OWGAWE

This morning, I covered for the One-Who-Gets-Away-With-Everything this morning. It wasn’t like I was called at 5:30AM and asked if I could come in and cover for OWGAWE. No, I was asked yesterday, when she didn’t show up or call, to cover for her today because they figured she wouldn’t show up, or shouldn’t show up, I’m not sure which.

Yesterday, I went in at 6AM. (The store opens at 5AM, I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned it here before.) I saw the manager’s car parked out front, but didn’t think she was the opener because she opened with me the day before. I also saw that the tables and chairs weren’t put out and there was a pile of newspapers in front of the door. The guy coming out of the store, as I opened the door, said, “You don’t want to go in there. Trust me. You want to run away.”

I wasn’t sure what to think of this, most customers in that early tell me that I should have been there earlier so they could get their coffee faster.

I turned away from the guy and peered through the door. The room was darker than it should have been. I looked at the ceiling and noticed that only half the lights were on, the ones left on during the night. I saw about six people in front of the registers. And I tripped over the pile of pastries that were blocking the way to the back room.

I knew then that OWGAWE had been late.

I looked to my right to see who was there. Huh. Only Girl-I-Enjoy-Speaking-With and The Manager were behind the counter frantically making drinks, but not charging a single customer. Open, emptied, pastry boxes were scattered around the counter and floor. Ice coffee brewed. Tea steeped. Customers rolled their eyes. I fled to the back room to see if OWGAWE was hiding. She wasn’t.

I put on my apron and headed out front to help the best that I could. Together, with GIESW and The Manager, we blazed through the customers and could finally get to setting up the store. I wanted to ask GIESW what had happed, but knew that gossip had to come after the tables and chairs.

Too much time passed because who likes to lift tables and chairs that weigh a million pounds each?

Not enough time passed because I got to be outside instead of trapped in coffee smelling hell, even though it’s been hot and sticky recently.

As soon as I finished and The Manager left the front room, I charged over to GIESW and asked what happed.

“OWGAWE didn’t show up this morning,” she said.

“I figured,” I said.

“First I tried calling OWGAWE’s cell, but there was no answer, so I had to call The Manager. She didn’t get here until fifteen or twenty minutes ago. I just tried calling OWGAWE while you were outside, still no answer.”

OWGAWE is never on time when she’s the opening supervisor. Back in the days when she was the opening supervisor every morning (we opened at 5:30AM in those days), she’d show up fifteen or twenty minutes late every time. When other people are that late, once, we get a warning, usually a loud one that tells us never to do it again. The second time we do it, we get written up. I’m not quite sure what that is, but from what I gather, I don’t want it to happen to me. To the best of my knowledge, OWGAWE has only been written up once because I opened with her for three days on week and each day wrote in the log that she had been late, I don’t think OWGAWE was happy with that. The next day, one girl was a half-hour late and had called to say she over slept and would be late, OWGAWE pulled out the for and wrote the late one up. When the hours were changed so we opened earlier, she refused to come to work before 5:30, except to be the opening supervisor once, maybe twice, a week. Yesterday was her once this week and she didn’t show up.

At about 7:30, when the next person was scheduled to come in, The Manager told GIESW and me that she was concerned about OWGAWE. Not a “Where the hell is she!” like we usually hear when people are no call/no show.

At about 10:30, when I was on my lunch break, The Manager called OWGAWE’s friend who also works at this store. The friend knew nothing. The Manager then called OWGAWE’s brother, who is OWGAWE’s emergency contact and got him to go to OWGAWE’s house and find out what’s going on.

At about that same time, some girl from another store came to our store to cover for two people who were being sent home sick.

Noonish, GIESW came out of the back and headed straight to me. “We’ve just heard from OWGAWE’s brother,” she said and stared at me.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Well,” she said, suppressing a grin, “OWGAWE’s been asleep all this time.”

“Really?”

“Really. Apparently, she took some pills that her roommate gave her and has been asleep ever since.”

“Shit,” I said.

“I know,” GIESW said.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Today, GIESW and I came into work at the same time. Me to cover for OWGAWE and her to cover for The Manager so the schedule could, perhaps, be finished by the end of the day. (It wasn’t finished when I left this afternoon.) It looks like OWGAWE is once again getting away with it. The Manager doesn’t want to blame OWGAWE for what happened since it was because of medication, we are all assuming.

If I took something and slept through my shift, would I just get a pat on the head too?

I’d probably get a boot to the head, instead though. Oh, and I’d be written up for not coming to work one day and then again for the blood I’d probably leak on the floor.