Thou Shalt...

SONG OF THE DAY

"Changes" David Bowie

I was watching my trusty CNN the other day and they had a whole segment on the recent rulings of the Supreme Court about displaying the 10 commandments (rather odd, actually, that they ruled in favor of one, and not the other, but what can you do). In one place, they ruled that the court could display the 10 commandments outside. They then interviewed some top-church guy who said that this was a breakthrough and that finally it seemed as if our country might be turning around. Excuse me? I really highly doubt that this one ruling will turn the tides and lead to the widespread embracing of the Christian church/religion/lifestyle. He made some interesting remarks. He said that our country had hit rock bottom and there was no way to go but up, and this seemed like the first step. I agree that our country is seeming to become more and more anti-Christian but I don't think we were anywhere near "rock bottom." People on the whole can still practice whatever religion they want rather freely, and Christians have not seen rock bottom yet. I doubt we know what "rock bottom" is here in the US. I'm not saying that I do, but looking at other countries who don't have the religious priviledges we do, we have a long way to go. (I'm using the term "religion" quite loosely. I don't particularly like the word, since it can mean many different things, and the conotation usually makes people think of a list of rules, and "holier than thou" people)

I'm not against displaying the 10 Commandments, but I really don't think that if the courts were to rule that it was unlawful, I would fight it. It's NOT that big of a deal to me I guess. My relationship with God is not based on whether I can drive by and see the 10 Commandments in a government or public building. Some Christians will fight this to the bitter end, and for what? If they're displayed, what has that done? Will it cause widespread revival? If these people are so concerned about our country hitting rock-bottom spiritually, than what are they doing about it? Fighting to get a statue put up is not the answer to the problem. The guy said this was a step forward. To what?

eh?

Confusion seemed to be the theme at work today. I got there at my usual time, 7am, but the normal morning manager wasn't there. It was the main one, whom, can be a little annoying sometimes. If she's in a good mood, things are good, but if not...no fun for anyone. She was in an okay mood this morning though, but the employees are a little more reserved when she's around, so we don't talk and have as much fun. So that was weird. Then, I took over drive through and it really got confusing. I was on front counter to start out with, then moved to drive through, then I went on break, then to grill to help with change-over, and finally assumed my position as presenter in front drive. But first, she switched three people as my order taker within a period of five minutes. Weird. It was like we were playing musical positions, but without the music. Anyways, the first thing--two guys pull up and I give them their sandwiches. The screen said BEC biscut, that's what I gave them. They drove off, and I had served off the order. One of the guys gets out of the truck, comes to the window and knocks and says, "This is wrong. You got it wrong. I'm supposed to have a number 8." I open the sack to get the receipt, NOT to see if he's telling the truth, but to see if we over or under charged him. No receipt, no napkins. I ask for them and he says, "There were never any in there. They didn't put them in." The "they" would refer to me, it's only been like one minute, I'm sure he hasn't forgotten who gave it to him. I DID give him napkins AND the receipt, take my word for it. I said, "I put it in here, is it in your truck?" "Why do you need it? What do you want me to do? They were never in there. I never even opened the sack" (which, by the way, is lame, because if he never opened the sack, how would he know his order was wrong?). Wow, we're not in a courtroom, no need to get so defensive. I felt like I should have a lawyer present or something. I gave up on the receipt thing and just gave him his food. I KNOW I put the stuff in there.

Our drink machine kept messing up, either over or underfilling the drinks, so that was a big hassle, and my order-taker kept punching the wrong button on the drinks, so all my diets and dr peppers were confused. I had to use the ol' reliable "smell test" on more than one occasion. If I had seen the drink come out, I could've told you, but she put lids on them for me today (sadly yes, I can determine the type of drink judging by the color and attributes of the fizz. I'm sure that'll come in handy someday). To add to the mass of drink confusion, my runner brought all the sacks into the drive-through and set them on the counter with all the drinks. The drinks take up most of the room, so he had sacks on top of the straw container, behind me, on top of the drink machine...everywhere. Not helpful. Plus, he would read off everything in the sack as he put it down. "I've got your quarter-pounder no onions, medium fry here and your cheeseburger happy meal plain, with fries and a milk here." First off, I'm not really listening, because those orders are 3rd on my screen and I'm trying to concentrate on the customer and whoever's at my window. Finally, I told him to stop bringing so many sacks in and just put them on top of the fry station, like all the other managers do. My OT got angry too. We had confusion with an elusive "medium iced tea" that appeared and disappeared, and we always seemed to be short a medium coke. Then my favorite, to which my title is dedicated to, was this:

An old lady pulled up to my window. I'm getting the order together and she's looking in and just laughing. I look at my OT and say, "wow, she's...jolly." Finally she signals me over and I open the window and she says that she forgot to stop at the window to pay. I look at my screen and sure enough, there is an order in red that hasn't been paid yet. Turns out it's $7 something. I told her and she said, (L-lady G-girl)

L - "I'd like to order an ice cream cone. Can I do that?" I say,
G - "You want to *add on an ice cream cone?" (*key phrase here)
L - "Yes, if that's possible."
G - "suuuure, (thinking of how this was going to work) um, let me tell them."

So my OT calls back and has them add on a cone. What kind? *sigh*

G - "What kind?"
L - "Vanilla and chocolate, together, mixed together."
G - ".....twist?"
L - "yeah, that's the one."

I tell them and we get the final total, $8.36. I tell her, and she says,

L - "I KNOW it's not eight dollars for ice cream. Here's one dollar."
G - "Didn't you have the grilled chicken meal too?"
L - "NO! I told you, I missed the window and came up here."

AH, here we have our breakdown of communication. She said she missed the window, the place of payment, NOT the whole order-taking thing!! Good to know.
SO now, I have to tell them to take OFF the ice cream.

G - "Okay, it'll be .96 cents."
L - "Here."

She then proceeds to hand me a gold coin. Not the Sacajawea dollar, mind you. There was no Indian on it. There were no Indians, but a queen instead. She sees me looking at it and says,

L - "what, you don't like that silver dollar?"

Okay, first of all, it's not silver.

G - "um, this is Canadian."
L - "Oh! Here (reaches for it). I guess it is Canadian. Hm. I guess it's not even a dollar then....No wait, it says 'dollar' right here. Here, this is a dollar."

She hands it back. Apparently she's not bothered by such trivial things as currencies. A dollar's a dollar, right?

G - "Ma'am, it's CANADIAN."
L - *blank stare* "what, sooo, you don't take those here?"

Here? You mean, like, in AMERICA? No, sorry we don't. Last time I checked, we were still separate states. Now, mind you, I can see how Canada might be confused as part of the US, but as of now, that hasn't happened yet. At this point I turn around, and show my manager and she says, "we don't take that. Tell her we are not a bank."
I turn back to her.

G - "No, we don't accept that here... (under my breath, 'in the US, NOT Canada')
L - "well, fine. Here."

By this time, she's killed my drive through time, and fully frustrated me all for a dumb ice cream cone. It was truly obnoxious. To finish out the day, my order taker got switched another two times, and my runner kept disappearing. It was quite the day, eh?

kids

Today at work, I did just about everything, except the outside stuff. I started out on front counter, then stocked stuff, moved to drive-through, cleaned the bathrooms, went to grill, and then ended up in pit. At least it kept it interesting. I like days like that; it keeps you from doing the same thing over and over again. Pit just about drove me crazy because of my order taker. She's one of the young employees. Her mom is a manager. Which, by the way, I am so impressed by all the families that work at McD's. There are four mother-daughters, two mother-sons, and one brother-sister. Interesting. Anyways, you can tell where she gets her sarcasm and stuff. She was nice to me, but pretty rude to the customers. She kept complaining about how hot it was back there, but ironically, she was standing RIGHT UNDER the AC vent, which was blasting cold air out. She wanted me to shut my window every time, and kept reaching over and shutting it for me. I might not have minded that much if she had asked, but her whiny-ness drove me crazy, and it became a personal battle. I opened it every time she shut it. She tried to compromise, but I told her I was not opening and shutting my window after every customer. #1, I wasn't hot, #2, it doesn't bother me, and #3, childlishly enough, I was there first. So she finally gave up on the window, but then she would play with my credit card machine. Meaning, while she took orders, she would punch the buttons and make it beep. Then she kept clipping my shirt with a headset clip. I then responded by hitting her with a roll of papertowels. :-) All of this was not that big of a deal, but the next thing tipped me over the edge. I have no idea why they feel they must (see earlier post) but she started to shut my drawer for me. WHY in the WORLD do they do that?! I am FULLY capable of shutting MY drawer. First time, I said, "HEY," and batted her hand away. Second time, I said, "Don't shut my drawer." Fifth time, I said, "STOP it." She then proceeded to pretend to shut the drawer. She also gave me minutely updates on the time. Oh it was crazy and I wanted to leap out of the window!! She's nice, but she definitly showed her age today. I don't act all that "grownup" Don't get me wrong, we all have fun at work (hence the hit with the papertowel roll) but we also know when to quit...sometimes.

--

On to other things...I've been playing the piano again this summer. Not that I ever quit, but I kinda stopped seriously playing classical stuff after I quit lessons when I graduated. Ah, it feels good to play again. I got some of my old music and have been reworking my songs. I even enjoy playing my scales. Therapeutic in a way. Calming. My favorite scales are D-flat major, and B-flat minor. I always picked those in lessons if he let me. F-minor is also a favorite. My least favorite is E-minor. Not sure why, but I have the hardest time with it. Maybe it's because my professor always called it "Easy-minor." We would get through the ones he thought were hardest (usually my favorites) then he would say, "and now, "EEEasy-minor" in a voice that incinuated that this was so incredibly easy, maybe even easier than C. But I always stumbled through it. Hm.

Right now, I'm working on Mozart's Sonata in F, K 332 (yes, I did look that up. All I knew was, "Mozart's Sonata). The first and third movements rock and the middle one has grown on me. Another one is Beethoven's "Grande Sonate Pathetique." I just got done practicing, and my trills went especially well today. I figured out some rough fingering in one spot, but can't figure it out in another. I don't like putting my thumb on the black notes, but I can't figure out a way not to in this one run (measure 278) . I'll have to keep playing around with it. The allegro molto section is getting better, although I have a hard time keeping my left and right hands even in one spot. Not sure why, they're both playing 8ths (cut-time) and the notes aren't hard, but it tends to pulse and my left hand gets all weird. My old teacher always made us play long runs in different rhythms. It sounds weird, but playing it off-beat actually helps it stay steady when you play it as written. Interesting. My left hand/wrist is getting stronger, because that song REALLY tires out my wrist, since I'm playing octaves pretty much the whole time. It's hard to explain unless you know the song. Anyways, it's good times.

cards

I joined the ranks of last-minute card-buyers this weekend for Father's Day. I'm usually on top of those things, but I kept putting it off. So there I was, Sunday morning after church at Walmart. This is no ordinary Walmart. This is the LEE'S SUMMIT Walmart, a horrid horrid place. I'm not a big shopping fan, but the Walmart in Maryville I like. Not that I could just go walk around there for hours (I think they put something in the vents because the place drains me like no other), but I don't mind going. The Walmart in LS is ALWAYS busy. It doesn't matter if it's 3 in the morning or 11am on a Sunday, the parking lot is always packed. I have given up trying to find a close spot and just park wherever. I walk in, trying to make this quick, and head to the card section. Unfortunantly, there are many many other people also in the card aisle. I bite back a groan, suck it up, and finally weasel my way into the aisle. I decided to go for the scoping out approach rather than join the crowd right in front of the cards. I hung back and checked out the cards from a distance until I found one that looked good. I then decided to make my move and go in for the snatch-and-grab. I took a step forward, it was clear sailing, and then some guy moved right in front of the card. Out of all the spaces to stand in front of the card wall, he stands in front of that card. And he's a slow reader. I wait and wait. Finally, I decide to flank him on the left and see if I can reach it from there. I move left, and he shifts his weight to the left, blocking my path yet again. I wait some more then finally decide just to go for it. I try and hint at the fact that he's in front of the card I want by over-extending my grab. He gets the hint and moves over slightly. But enough for me to get it. It was a good card too. I was glad because after all that, if it had been too cheezy, all would have been lost.

"Gimme a...!!"

I was asked many moons ago for kid stories at McD's. So far, the number of parents who think it's cute to let their 3-year old order are far and few between. We do get those special ones though. I have had parents try and let their kids order in the drive-through...from the back seat. First of all, it's really hard to hear someone in the backseat (note to all drive-throughers, have ONE person order the food, not everyone separate), and a small child makes it that much harder. They are incredibly indecisive. I have tons of people though, about three today, who will ask their children what they want and then we have to wait while the child cycles through about three different food/drink items before going back to the first. I've also had many a child scream until they get what they want, which is rather unpleasant for us and our ears, as well as the parent, I'm sure. Also, letting a young child try and count out your change is NOT cute when we have a full drive-through. The McDonald's drive-through is not the time for a math lesson.

Anyways, as for the title of my post, it refers to the girls in the cheerleading camp that are currently at the university. We had a bunch come in today, ponytails, ribbons, short shorts, glitter, and all. They were fine, but around 12:30 when both lanes and front counter were busy, I left my post in front drive-through and was running to get a shake when one of the cheerleading girls caught my eye. I figured she just wanted napkins or sauce or something so I stopped and asked her if she needed anything and she said, "Um yeah, there's like a big bug thing over there and one of the other girls said it was like a roach or something like that. So, um, could you, like, kill it? We need someone to come out and kill it." I just stared. ARE YOU SERIOUS? You are interupting me to tell me there's a BUG? Obnoxious! One of my managers overheard and trying REALLY hard not to laugh, she went and got a napkin to save the girls from the bug. She came back and said not only was it alllllll the way on the OTHER side of the store, but it wasn't even a roach. Nice. It's girls like that that give cheerleaders' their bad name. I just laughed. Guess they didn't want bug guts on their cheer shoes.

At my highschool, we never really had "cheerleader" cheerleaders. I went to a ghetto school, and there were no perky, ponytailed, glittery, bouncy cheerleaders. No saltine cracker dances or music for us. The most exciting thing they ever did was a pyramid, --two people on the bottom, one on top, so it wasn't even that impressive, but to us, it might as well been 5 layers high. We were VERY impressed, astounded was more like it. That didn't happen until my senior year, so I guess they spent the other four priming for that one shining moment. So my impression of cheerleaders was not the norm. But when I came to college and saw that there really WERE cheerleaders that fit the stereotype, it was quite eye-opening. One thing among many. Culture shock.

"...you too cute to dance?"

I was in the grill today at work. It was an INSANE day. Whoever was working on front counter drove me absolutly bananas ("bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s"). They did not know who to correctly grill a sandwich so we ended up making so much extra food. We got one for a double quarter without mustard and a double quarter without mayo. The first one, okay. The second? They don't COME with mayo so that was a pointless grill. So I made one without mustard, and one regular. Then my manager, who all day said today was her "monday" (which we all understood; I think it was everyone's monday) called back to me and said she needed a double quarter without mayo. Are you serious!? I said, "Um...that's it." "No, I need one WITHOUT mayo." "Double quarters don't COME with mayo!!" She then realized her mistake and felt pretty sheepish. But all day, we got grills that charged for extra pickles and mayo (which we don't do) and sandwiches like a fish without tartar and without pickles and onions. Um...they don't come with those, so after we made it then they sent it back and wanted it with extra tartar and with pickles and onions. We had so much extra food, and yet they kept calling back missed orders. It was crazed. Mr. Manager was driving us all crazy. I wanted to leap over the prep table, and "gou ge" my eyes out with a frozen fry. I didn't get out until 15 after. There were six of us off at 1:00 (Mr. Manager lost his "A-Team") and we all ran like cockroaches from a light.

But on the upside, we did have some good times in grill. We danced today. Actually, I danced and had to school them on some of the classic dances. I was the only one who knew the Roger Rabbit, so I had to demonstrate. I also discovered that I could do the moonwalk with two McChicken wrappers (our "non-slip" shoes make the moonwalk next to impossible, but McChicken wrappers provide the necessary slickness needed in performing this step). I'd done it once before, but it was on request, so there was a second showing. Our bun lady performed "The Pony," which is a move I think Richard Simmons has done. "I'm a pony! I'm a pony!" We kept coaxing our meat person to do the robot, but he never did. He claimed he could, but without sufficient proof, we have our doubts. I do a mad Sprinkler, but without proper props, it really is sub-sufficient. The Lawn Mower is a favorite though...

Bust a move.

McLists

Odd sandwiches I've made at McD's:
-McChicken with ketchup, lettuce, mayo
-McChicken with tartar
-McChicken with big mac sauce and mayo
-Fish with ketchup and pickles
-Fish with Big Mac sauce
-Fish with Big Mac sauce AND tartar sauce

Rudest customers have generally been:
-Elderly people and women (the 26-30 crowd)

Least likely to take the drink carrier:
-Women (I'd say I've only seen 2 guys give it back, and they had their wives with them)

Slowest customers:
-Elderly (Finding that penny REALLY doesn't help anyone out)

Hardest to hear in drive through:
-Diesel trucks--TURN YOUR ENGINE OFF!, and this one guy

Easiest sandwiches to make:
-Quarter/Double quarters
-Cheeseburgers

Easiest for breakfast:
-Sausage biscuit

Hardest (read that, most annoying) to make:
-Big and Tasty (not sure why, but I HATE making them)

Worst smell:
-The sausage trays and gravy tray in the mornings

Routine customers:
"senior coffee, one sugar"
"I'd like a large coffee please." (always gets one packet of sugar, stirrer thing, and napkin)
"biscuit with sausage" (always throws off the new people)
"#3 without cheese and a Dr. Pepper"
"#11 without onions and a coke"
"Lg. Dr. Pepper"
"Lg Diet Dr. Pepper"
"Biscuit and gravy...that's all."
"Senior cold drink" (he walks in and we just ask, "cold or hot?" sometimes he gets coffee)
"Morning Mac meal (a lonely sandwich, no one else orders it), with an extra hashbrown and a large drink"
"Egg biscuit with a fork, pancakes and sausage with diet syrup, cinnamon roll, and two senior drinks"

I'll stop for now, although we have other regulars, but those are the best ones.

Carry on.

McThoughts

I have come to be what I have always loathed. Ever since I understood the concept of working at a job and stuff, I have always told myself that I would never work at a job that I really disliked. If I couldn't get up and find one good reason to go to work, I would quit. So much for that. Don't get me wrong, I understand that you have to do things in life you don't want to, and I'm down with that. Take McDonald's for instance. There are, surprisingly, some good things about working there. There are some really fun people that work there, the regular customers are cool, and I am glad for the experience of working fast-food. But I know for a fact that I would not work there the rest of my life. SO really, I'm talking long-term career here. I see people working at McDonald's who have been there for over 25 years and really don't like being there. That was what I never wanted to do. I know tons of people who have found themselves working at places that they don't like, they just put in time, waiting...for something. Just waiting. Maybe for Godot. I consolled myself with the idea that McD's was a temp. thing and soon I would be going to grad school. Hm. But it appears I will have to wait another year or more before that happens, and that drives me crazy. I am angered at myself for that reason. I won't be at McD's but so far, the other option is not much better. Everyone (fallacitical generalization) says "oh, it's just one more year..." but that's ONE MORE YEAR of NOT doing what I enjoy, staring at the clock every hour, living for weekends, and dreading Mondays. *sigh* But such is life. No worries. I'll make the most of it, be cheerful, and do the best I can at whatever I do. I will become another person in the queue, waiting for that "some day..." But someday I will go to grad school and not board the bus of miserable jobs, but will proudly say, British accent and all, (this is for you Saddu) "Calm down, I'm NOT getting on the bus."

Next in line please.

Life's little pleasures

This makes me happy.

Numbering my days

My days at McDonald's are numbered! I am going to quit in August. I am very very excited. Where am I going next? Ah, you should be so fortunate to know! I shall keep you in suspense. You never know where I will end up next.

-------

Things I've been called through the drive-through:
-Girl
-Sweetie
-Baby
-Darlin'
-Kiddo
-Love
-Hon'
-Miss
-Ma'am (my least favorite)
-Babe

**Breaking McD news: New salad dressing, Italian. They say it's peppery.

I'm going to go run soon. I run barefoot. It's true, I really do, and I love it. I actually enjoy running now. I have pretty tough feet anyway because I always walk around barefoot, but I tried running unshodden last summer, and it worked for me. You really do realize that bad things you do when you run with shoes, and you can really improve your form when you can "feel" what you should be doing. Your feet and body naturally tell you what to do to run properly. For instance, running on the balls of your feet. Think about it, when you run with shoes, your heel hits first and you rely on the soles to absorb the shock. Imagine yourself running in slow-motion. When your foot hits on your heel, it hits hard and sends a shock through your legs and back. It's like hitting the brakes every time. Think of a kid, when they don't want to go somewhere and you try and pull them, they do what...dig in their heels, because they know it's like putting on the brakes. So everytime you hit, you're stopping yourself. If you run on the balls of your feet, first of all, that part of your foot is wider, (makes sense to land your weight on the widest part of your foot) and it absorbs more. You don't feel the slam into your knees when you land; the landing is a lot softer. You spring off them more.

Does it hurt? Not really. Like I said, my feet are tough, and when you land on rocks or pebbles, your feet naturally shift the weight away from the rock. It's really quite amazing how are bodies work. God knows what He's doing, hm. But when I land on something hard that would hurt my foot, my body unconciously shifts my weight away and another part of my foot or my other foot absorb the weight. Cool huh. Anyways, makes me happy...and saves a bunch on shoes! Seen the new Nike commercials? "Run Barefoot." They advertise a shoe. How about...just...running...um...barefoot?

That's all. Dismissed.

Marla

So I came across this child artist from one of my other fellow blogger's sites. She rules! Usually, I'm really not down with the "child artist" thing where it looks like my dog (if I had one) could walk across a painting and do far better. But this chick's got something different. Call me crazy, but her art is amazing! I don't know of many kids who could do that. It's more than scribbling or smearing paint on a page. My favorite is "Asian Sun." $450.00 for that bad actor. I would buy it...really. "Spots" and "Jungle" are also favorites. Haven't yet found the piggy...I hope that as she gets older, she sticks to the abstract stuff. I can see shapes and attempts at stuff in her latest works ("Everyone's House"). I wonder if her style will change as she gets older and becomes more conscious of shapes, symmetry and stuff like that. Hope not.