Days Back

The fact that Optimus Prime is Jewish! has nothing to do with this post.

Does anyone out there want to know about my work? Anyone? I see one hand out there. I suppose that's enough for me.

Okay, as I posted before, I got rehired on Monday. Tuesday, I went in and spent an hour filling out all the paperwork, again, but I'm told I'll get paid for two, hooray!

While I was filling out the paperwork (and talking to Claire about her trip to China, which I was hoping I could link to, but it wasn't at the DUDs website) my manager came to me and offered me some hours on Wednesday, four, to be exact, from 5 to 9 of her shift so she could be non-coverage. I took them, of course. Later, she was entering the information in the computer, and she offered me more hours, 1 to 9. I said yeah and then went home.

I woke up in the morning and went to school. I'm always bored there, it's an introduction to the internet class. So, I started to quiz myself on what I could remember about Starbucks. The codes that go on the cups. The number of pumps in the drinks and the exceptions to those rules. The temp of milk. How to make good foam. You know, the important things, and I couldn't remember very well. I got nervous. I started to think that I had made a mistake and I shouldn't go back. My hands were clammy. As I drove from school to work my stomach felt upset, but I went to work anyway.

I couldn't clock in with my numbers, I guess one day isn't enough for the computer to get everything together, so I had to use my social and because of that I didn't have to have a till. I got to work bar for 8 hours. I've never done that. I was so good on drive, I was always stuck there taking the orders. My fears were warranted, at first. I had to look up a few recipes and use the cheats to get the pumps right and there were some new codes (I had no idea what a PM was, last year we weren't allowed to write that for Peppermint Mocha). After the first hour, though, all my previous time at that store just kicked in. I didn't have to think about anything. I just pumped, steamed, and pulled. It was oddly liberating. I found myself contemplating the psychological need of some people to be micro-managers while I was making a dry cap. This was probably about hour three. It was a strangely good day.

Oh, and when I first showed up in the back room (office at other stores, I gather) I got a standing ovation. That was odd.