Dad told me about a movie he watched recently, called Caveman or something similar. SPOILERS FOR CAVEMAN MOVIE NEXT PARAGRAPH? It’s related to the comic. Sort of. If you’re never going to watch it you can just read on.
In the movie, a professor is explaining to his colleagues why he must leave his job when everything is going so well. Turns out, he is an immortal man and has existed since cavemen times. He doesn’t know why, but he is. The movie goes on with him explaining different times of his life, specifically about his times with Buddha and learning how to control his mind and breath, and of course the professors, never totally buying it but urging his stories on, ask if he’s ever met Jesus. Getting uncomfortable, he says he doesn’t like to talk about it. After more urging, he gives in. He WAS Jesus. He was trying to spread Buddhism! But, as you know, things didn’t go so well. He says he wasn’t nailed to the cross but rather tied up, since a long and torturous death was preferred to bleeding to death (actually I heard somewhere that death came quickly when crucified because you can’t breathe in that position for too long. I’ll have to look it up). Using his knowledge of breathing control and other Buddhist techniques, he slowed his heart rate down so low that he was presumed dead, removed from the cross, and put into a cave. At that point he decides he needs to escape and move on, but as he makes his way out of the cave he finds, to his bewilderment, a bunch of people waiting for him. Poor guy. I think he just makes a run for it at that point but I don’t remember. But yeah… I thought that was a cute story about Jesus. Probably offensive to Jesus people but… it’s a movie.
END SPOILERS.
I’ve had two great days in a row. Yesterday I had a plan of attack aimed at Harris Teeter (middle class grocery store in the south) to get a job. Somehow I’ve applied at Harris Teeter 4 or 5 times in my life and gotten through training 3 or 4 times. It seems strangely easy for me to get a job there, it’s just a manner of keeping it. I often get panic attacks after training and never start working. Once I had been working for two weeks, came home, realized I had been working my ass off, fighting through anxiety and thoughts of suicide for the past 4 hours for 28 dollars, 1 hour of which bought me a sandwich, and cried and hyperventilated and never went back. Then I went back. After a week or so I had a panic attack, went on break and sat in the break room, rocking in a plastic chair until finally I ripped off my safety vest and rushed through the store and out the front door. So, why would I go back now? Because, despite appearing as a hell dimension in my head, it’s a hell dimension I know and am comfortable with. Not saying it’s a bad place to work because it’s not, just… just for crazy people like me…
But yeah, going back. Need money. Corey told me to never think about how much you are making at a crappy job until you get the paycheck. It’s better not to think of the smaller numbers. I also decided to settle for cashier this time. All they want the girls to do is cashier, because girls tend to be more trustworthy with money and they are nicer for the customers, so it’s harder to get a different job there (ie bagger, my favorite. I like the exercise and the lack of customer service.). So, step one, apply online. If you don’t apply online to a place the first thing the manager will say to you is “APPLY ONLINE.” Well, they tell you this either way, and you can tell this is an automatic response for them from telling all those people who don’t apply online. Step two, call and ask if the hiring manager is in and for their name. I did this yesterday with much luck. His name is Shane and he’s in at noon.
Step three, go introduce yourself to the manager. It surprises me when people don’t know of this step (Corey!). These places get 100s of applicants in a week, how will they distinguish you from the others? Of course most people don’t go in because they don’t want to try that hard to get a job. Me neither, but I know that’s the best way to do it. “Hi, I’m BLANK, I applied online and just wanted to know if you are hiring…?” You may already know if they are hiring, but I can’t think of anything better to say. If they are good managers they will take it from there. Write down your name and phone number and go look up your application after you leave. Step four, wait. If they don’t call in three days, call them. Repeat until hired. It’s not annoying if you wait every three days. Managers are extremely busy and just forget the less important things (you).
So, I was on my way to meet Corey for lunch and then go to Harris Teeter afterwards (the promise of delicious food seems to be the only motivator to get me out of the house so I usually set things up that way). On the way over, I get a call from Harris Teeter. WHAT THE?? THEY NEVER CALL. EVER. Are they desperate?! GOOD! And why me, out of all the applicants? AM I SPECIAL? (I figure there’s a few flags: over 18, female, some college, previous HT experience. One guy also told me that my personality test scored extremely high (well duh I put down what you want to hear, but thanks I will still brag about it)).
I called Shane back, he asked if I wanted a job and if I could come in for an interview, so I said, “Yes, I’m coming in at 2.” No, but really, I said I had been planning to come in at 2 and if that was okay. He was surprised but it was good. Went to lunch, went to the interview, was a little uneasy until he said, “Actually, we’re not looking for cashiers right now, but we need someone for the deli and bakery area.” JOY! JOY! JOOOOOOY! I HATE CASHIERING! Well, it’s fun, except for the people. He did also say that to work there you had to love people, and asked if I had a problem with that. “Pffft, I like people!” (LIE). Pretty much if you reach this point with HT you are hired, just have to pass the background check (what background!) and drug test (never touched ‘em) and then go to training. I hope I don’t have to take the same damn test I always take… it’s supposed to take 4 to 5 hours. I did it in 3 last time because I’d done it twice before and remembered a lot of the content. The manager looked at me like I had an egg sticking out my nostril. I know, I’m amazing at these things that mean nothing anywhere else.
So yeah, great day #1. Great day #2 is because of that day, since I have to wait for my background check to go through I am off the job-hunting hook. I AM FREE. I barely even remember that I did all that sometimes. I won’t panic until after training, probably. *sigh* Can’t ruin this.
Anyway, today I spent the day reading The Hunger Games, which I finally bought yesterday at Walmart. I’m about halfway through and it’s pretty good. The writing is in first person but it’s not as fluid or detailed as one’s thoughts, it’s also full of short and biting observations, but I think that’s because the main girl is kind of dumb (smart for the rest of the people in the book) and kind of a dick, which makes me like her. I get annoyed at how she misinterprets everything, but it can’t be helped. I won’t go into more details because I’m sure you already know them.
Corey scoffs at me for reading it because he hates anything that is popular, not for the sake of being a non-comformist but because popular things are hyped too much and it gets annoying to him. I always try to give popular things a chance and it usually works out 50-50. I had to ever since I tried Harry Potter when I was young. The books looked dumb and read dumb but since everyone loved it I tried the movies and agreed they’re pretty damn good.
I’ve also been switching off with Spectral Force 3, an older tactics game for the xbox (a rare thing indeed). It is AWESOME. Maybe I’ll tell you about it some time, but I think I have talked too much already…