On The Outside Looking In (Part 2)
When last we spoke in Part 1, I was telling you a couple of stories. One was about customers who used to come to the Movie Gallery store where I worked trying to return movies after we closed. These customers had five days to return their movies but still they waited until the last minute and ended up outside the store, banging on the class, knowing they would have to pay late fees. The other story was about my wonderful dog Maggie and how she’ll go outside to use the bathroom and often come back covered in mud and dirt and other gross stuff. She’ll tap on the door but we won’t let her inside because she’s not clean.
If both of these stories ended there, they would be pretty disappointing stories. Really, who wants to hear about people having to pay late fees for their foolishness, or a dog who’s stuck outside and eternally filthy?
Thankfully, both of those stories have second halves.
Voice Your Choice
My Choices...
In the summer of 2006, I briefly worked at two different jobs. As a two year Senior Customer Service Associate at Movie Gallery I was not exactly earning the big bucks I thought I deserved for my tireless efforts in servicing the community’s movie and video game rental needs. During my two years at the store I had struck up relationships with a few of the store’s most frequent customers. The manager of the area Family Christian Stores was one of these customers whom I knew by name and would often converse with at the store.
One night he mentioned to me that he could use some extra help at his store and encouraged me to turn in an application there. Wanting to help out both him and my wallet, I applied and was quickly hired. All of the sudden my summer fashion decision was no longer which bathing suit would I wear each day but whether I would be wearing a red polo and khaki pants for Movie Gallery or a white polo and black pants for Family Christian Stores.
The two summer months that followed were hardly a vacation as I spent most days working at least one if not both of my jobs. Neither job was particularly difficult, but it did become stressful going from one to the other and back, trying to remember which day I was working at which place and which sales to promote and so on and so on. Soon, the stress of working two jobs began to wear on me. One fateful night I finally snapped under the pressure. This was not just any night though. This was a night I feared would happen eventually – a night I was put on the schedule to work at both stores at the exact same time. (more…)
Scar Tissue
The Mark Of My Foolish Pride
The first few days of the school year are always a little awkward. We’ve all had our fair share of awkward moments at school. Some of us have peed our pants, some of us have worn our clothes inside out. Some of us have done both (like me). But look closely above my left eyelid and under my eyelash (pictured above) and you’ll see a small scar, the mark of the most embarrassing (and nerdiest) moment I ever had on school grounds.
I Was There
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I was there. The “there” that I’m referring to is Wrestlemania XX at Madison Square Garden in New York City. For my 18th birthday and my graduation gift, my parents sent me and my best friend to see this once in a lifetime event. Even then we didn’t know it would be such a glorious occasion. Our favorite superstar Chris Benoit (on the left, celebrating with best friend Eddie Guerrero) would walk out of the ring that night with his first ever World Heavyweight Championship. Sure, pro wrestling’s just an act, but to us, as fans who’d followed Benoit for years, it was hard to separate his real emotions from our own. Like a great Broadway production, the ending of Wrestlemania XX sucked us right in. It was an unforgettable moment to see Benoit achieve his dreams and win the belt, and I even still have a piece of confetti that fell from the ceiling as a keepsake.
For three and a half years afterward, seeing Chris Benoit win the main event at Wrestlemania XX in Madison Square Garden would rank as without a doubt one of the most special moments of my life. And then this happened: (more…)
