Thirteen hours of work and a breath of
fresh air floating around in it. That would be work today.
I arrived at work slightly late because the bus driver who looks like a pedophile dumped a bum bus on our awesome black woman with attitude bus driver. I walked into the warehouse and who do I hear but Rebecca, our late and great warehouse manager of 35 years. Rebecca is Wonder Woman. Firstly, she survived all those years at the non-profit; secondly, she survived a very bad house fire that left her with burns all over her body and permanent scars (luckily they can be hidden). She has this crazy energy that keeps her twenty years younger than she is, a positive attitude, and a professional mindset.
So, there stood my breath of freah air ('scuse my cliches) and she soon turned into a whirling dervish, moving, sorting, cleaning, and organizing. She reminded me of all the small details and helped me with a better configuration for the outdoor setup and the lines. She gets along with Cecil, and well, just about everybody, some in smaller doses than others. Then Paul showed up and everything was complete. A group of four great workers and a crazy warehouse to be all dolled up.
For the next part, a recap:
A week or two ago, our lovelt Shmoozer comes into the warehouse to inform me that this girl is calling to volunteer. OK. I pick up the line and find out that she's a student at a local arts school and was just wondering if she could volunteer. I just sat there stunned. Stammering, I told her that she was quite welcomed to volunteer.
Today a girl my age in a dress way too nice to wear in the warehouse showed up. Her name is Maria and she is a fashion marketing major. Maria was so happy to be there. I gave her the penny tour and asked her if she knew designers. Ta da -- a new designer pricer was born. She spent her time in the air-conditioned area (I felt bad with her dress and everything and I like to use people in their element) tagging our wonderful designer outfits as Gwen, our warehouse staffer from AARP, put golden D's in the inside of each garment, one of our ways to protect theft.
Soon our purse and jewelry pricer showed up to peruse the area for any items she neglected to price. Her friend showed up bearing clothes :( but also volunteered for a few hours :). I finished hanging up the neverending bags of scarves, moving 2x4s to the side of the building, adjusting jewelry counters, etc., etc.
Work ended and only Cecil, Rebecca, Paul, and I were left. After hoisting this huge pegboard into the warehouse, we declared that we deserved dinner on the non-profit. We rejoiced at Denny's and had a great time talkin' and gawking out the menu and listening to Rebecca recount her Greyhound Nightmare to Ohio.
Cecil and Rebecca left shortly thereafter and Paul and I stayed until 10 PM, tagging men's pants, storing shoes behind the pegboard, cleaning up the floor, and admiring Rebecca's work. We found some sci-fi books in so-so condition to take home (we would have donated them to Brandeis otherwise). I really enjoy working with such casual, earnest, and unpolitic peers.
The only downside of today is that I am now investigating the possibility that one of our best member volunteers has been stealing from us for years. I wonder whether or not this is even worth the time. This is the last sale and maybe I should just let it go. Everyone would support her. Then again, she has a profound problem if my suspicions, supported by very reilable source and to be backed up by many others if necessary, prove true.
I just can't wait.