, I went in this morning after breakfast (compliments of Ed) and tried getting caught up on some of my paper work. First I had another 5 invoices on my desk to break down, then I had to fix our deli menu again in the register system. We had some price increases on the sandwiches we make, and Ed recently installed a miniature fryer unit, something to make fries, onion rings, chicken wings and the like with. But none of those items were yet in the register system, so I had to add them as well, and then make a list of all of the SKU numbers being used so they could be punched in at the register. It was a time consuming task to say the least, and I am not completely done, I still need prices from Ed on all of the cut lunch meats and what they cost per pound, because most likely the prices on those increased as well. But all of the prepared foods and once again updated to their current price levels and all of the new items are added as well.

At one point during the madness I almost had a ray of hope that my work streak would be snapped. Ed called the store and said that Steve would be working on Sunday and I wouldn't be needed after all. A certain amount of relief washed over me, but it was quickly replaced. Steve had missed a few days, I am not sure what the actual malady was, I have heard everything from appendicitis to a hernia to hemorrhoids so I don't even know at this point, but whatever it was he has been out of action for a few days. But it looked like he wanted to get hours back and wanted to start doing that on Sunday. Cool with me, I wouldn't mind sleeping in. But then Ed called again (he does that a lot when he isn't at the store) and said that Steve hadn't gotten the required release from his doctor to go back to work, so I am back on for Sunday. I think I died a little inside. I mean even when they said Steve was coming in I still planned on showing up in case he didn't, but now there is no doubt that I am working on Sunday. So 20 days it is. At least for now, until something else goes wrong. And really that is a pretty distinct possibility at this moment. In the last 2 weeks we have had two people get fired (Debbie and Brittany), one call off for three straight days (Stephanie), another miss time because of marital problems (Kenny), someone get hurt on the job (Rick cut his finger on the deli slicer), another call off today (Belinda). Again you can see why it isn't real hard to be at the pinnacle of this mountaintop of distinguished employees.

Next week Dee is scheduled to be in Florida, where she will be training on another idea Ed has for the Weiss Enterprises Empire (he is looking into buying and selling gold and possibly opening a pawn shop) and is sending Dee to get some first hand knowledge from a business associate he has down there so we will already be short one person for the week, though at least hers and my jobs don't overlap all that much, so I doubt it will affect what is on my plate to a great degree. And I doubt that will be the only problem that will occur over the next 7 days, just the first one that I am aware of.

Oh well, my sandwich is eaten and I should pack up the laptop and head for home. I have a couple of errands to run before I get there, but I can't do that if I am doing this, so I guess this has to stop for now.