First, I should say that for the first time in a long time, I am actually enjoying what I am doing, job-wise. It's hard to imagine what working pretty much stress free feels like until one has actually been under constant stress for a period of several years. I now liken it to a small dog which was featured on an episode of It's Me or the Dog a while back. The dog was apparently nervous to begin with, but only got worse when the owners introduced a new dog into the household. It got to the point that the smaller dog was constantly shaking because his stress level peaked and it no longer could release the tension. I didn't realize that I was operating under the same conditions for almost ten years - slowly but surely tension building up and up, and while it might drop for a bit of time, it never came back down to normal levels. So year after year, the stress would keep rising, like going up an escalator, never allowing me to reach that bottom level. All that changed when I was one of the many victims of our lovely U.S. Government budget sequestration back in 2013. After the initial shock wore off, I couldn't believe how good it felt to finally wake up every day and not have to dread going to work; not having to fear what next disaster would hit me in the face like a brick again.
Anyway, now that I have been back at my retail job, albeit without the management position which started the whole stress escalator to begin with (but still making a nice salary thanks to that previous position), I finally can understand what being able to actually enjoy what you are doing (and thus being able to do it without undue stress) is like. But of course, there come those moments like today, when I just can't fathom how Americans can get through a day in their lives without forgetting how to breathe. Thank God that our Forefathers were a heck of a lot more intelligent and selfless than the Americans of today because we would still be flying the Union Jack otherwise. And what has brought me to this most magnanimous conclusion?
Milk.
More specifically, three packs of six Horizon Chocolate milk cartons. You know the kind - those little milk boxes that you would send with the kids' lunches. I found them this morning sitting in one of our freezer endcaps that had frozen pies, ice cream, and some other desserts. Now I can't blame someone for wanting an Apple Pie ice cream over some chocolate milk (although having both would sound even better), but not to even take the less than 30 seconds it would take to make the round trip to put the milk back where you got it from? If that is not the epitome of shear selfish laziness, I simply do not know what is. So now, according to food safety guidelines, we have to trash all three packs of that milk. Never mind the fact that is money for the store that is basically getting thrown away, but that's also three less packs that someone else is able to buy until we get a new shipment in. I am willing to bet that the person who left those packs of milk in the freezer would be the first to complain that something they need is out of stock. Got news for ya pal - it's probably not out of stock, but sitting somewhere else in the store because another ignoramus just like yourself just decided to dump it off instead of taking the time to either find an employee to give it to or just putting it back themselves. Of course this is something we deal with on a daily, and sometimes hourly, basis, but it still never ceases to amaze me how much of a lack of common sense, and common courtesy, we as Americans continue to show. But then again, it can't really come as any surprise from a society that legitimizes stupidity by having to have a warning on a hot cup of coffee lest some knucklehead burn themselves while keeping said cup of coffee between their legs while driving.
Well, at any rate, at least I can be thankful that this is the only thing I have to worry about today!
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