So I finally got re-registered to vote the other day. I hadn't been registered for some years due to some very personal reasons, but thankfully they no longer apply so I will be adding my voice to the general insanity next month.
With all apologies to our dear candidates, it wasn't our historical presidential race that got me out there, but a series of initiatives I've found troubling and worries over our local district attorney's race that finally prompted me to use part of my precious lunch hour to wait in line to fill out the paperwork.
As some of you know, I work for a thrift shop run by a non profit charity and we had people out front from the political arm of our cause that day to get people registered in hopes of gaining support for a much needed measure to aid the disabled, so I felt comfortable enough registering through them. Although the fact that I would be wary of registering through just anybody is probably a blog in itself. It's definitely related to the theme of the day.
As I stood in line I could not help noticing that as each person leaned over to sign his or her card the lady taking the registrations asked who they were leaning towards in the presidential race. All down the line the reaction was exactly the same; the look of surprise at the question, the furtive glances around and the shaky mutter that they were still undecided. Really? Every single person in line? I started to wonder.
When my turn came she asked me as well. I looked her in the eye and said honestly "Ma'am, with all due respect to our candidates, I"m more worried about who's going to be our next district attorney," and walked away.
Later though, as I stopped to think about it I realized just how intimidating it felt to be standing there and to have the person whom I was trusting with my right to vote ask me to publicly declare my allegiance to one candidate or another. It felt wrong some how, as if the secrecy of the ballot box was being compromised. Yes it was just a poll, but I did not feel safe giving an answer. And from the reactions of those in line ahead of me I was not the only one.
The odd thing was I could not even explain what prompted me to feel that uncomfortable, I just did. I still don't know, but I definitely did not like the feeling.
Ms. Betty
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
where I've been and what's happening now
Hello everyone,
I realize it's been some time since anyone has really heard from me. Life does tend to get away from us at times and I'm no exception. I thought it was time I updated everyone on assorted happenings.
Some of you may remember that I took a part time job at a local thrift shop because it supports a cause that has long been important to me. Well, part time did not stay part time long. We have unfortunately had several waves of turn over and part time quickly became full time and sometimes a bit more as I ran around plugging as many holes as I could.
For several weeks my schedule was very erratic and I could not say exactly when I would have a few hours off. Needless to say this left little time for much of anything, including spanking naughty boys.
Well just about the time that settled down we lost folks in production and they moved me off the register into the back of the shop. Those of you who shop in thrift stores may have wondered from time to time just how all that stuff gets from your donation pick ups to being out on the sales floor, so I thought I'd explain a little of what goes on back there.
Donations come in in great big crates well over 6 feet tall called "melons" because they are the same boxes melons and other produce arrives in at your local grocery store. Melons are carted to a big long table that runs almost the entire length of the building. One person cuts open the box and then begins sorting what is in there. Books, shoes, belts, etc get packed into big yellow carts to be given to their various departments. Clothes get passed down the line, sorted by type (men's, women's, kid's) and household goods get put in big baskets and put on the table for me.
I am a pricer. What the pricers do mostly is decide what to charge for the items that come across our tables, but there is more to it than that. We sort the trash from treasure, clean up what needs to be cleaned up, sort it by what type of item it is, bag things that may get spilled, tape up boxes and sort every day goods from season specific items. For example, right now we are putting Christmas related items out on the floor, but stuff for easter or valintine's day is being packed in boxes to go to the warehouse where we will store it until we need it.
We also recycle as much as possible. Metal and hard plastics that are in unusable conditions get bagged up for special pick up to keep them out of the landfill and soft toys that are torn or dirty are shipped out to be cleaned, repaired and given away in 3rd world countries. The same happens with our shoes. A part of each day goes to sorting and packaging these things for shipping.
So that's what's going on behind the magic curtain where you can't see it.
As I said, I price housewares; which happens to be a deparatment that takes up 1/3 of the store. I have a partner for my deparment thankfully, and we have a lady who helps us stock the floor, but it's still a big job. Children's toys, pictures, office supplies, wicker baskets, silk flowers, dishes, kitchen untensils, pots and pans...all of it's ours, not to mention vases, clocks and assorted knick knacks.
We price 1,200 items a day in our department, 5 days a week, that's 6,000 new items each week and with 4 weeks of stock out on the floor at a time that's 24,000 items in our department at any given time.
And we are responsible for every single piece. It is up to each pricer to choose her stock, lay out the floor plan for her department and organize each item. As I said, I have help, but I didn't at first and even with extra hands and good minds to work with it's been a big job.
When I took over it was all a mess. The manager put me there because it was the only deparment in the store losing money. She asked me to turn it around and mostly I have. We're still struggling a bit but we are making great strides.
So that's most of what I've been up to.
It's finally settling down and now my schedule is regular as clockwork so I'm hoping to be back to the kinky side of living soon.
In the meantime the job has turned out to come with a very unexpected perk. As my department includes the office and kitchen goods as well as all the assorted bric-a-brac, it means that about 90% of any and all pervertables that come in go through me. So if you are looking for something to get kinky with at a local Denver thrift store and find pickings a bit slim, you do have my apologies. I even got a real working whip the other day.
Yes it means I'm mostly out to my co-workers, but that's quite alright. Most of them are thorougly kinky as well. I'm in very good company.
Ms. Betty
I realize it's been some time since anyone has really heard from me. Life does tend to get away from us at times and I'm no exception. I thought it was time I updated everyone on assorted happenings.
Some of you may remember that I took a part time job at a local thrift shop because it supports a cause that has long been important to me. Well, part time did not stay part time long. We have unfortunately had several waves of turn over and part time quickly became full time and sometimes a bit more as I ran around plugging as many holes as I could.
For several weeks my schedule was very erratic and I could not say exactly when I would have a few hours off. Needless to say this left little time for much of anything, including spanking naughty boys.
Well just about the time that settled down we lost folks in production and they moved me off the register into the back of the shop. Those of you who shop in thrift stores may have wondered from time to time just how all that stuff gets from your donation pick ups to being out on the sales floor, so I thought I'd explain a little of what goes on back there.
Donations come in in great big crates well over 6 feet tall called "melons" because they are the same boxes melons and other produce arrives in at your local grocery store. Melons are carted to a big long table that runs almost the entire length of the building. One person cuts open the box and then begins sorting what is in there. Books, shoes, belts, etc get packed into big yellow carts to be given to their various departments. Clothes get passed down the line, sorted by type (men's, women's, kid's) and household goods get put in big baskets and put on the table for me.
I am a pricer. What the pricers do mostly is decide what to charge for the items that come across our tables, but there is more to it than that. We sort the trash from treasure, clean up what needs to be cleaned up, sort it by what type of item it is, bag things that may get spilled, tape up boxes and sort every day goods from season specific items. For example, right now we are putting Christmas related items out on the floor, but stuff for easter or valintine's day is being packed in boxes to go to the warehouse where we will store it until we need it.
We also recycle as much as possible. Metal and hard plastics that are in unusable conditions get bagged up for special pick up to keep them out of the landfill and soft toys that are torn or dirty are shipped out to be cleaned, repaired and given away in 3rd world countries. The same happens with our shoes. A part of each day goes to sorting and packaging these things for shipping.
So that's what's going on behind the magic curtain where you can't see it.
As I said, I price housewares; which happens to be a deparatment that takes up 1/3 of the store. I have a partner for my deparment thankfully, and we have a lady who helps us stock the floor, but it's still a big job. Children's toys, pictures, office supplies, wicker baskets, silk flowers, dishes, kitchen untensils, pots and pans...all of it's ours, not to mention vases, clocks and assorted knick knacks.
We price 1,200 items a day in our department, 5 days a week, that's 6,000 new items each week and with 4 weeks of stock out on the floor at a time that's 24,000 items in our department at any given time.
And we are responsible for every single piece. It is up to each pricer to choose her stock, lay out the floor plan for her department and organize each item. As I said, I have help, but I didn't at first and even with extra hands and good minds to work with it's been a big job.
When I took over it was all a mess. The manager put me there because it was the only deparment in the store losing money. She asked me to turn it around and mostly I have. We're still struggling a bit but we are making great strides.
So that's most of what I've been up to.
It's finally settling down and now my schedule is regular as clockwork so I'm hoping to be back to the kinky side of living soon.
In the meantime the job has turned out to come with a very unexpected perk. As my department includes the office and kitchen goods as well as all the assorted bric-a-brac, it means that about 90% of any and all pervertables that come in go through me. So if you are looking for something to get kinky with at a local Denver thrift store and find pickings a bit slim, you do have my apologies. I even got a real working whip the other day.
Yes it means I'm mostly out to my co-workers, but that's quite alright. Most of them are thorougly kinky as well. I'm in very good company.
Ms. Betty
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)