Tales From my Bowling Alley Days

The Good, The Interesting, The Bad, and The Lessons!

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

✶ Memories Of My Overall Employment ✶

✰ It was a cold night in November of 2019 when I was working as a cashier at the Manchester Home Depot. I checked out a middle aged gentleman who chatted with me kindly (I learned later he was Bob).

• He asked: "are you looking for a job?"
• I said: "maybe...?"
• He asked me how much I made.
• $11.50.
• He asked: if you could make $13 an hour, would you come work for me?
• I said "...Maybe...?"
• He gave me his card, and told me to swing by the bowling alley after work. 
• "ok".

I wasn't going to do it. Truly, I wasn't. But, rather impulsively, I decided to drive over. I thought to myself: "if I don't see this Bob guy immediately, I will leave". There he was at the front. He took me to the bar area for an "interview" (He basically just asked me to work for him). I started working in the evenings, part time for $13 an hour.

✰ My first night, Bob bought me an entire pizza to welcome me, and I ate the whole thing in one sitting! Everyone was shocked cause I was S K I N N Y at the time. Little did they know I ate like that all the time! 

A picture from the time period

✰ My boss Bob was a big fan of teasing. When he found out I was homeschooled, he would tease me about it (nicely, it was all in good fun). My first night, he was teasing me about being homeschooled, and that I was "sheltered". Later that evening, I made an office reference and he didn't know what I was talking about. So I sassed him: "Who's sheltered NOW"? It made all the other managers go "OooooohhhHHH!"

✰ They let me clean out and organize their closets and storage areas. I didn't mind, cause I liked to! 

✰ After I met Cody and we got engaged, sometimes he would wait outside in the car for 8 hours, waiting for me to get off work so we could drive home together. Incidentally, my boss Bob told me he and his wife used to do that too. He said it's all part of being in love! 

✰ One night, Bob went a little too far with his teasing (accidentally)! Every night, he would set the closing alarms (which had a 90 second timer for everyone to leave and the doors to be secured) before I was fully ready with all my belongings (phone, keys, water bottle, etc.), and it was his way of teasing me cause I had to scramble to gather my things in time.
I was fine with this joke UNTIL: One night he did it, and I accidentally left my phone. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until I was in my car and everyone else had driven away!!

I could not contact my boss.
I could not call my mommy.
I didn't even work the next day.

The next time I worked, I said... "Bob, we are done with that joke". He never did it again.

✰ I was one of, if not THE most efficient people at the front desk. Not only was I really fast with the buttons, but I was also really good at explaining the pricing. As a result, customers were much less confused, which I always felt proud of.

✰ I got to write my own schedule and they just kinda let me (Bob was pretty chill if you haven't noticed). My Full Time job was Home Depot. So Bob let me schedule myself based on my availability. I guess he trusted me cause I didn't abuse this... I was pretty faithful and consistent. 

✰ About two years into my employment, I was encouraged to apply for a salaried position as an assistant general manger. I interviewed with the district manager as well as Bob. Apparently the interview went well, because Bob told me the DM said "that was one of the best interviews he'd ever conducted". I ended up turning down their offer in favor of pursuing my goals at Home Depot. 

A picture from the time period

✶ I Learned All About Bowling! ✶

✰ Maybe as no surprise, while working at the bowling alley for 3 years, I learned a lot about bowling technicalities and culture. Did you know that the lanes are oiled with this giant machine, and some patterns are harder to bowl on? The hard patterns they apply for the pro leagues. For everyone else, they apply the "easy" pattern.

✰ During my employment, I started bowling a lot myself, since employees received discounted games.

✰ Occasionally, I was allowed to go in "the back" behind the lanes and watch the pinsetters. Sometimes when the alley would close, I would walk between the lanes and look at all the pinsetters up close. I felt pretty cool being able to!

✰ While working, I was grateful for my employee discount, because I learned that bowling can be EXPENSIVE. During my employment, at most they were $19, PER GAME, PER PERSON! PLUS SHOE RENTALS!! Weekdays, they had specials (thankfully). The moral of the story is - DON'T GO DURING PRIME BOWLING HOURS.  Unless you're like, rich or something, don't let me tell you how to live your life. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

✰ If you know about bowling, you know about leagues. Leagues were fun and you came to know the same people every week. It was a pretty cool community and culture. It felt like the bowlers and employees were all a big family as one.
When I was a kid, I thought that getting 2 or even 3 strikes in a row is dang near impossible. But at this job, I learned that a perfect 300 game is fairly common amongst the pro leagues!
I also learned that there are basically three different types of leagues - a "serious" professional league, and the "just for fun" leagues, or "special" leagues, where people with disabilities would play. 

Bible study before my shift one day!

✶ Working the Holidays ✶

✰ Whenever the week between Christmas and New Years came around, I would take vacation at Home Depot so I could work extra long hours at the bowling alley. I did this cause it was fun, I got extra money, AND I liked to help Bob out, because it's the busiest bowling week of the year!
I would usually be given free food all week too! Choosing my own hours, I would typically work over 8 hours a day during that busy week. Back then, I had seemingly endless stamina, so the long hours were more fun than tiring. 

✰ On Christmas Day, 2019, I worked in order to avoid family drama. A guy who liked me at the time came to visit me on Christmas day and brought me a book as a present, and I thought that was really sweet. 

 My husband Cody during the time period

✶ Bartending (My Favorite!) ✶

✰ One day, Bob asked me if I wanted to cover some bar shifts, since they were short handed. It sounded fun, so I said "yes". On my "training night" let me make my $13 an hour base pay on top of tips. I ended up making $400 just in tips my first night ... on a THURSDAY! All the customers were so nice that night about me being new! 

✰ I only had one or two times where I had to deal with someone drinking too much. Both times, I talked to Bob. This one dude kept ordering drink after drink, at one point I was serving him some water and he was trying to order another drink - I straight up interrupted and said a straight-faced, deadpan "no"! His friends got a kick out of that response. 

✰ Once, a woman and her family came to the bar. They were celebrating with drinks and bowling because she had just beat cancer. With Bob's approval, I surprised her with a fun, fruity alcoholic drink to congratulate her! She loved it. 

My room during the time period

✶ The "Questionable" Stuff... ✶

✰ I never got a raise in my entire employment. I made $13 ever. To be fair to Bob, he tried to get me one. It was the District Manager who continuously turned it down. Saying "I didn't work enough hours per week".... which didn't make sense because even a part timer should get a raise after minimum a year of employment. 

✰ For a while, we had a new manager working with us. He was creepy and kept flirting with me, even though he had a girlfriend. I eventually had to report him for touching my butt "by accident" (he didn't last long. He had it coming for lots of reasons).

✰ Every night,  the very inappropriate "What Do You Mean" music video by Justin Bieber would come on the lane screens at 9pm (The company's intention was that they wanted their centers to be more adult-focused starting at 9pm onward. Problem was, a lot of times kids were still present even during the late hours). Employees had the capability to change the song or pick a song in our software twice per hour, as enforced by corporate. Every night I worked, as soon as the music video came one, I would rush change it to "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd instead. Always that song, every time. 9pm, each shift. It ain't much, but it's honest work (meme reference).

✰ During my time working at the bowling center, I got myself in trouble by flirting too hard with too many people who flirted with me. I had never been taught about male and female attraction, sex drive, dating, or really any part of dealing with men in the wild. So when guys were giving me attention, and I LIKED IT, I foolishly reacted positively by reciprocating, not realizing that by reacting this way, I was sending a message that I was "DTF", as they say.
I had to learn this the hard way. I did not know how to speak up for myself and say "no". Thankfully, now I know better.

 · · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

A hike I took during the time period.

I really enjoyed my time at the bowling alley. I look back on it with fondness. I learned a lot of lessons during my time. I think it's safe to say that I was a very different person by the end of my employment, and I like to think that my coworkers noticed, and hopefully gave the glory to GOD. My life definitely revolved around GOD a lot more by the end of it! 

I ended up quitting because I reached the point where I didn't need the job anymore, and my life had changed so drastically (for the better) that I didn't want to spend all my spare time at a job just because I had nothing better to do. I was with Cody at the time and we didn't need that much extra finances, so I went back to doing only Home Depot full time, and no extra part time job. 

✰  That's All, Friends! ✰ 

~ Amaris // ☆

The Four Things Tag (REVISITED)

Hello Friends,

As of late, I have been reminiscing on this old blog and looking at some old posts. 

That's when I came across this post, The Four Things Tag, which I published in October of 2018! Which was quite a long time ago. 

I thought it would be fun to revisit these questions to see how my life and my preferences have changed. 

So without further ado, here are my New Answers: 

 ❊ The Four Things Tag  ❊

~*~*~*~

❊ Four Jobs I've Had ❊

~ The Home Depot (all different positions!)

~ Bowlero (bartending was my favorite position at that job!)

~ Michael's (my very first job, cashiering)

~ A graphic design and logo embroidery small business in Creve Coeur

Me in 2021 at my Home Depot store! I have lots of good memories there :)

❊ Four Things I Don't Eat ❊

~ Junk food (except maybe twice a year... and I always regret it XD)

~ Red Dye 40 (or any artificial dyes - when I can help it!)

~ Ultra processed foods

~ Candy

(Are any of the above even "Foods"?? Lol)

❊ Four Places I've Lived ❊

~ Childhood home in Hazelwood, MO

~ Small Apartment in Creve Coeur, MO (I had to look up how to spell "Creve Coeur" I still don't even know XD)

~ My fiance's basement (for a short time - we're married now Lol) in St. Charles, MO

~ (Current): Two Bedroom Apartment in St. Charles, MO

My beloved spice shelves at our current apartment here in St. Charles, MO! I installed them myself using hobby boards from Home Depot. I am quite proud of them.

❊ Four of my Favorite Foods ❊

~ Pretty much ANY curry (but Butter Chicken is a fave - It's probably the ultimate white people favorite of Indian food LOL)

~ Grass Fed Steak (especially during menstruation or the luteal phase!)

~ Seafood of any kind (especially scallops and salmon)

~ Nourish Bowls of any kind (Pictured is this bowl here)

Recipe is from Peace Love Hormones

❊ Four Movies I've Watched More Than Once ❊

~ Julie & Julia

~ The Incredibles

~ The Founder

~ Twilight (my husband and I rewatch the movies every year for his bday!)

From Julie & Julia (2009)

❊ Four TV Shows I Watch ❊

~ Breaking Bad (rewatch every 5 years)

~ Avatar: The Last Airbender (you can't beat perfection)

~ The Office (ongoing, all the time)

~ Legend of Korra

"I believe, Aang can save the world"

❊ Four Things I'm Looking Forward To This Coming Year ❊

~ New business opportunities

~ Learning to can (I canned a few things last year with a friend, I'm going to learn how to do it myself next month so I can can whatever and whenever I want!)

~ More time having fun with my son (continual and ongoing since I quit my job)

~ Cooking new things all the time!

❊ Four Things I Can't Live Without ❊

~ My Bidet! Seriously I don't know how I existed without it! BEST $30 I ever spent!

~ My Dutch oven, I use this one weekly to make my boule shaped sourdough!

~ My Study Bible I've had since 2011

~ My family (my husband and my son)

My beloved study bible!

❊ Four Places I've Visited ❊

~ Branson, MO

~ Colorado (in 2011, for a family wedding)

~ Florida (in 2003, for another family wedding)

~ San Antonio, Texas (in 2010, related to my Dad's job)

(I need to travel more, LOL)

❊ Four Pet Peeves ❊

~ When people don't clean up after themselves

~ When my house plant is doing well until I change it to a new pot, and then, BOOM. Dead. 

~ When I accidentally get coffee grounds in my coffee while making it. 

~ When I'm JUST about to fall asleep and then my son wakes up in the night.

❊ Four Things I Wish I Could Do ❊

~ Travel more (especially to Europe)

~ Own a house (someday... it's hard for us zillenials)

~ Garden (especially herbs and tomatoes!!)

~ Write better

Me in August of 2021. I had just started dating my future husband :)

❊ Four Subjects I Studied In School ❊

Oh man, school was so long ago LOL. Instead I'll name "four educational topics that interest me"

~ History of Shipwrecks (I listen to a LOT of videos about shipwreck stories, LOL)

~ The size and age of the universe and the curiosities to be found in the cosmos

~ The History of Rome

~ Home economics, since that's basically my life now :)

❊ Four Things Near Me Right Now ❊

~ A Pothos Plant

~ My Son (always, he's 2 Lol)

~ Our Patio

~ My son's climbing triangle

~*~*~*~

Well, there you have it. My answers have definitely evolved a lot! For one, I'm married now, living independently with my husband, and am a mom now! My likes and dislikes have changed a lot, but they've also stayed the same in many ways! 

This was fun. In another 7 years, maybe I'll take it again. I hope I am still blogging then! :)

If you're reading this post, I TAG YOU! :)

- Amaris ☆ //

The Inspiration of Cloudy Days // January // 2018

A few notes from January2018, the first month of the year!

Enjoying a newly discovered show - Poldark BBC. While not for every audience, I find it quite enjoyable. (+ You guys. Aiden Turner. His acting. Just. *claps* No words.)

Also in the film department, may I recommend The Greatest Showman to every being on the planet? Good. Cause it's special.
Ya need to watch it.

I also discovered a show called Survivor. And I am way more intrigued with it than I expected to be. 

Enjoying the slow days at my job after the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. (Yes, I actually enjoy slow days). Thankfully, the ever-so-nice people who work there let me read books during slow hours. #blessed Also, cloudy Winter days are totally my aesthetic right now. Anyone else?

NOT enjoying having to miss three days of said job because I was dreadfully ill earlier this month (well it wasn't that bad, actually. But still. Who loves being sick? Not me). And thus missing three days worth of pay, and thus that much less in smartphone budget that I'm TRYING to save up for.

*mad face*

So, I took our Christmas decorations down earlier this month. 
 It is done. Forever. Once and for all. What is it I'm talking about? I have removed a real tree from it's stand and dragged it into my back yard to burn (dropping needles all the way) for the last time. Next year, we switch to fake trees. Boy am I excited for that.

Working on a schedule for my devotions. I admit, I am not as consistent as I would like to be with my scripture reading. The holidays have thrown me off spending the time with Him. But it's ok. It's getting better now with my new routine, and He loves me the same. 

Trying to keep up with my book reading goals of 2018!

In January:

• A Proper Pursuit (by Lynn Austin)
• The False Prince (by Jennifer Neilson)
• Rhett and Link's Book of Mythicality (by Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal) 

All of which I enjoyed to different extents. :) 

Listening to the new releases by Owl City. Didrick: Ready to Fly (absolutely beautiful, this song. I am so stunned.) I always love it when he collaborates with other artists. It's kind of different and special. Also, the latest releases from Owl City's new album Cinematic: Lucid Dream, and Montana. The story behind Lucid Dream is interesting, too.
Seriously, you guys. Adam's music is manna from heaven. I love listening to it on the way to work.

Lastly,

Turning 20. *whew* 20 years old. It seems unbelievable. 20. whole. years.
No longer a teenager.
 Of course, I never really considered myself a teenager, anyways. I'm not a fan of labels. But still. It is official, nonetheless.
So how do I feel? *shrug* I don't know.

Actually, I'm thirsty.
So bye!

-Amaris

Currently in November // 2017

This is one of those posts that I MEANT TO POST awhile ago, but I kept thinking of things to add to it, and then I FORGOT ABOUT IT, and I had to make sure my new stuff made sense with the old stuff in the post... and you know.
In other words, some of these things are a little out-of-date.
Anyways, here is what I've been up to these past couple of weeks.

From Etsy

Sorry to disappoint all of you, but I am 100% NOT doing NaNoWriMo this year. I tried to do it once, like 3 years ago, but it did not end well.

• There was no rough draft.
• There was no book.
• There was no contract signed with a publishing company.
• There was no Interview on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, in which I discussed my character developments and story processing.

And I'm not in the mood to not do all of that again this year. :P

Perhaps next year, though! I do want to do it someday. I just have to get all of my thoughts and plots and characters together, and that is no easy task.

The only thing I've written this month are grocery lists, a few blog post notes, and a small letter to a friend. That is all.
Also my Christmas list. For my mom.

From Indulgy

 

~The Help, by Kathrine Stockett. 

And guys. It. is. so. good.

~The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer, which I'm not finished with, but it has been very sweet so far. Also, bravo to them for the outlandish name *claps emphatically*
  ~A few enjoyable posts, written by you guys!

Ramblings of a Redhead Girl

Lately // Autumn 2017

  

Chronicle's in Bloom

2nd Blogoversary & Giveaway

The Writer's Song

An Open Letter to the LGBT Community

Writing is Life

Writing Rules I Hope/Want to Break

From Tumblr

~Iron Man. I know, aren't I so brave for coming out of my shell and trying another superhero movie? I suppose so! 
Yes, yes, I'm brave and all that, but did I like the movie? Well............ not a lot. I liked Tony Stark. But the rest ... meh. I just find superhero movies boring. I know, I know. You think I have no class. You think I'm just plain STUPID, perhaps. 
But my grandma always said: "TO EACH HIS OWN".
#so there 

Anyways. Other things I've watched:
 

~Sherlock BBC. Which is amazing. As usual.
~The Imitation Game (you might remember my opinions on the movie from this post)
~Spider-Man: Homecoming. Watched it with my best friend. Which was quite fun. 
~Monk (not all the episodes... but some.) Such a fun show.
~The Help. Because I just read the book, and wanted to watch the movie again. I didn't understand it when I watched it the first time because I was quite young. 
~This rather amusing (albeit pointless) video from Good Mythical Morning: Blowtorching Bananas. 
(Don't ask; I am easily amused in spite of my interminable high standards).   

 

  ~Hawaiian food; because a friend of mine owns a Hawaiian food truck, and it's quite delicious.

~Homemade puppy chow.
~Thanksgiving stuff: You know; chocolate pie, turkey, potatoes and stuff. 

~Homemade chili (which is quite good).
 ~Quinoa salad (healthy and delicious at the same time = win and win).
 

From Tumblr

 

(Not to worry, it's not me)

~A funny thing happened with my car (Not 'haha' funny, but the other kind of funny. You know). One night on my way home from somewhere, I was adjusting my headlights, but I must have adjusted them real good because what do you know, the next morning my car was dead as a door-nail.

 I had apparently left the headlights on all night. :P
(I know. How brilliant of me).

I couldn't get to work until (thankfully) a neighbor happened to see my trouble and help me get her started again with some jumper cables. 

I know, I know. "What a very silly thing for you to do, Amaris!" But look at it this way: that's one mistake I will never make again for sure.

And thankfully, everything turned out ok.

From a show I have not yet seen.

 

~ For Christmas presents. Which I can't talk about, because #spoilers.

~For The Good Doctor (ABC) to come to Netflix; because I don't have TV so I can't watch it until it either comes out on DVD, or on Netflix. So until one of those things happen, I can't watch it. Which is sad because it looks so good. (Plus, you guys. It's the chocolate kid all grown up! I feel so old right now...).
~For Owl City, Cinematic (refer to the next paragraph to hear about this one)
~To go to the theater to watch Murder on the Orient Express; because it's been a long time since I've been to the movie theater. Plus, I never enjoyed Hercule Poirot books all that much, and I want to see if a movie will make me like him better.

From weheartit

~NOT TO CHRISTMAS MUSIC.
(AT LEAST TRYING NOT TO)

~To song previews of Owl City's new album, Cinematic.Which is coming out like a million years from now... June 2018. Hopefully I won't die before then. :(
But anyways, the previews sound great.

*heavy breathing*

~*~*~

Anyways, that's about it! It seriously took me forever to finish this post. :P I just kept coming back to it, and forgetting about it...

But here it is; here you go.

I hope you enjoyed. 

If you made it this far, that is.

-Amaris

A Few Thoughts About My Jobs

 Not that this matters to anyone, but...
September 23rd, 2017 marked the two year anniversary that I got my very first job! 

To say the least, I've learned some things. I've had quite a few experiences. 
I was inspired by a post on Cordy's blog awhile back (sorry I can't find the actual post to link you: you'll just have to settle for a link to her blog), when she talked about working at her job and some of her experiences, and it got me thinking because I've never shared too much about MY job on my blog.
So I thought I would do that.
To give you some context, I'm going to just tell you that my job is one of these three stores: Hobby Lobby, Michael's or JoAnn Fabrics. 
Basically, I work at a craft store. 
(There. Revealed.) But I'm not telling which. :)
Plus, I actually just got a new job as well! But more on that later in this post.

Here are 10 random thoughts about my experiences:
   
~I love it when I get a customer that is sweet as a marshmallow. These are the people who actually take the time to be polite to you (because what do you know! Cashiers are people too!), and when they leave your register, you kind of feel sad and empty and regretful. You miss the person. Because they were so nice, and you don't want the niceness to end! And you remember them even after your shift is over.
I love those customers.

~Speaking of nice customers, one time a customer bought me a frappuccino. She was a regular customer who always comes in to buy the same thing, and we got to talking about Starbucks one time, and she told me she has a lot of Starbucks gift cards because lots of people give them to her.
Long story short, she offered to buy me a coffee.
I told her she didn't have to, but she said was glad to do it, and she went out and brought me back a grande mocha frappuccino (with whipped cream).
Next time I saw her at the store, I gave her a thank you card that I had made for her.

 O ~At a craft store, I see a lot of women customers, but I love it when men come into the store, because usually you can tell that they are completely out of their element (because it is a craft store, after all), and it gives me a chance to be an extra big help to them, because usually they don't know what in the world they're looking for.
All they know is that their wife sent them in for something but they don't know where it is.
I don't know; I guess it just amuses me to see a guy who doesn't know what in the world he's doing.

~Speaking of men customers, I love it when couples come into the store, because usually it's the wife or the girlfriend shopping, and the man is literally just looking around and following her like a lost sheep. Even so, most of them are completely content for their wives or girlfriends even if they're bored, because he knows his girl is enjoying herself shopping. And it's just fun to see that situation.
But most of the time, anyways, they just look kind of confused, like this: 

"C'mon, honey! Time to go."

~I learn a lot about people in general from working as a cashier. It makes things interesting. I can learn about how people react to different things, what sets them off, what irritates them, what gets them going depending on what subject you bring up...
All kinds of things. It's all very interesting.
I'm very into psychology, and retail is a great place to appreciate the way people are, and why they are like that. Like I said, my job has taught me a lot about things like that.
Some of the things I've learned I use for myself in real life- all because of something I saw in a customer one day at the store.

On a more serious note:
The age-old question: Can Customers Make You Cry?
~Well, there were only two times when I was driven to tears because of something at work.
The first time, a customer bought two flower arrangements, and I asked politely what they were for (You know. To make conversation, and all that), and he told me his story (I won't share all of it, it's probably personal). Basically, his wife died of cancer and his son died of an extreme car accident - all within four weeks of one another.
He told me how he used to be bitter toward God about it, but the Lord has taught him a lot since the two deaths, and he's not angry anymore. The flower arrangements were for their graves. I know it sounds like he was putting me on, but I can tell when people are doing that, and he was not.
I told him I would pray for him, and I did.
When I got my break I cried for the guy.

The only other time I was driven to tears was actually not a customer's fault, it was because of a mistake I made. A customer had bought some things, and after she had paid, she wanted to go back into the store to look at another item before leaving. So, she left the bag of paid stuff with me to hold for her at the register, and I set the stuff right next to me while she went to go look at the thing.
Well, she eventually came back up to the register to pick up the stuff she left with me, but when I was going to hand it to her, I realized that it wasn't where I had put it. 
I looked all around my register area, when it finally dawned on me that- (Lord have mercy) I had GIVEN THE BAG OF STUFF SHE BOUGHT TO ANOTHER CUSTOMER BY MISTAKE.
The poor lady was maaadddd. Thankfully, she didn't cuss me out or yell at me or anything, but she was realllyyyy really mad. :/
And of course we didn't have any more of what she had bought.
So she couldn't get a replacement for the stuff that I gave away.
And she needed it all by the next day.
Yeah. I cried later.

​I tell you, though. That's a mistake I'll never make again.​

Let us return to happier subjects.
 ~Our store location is nearby a pet store, so a lot of times people bring their pets in the store, which means I get to pet them. I've seen lots of dogs and cats of all sizes. 
And of course, that makes my own pets at home get jealous when they smell other animals on me. 
(No, I'm serious. One time my dog didn't speak to me for a whole month.) 
 
~Since we're talking about animals, one time, it was a truck day (you know... the day when the 'big ol' truck' comes and they have to put the stuff on the shelves for people to buy, and all that), and somehow or another, through the big truck loading door, a bird flew in. So the poor thing flew around and around the store until she finally flew into the cart area by the front door, and I swished her (or him... ) out to freedom. 
That bird has now got a very interesting story to tell his/her little birdie friends.

 
~Also speaking of animals: there is a customer who comes in sometimes, and she has this very particular key chain. It's a bunch of strings of yarn, and on each string, there is a name spelled out with those black-and-white letter beads. Names like Tommy, Sally, Susan. She's a very friendly woman, and one time we were talking about the key chain, and I asked her "Are those your grandchildren's names?" (For she was that age), and she said no, they are in fact, her cat names. Not just her current cat's names, but her previous cat's names were all on there. 
Every cat she's ever had has a name on her key chain. 
So, she told me all about the cats while pointing out the different name strings. 
"That's Tommy, he was a tomcat."
"This is Pumpkin, he was one of those real orange cats."
"This is Peanut, he's still with me but he's old."
And so on and so forth.   
She was a very interesting woman.     

 And the last thing:
~Ah yes, I told you I had another job, didn't I? I suppose you want to know a little about that too, huh? Especially since some people I know have been asking about it, so they can read this and know these things.

Well, I won't tell you too much (you know... stalkers and such. Got to keep 'em guessing), but I will tell you these things:

• I went in for the interview the day before I got my driver's license (talk about timing).
• I got the job and started work on September 8th, 2017.
• It's not a super long ways from my house (which makes my mom happy).
• It's very different from the kind of work that I'm used to.
• It's an independently owned business.
• The hours are much longer than I'm used to- but I like it (and I have come to terms with the fact that I will have to get up early every single weekday for the rest of my life).
• I really, really like the job.
• Except for the radio, because we're supposed to have a certain station on while we're open.
  And I. Don't. Like. The. Station. At. All.
  #why taylor swift #why

I don't have a specific job title, exactly. I guess you could call me the Storefront Manager. Because I'm 99% in charge (well, kind of. "In charge" sounds pretty powerful, and it's not exactly like that) of all the stuff that happens at the front desk, as well as taking orders and sorting packages that come in the mail, plus lots of other stuff. That kind of sounds like a big deal, but it's all on a rather small scale. Basically I have the storefront all to myself most of the time.

It's very different from what I'm used to, but I really like it.
~~~ 
Well anyways, that about sums it up, folks! 
I think I shall leave you now, because it is quite late and I have to get up early (you can imagine for what).
So I hope you enjoyed this post (you did, didn't you?), and I shall see you later.
Bye!
-Amaris