Okay, I have added some more stuff to this, and feel like I will add more before class time. But this is what I have so far.
The Art & Benefits of Yoga
Author: Michele Anderson
“You want me to put my foot where???” This is usually the first reaction to yoga by many people. What they don’t know is that yoga is not about tying yourself into a pretzel and trying to outdo the person sitting next to you (if you do you might find yourself in the Emergency Room). In the history of yoga, the main thing people focused on was their breathing. Even though it may sound silly, that is the hardest part, and I found this out for myself when I signed up for yoga this semester.
When I walked into yoga class in March, I didn’t think I would come out feeling like I have accomplished something. I was thinking, “Oh, this will be an easy A to help boost my GPA.” The reality is, I was completely wrong. Yoga is the one activity in my life that I actually look forward to. For me yoga gives me a sense of relaxation and at the same time energizes me for the rest of my day.
I had practiced yoga a couple of years ago on and off, so the poses weren’t that difficult for me. The usual atmosphere for deep breathing in yoga is when the lights are dimmed with a soft melodic symphony playing in the background. In a low, monotone voice I can hear the instructor saying, "let the busy thoughts of the day float out of your mind..." One of the first things as a student I was taught this year is that 60,000 thoughts pass through your mind in one day and for that hour and fifteen minutes you have with the instructor I was suppose to let those thoughts go?!?! Sounds kind of crazy, right? This is considered the hardest thing to do in yoga. At first I found myself closing my eyes and instead of focusing on “in and out” I was thinking, “I have to write a paper for class tomorrow, “or, “did I feed the dog this morning?”That is just a snippet of the thoughts going through my head. How do you get those to stop so that you can just think about your breathing? It takes lots and lots of practice to perfect deep breathing. Many students of the past even considered the deep breathing and the moves therapeutic.
According to Dr. Judith Balk from the University of Pittsburgh, “Osteoporosis is one of the most common skeletal disorders… and 34 million more have low bone mass, or osteopenia, the precursor to osteoporosis” (Balk 63). Studies were done by Balk and associates to test the results of a 12 week yoga program on women with osteopenia. Out of the few that completed the study, 3 of them showed, “As Yoga duration increased, bone formation markers increased” (Balk et. al. 66).
Some people even use yoga as a form of stress relief. The breathing exercises help to lengthen your breathing and slow down your heart rate. This decreases the amount of tension and stress that runs through your body.
The best part about yoga is that it’s not just for one gender in particular. There are men and women alike that practice yoga on a daily basis. These are the people that we consider yogis. In our society today, there are studios throughout the DC metropolitan area that have yoga for a broad spectrum of people, including: pregnancy, infants, toddlers, and children as well. It helps kids with active minds to calm themselves and be able to focus on a single task without their thoughts drifting off.
We all find ourselves sneaking a peak at the people surrounding us and giggling at how they are doing with downward dog, warrior pose, and happy baby. And to the average person these all might sound like moves out of a karma sutra book, they are used by many yogis in their daily routine of yoga.
From many students that have taken yoga in the past, doing it has changed their lives. Some students have (anonymously) reported, “I have been dealing with back pain for more than 5 years, and doing the standing poses has certainly reduced my back ache.” Some even liked yoga for the breathing exercises. One person wrote how yoga made them, “feel that my stress level has gone down and the breathing techniques allow more oxygen and have longer and deeper breaths.”
So for many people yoga is not just a way to get an easy A on their record. Yoga is not a race to the finish line against the other students in the class, but a release from the real world. According to a previous yoga student, “Yoga is not a competition with my peers but a self check-up.”
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
The Art and Benefits of Yoga
**Ok, for some reason Blogger was not letting me load any photos on here, so you get just the writing part of it. My group will get the original one I did on Word with the pictures through e-mail.**
“You want me to do what???” This is usually the first reaction to yoga by many people. What they don’t know is that yoga is not about tying yourself into a pretzel and trying to outdo the person sitting next to you (if you do you might find yourself in the Emergency Room). Yoga is about finding your inner peace with yourself, and yes, it also help to strengthen your core as well.
When I walked into yoga class in March, I didn’t think I would come out feeling like I have accomplished something. I was thinking, “Oh, this will be an easy A to help boost my GPA.” The reality is, I was completely wrong. Yoga is the one activity in my life that I actually look forward to. For me yoga gives me a sense of relaxation and at the same time energizes me for the rest of my day. That is just my story, yoga affects the lives of many throughout the world, and some even find it therapeutic.
According to Dr. Judith Balk from the University of Pittsburgh, “Osteoporosis is one of the most common skeletal disorders… and 34 million more have low bone mass, or osteopenia, the precursor to osteoporosis” (Balk 63). Studies were done by Balk and associates to test the results of a 12 week yoga program on women with osteopenia. Out of the few that completed the study, 3 of them showed, “As Yoga duration increased, bone formation markers increased” (Balk et. al. 66).
Some people even use yoga as a form of stress relief. The breathing exercises help to lengthen your breathing and slow down your heart rate. This decreases the amount of tension and stress that runs through your body. So far I have focused on the positives for the women that take yoga, what about the guys?
In my current yoga class there are a few guys that play baseball and use yoga as a strengthen tool for their games. Some of them also just use it for the stretches.
We all find ourselves sneaking a peak at the people surrounding us and giggling at how they are doing with downward dog, warrior pose, and happy baby. And to the average these all might sound like moves out of a karma sutra book, they are used by many yogi’s in a daily routine of yoga.
From many students that have taken it in the past it has changed their lives. Some students have (anonymously) reported, “I have been dealing with back pain for more than 5 years, and doing the standing poses has certainly reduced my back ache.” Some even liked yoga for the breathing exercises. One person wrote how yoga made them, “feel that my stress level has gone down and the breathing techniques allow more oxygen and have longer and deeper breaths.”
So for many people yoga is not just a way to get an easy A on their record. “Yoga is not a competition with my peers but a self check-up.”
Word Count: 505
“You want me to do what???” This is usually the first reaction to yoga by many people. What they don’t know is that yoga is not about tying yourself into a pretzel and trying to outdo the person sitting next to you (if you do you might find yourself in the Emergency Room). Yoga is about finding your inner peace with yourself, and yes, it also help to strengthen your core as well.
When I walked into yoga class in March, I didn’t think I would come out feeling like I have accomplished something. I was thinking, “Oh, this will be an easy A to help boost my GPA.” The reality is, I was completely wrong. Yoga is the one activity in my life that I actually look forward to. For me yoga gives me a sense of relaxation and at the same time energizes me for the rest of my day. That is just my story, yoga affects the lives of many throughout the world, and some even find it therapeutic.
According to Dr. Judith Balk from the University of Pittsburgh, “Osteoporosis is one of the most common skeletal disorders… and 34 million more have low bone mass, or osteopenia, the precursor to osteoporosis” (Balk 63). Studies were done by Balk and associates to test the results of a 12 week yoga program on women with osteopenia. Out of the few that completed the study, 3 of them showed, “As Yoga duration increased, bone formation markers increased” (Balk et. al. 66).
Some people even use yoga as a form of stress relief. The breathing exercises help to lengthen your breathing and slow down your heart rate. This decreases the amount of tension and stress that runs through your body. So far I have focused on the positives for the women that take yoga, what about the guys?
In my current yoga class there are a few guys that play baseball and use yoga as a strengthen tool for their games. Some of them also just use it for the stretches.
We all find ourselves sneaking a peak at the people surrounding us and giggling at how they are doing with downward dog, warrior pose, and happy baby. And to the average these all might sound like moves out of a karma sutra book, they are used by many yogi’s in a daily routine of yoga.
From many students that have taken it in the past it has changed their lives. Some students have (anonymously) reported, “I have been dealing with back pain for more than 5 years, and doing the standing poses has certainly reduced my back ache.” Some even liked yoga for the breathing exercises. One person wrote how yoga made them, “feel that my stress level has gone down and the breathing techniques allow more oxygen and have longer and deeper breaths.”
So for many people yoga is not just a way to get an easy A on their record. “Yoga is not a competition with my peers but a self check-up.”
Word Count: 505
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Profile Post Re-Revised
**My post is similar to Stephanie's. I have revised it, but there are still some things I will probably revise again before class tomorrow.**
"Well, look what the cat drug in!" This is the type of thing my dad would say whenever I would get home from school. What does this mean? I didn't have a cat attached to me and nothing was dragging me in except for the car. He usually used these sayings when he had been sitting in his garage and was bored out of his mind. He's really just looking for someone to talk to and was excited to see someone pull in the driveway. Visiting with my dad usually consisted of sitting in the garage in silence. It might have been silence to my ears but in my dad's world it was a whole other ball game. I could sit there and stare at him for hours and he wouldn't know because memories of the past were eluding his mind.
Dad is a man of few words. The only words that really trigger a good conversation with him are "tractor, John Deere, beagle, and beer." If you want to talk about anything else it's a one sided conversation with you doing all the talking. He might add the occasional "huh" and shake his head back and forth.
While still living at home I took my first airplane ride and had my first visit to Washington, D.C. I came home exhausted, but excited to tell my dad all about my trip. I went to the garage (because he wouldn't be in the house unless he was eating or sleeping) and gave him a big hug.
"Hey dad!"
"Hey Shell"
"I had a really great time in D.C."
"I saw the White House, the Capitol Building, and the World War II Memorial…"
"huh"
This was the perfect example of having a one sided conversation with him. Seeing that this was not going anywhere I immediately decided to change the topic to see if I could get him talking a little bit.
"There were lots of people out walking their dogs. One person had two little beagle pups. They were so-
"Really what color were they? Were they male? Female? Tricolor? Yellow? How big were they? You know that if you can straighten out their ears and they come down to almost touch their noses they are really good hunting dogs…"
I look back and remember how annoyed I was that he didn't want to hear the interesting parts of my story. He didn't want to hear about the amazing pictures I took of the monuments. I wanted to know the details of some stranger's beagle pups. Once he got done questioning me about the dogs I left the garage while I could because I knew he wouldn't come into the house.
You will never see him in the house either. His house is the garage. It's fully equipped with DirectTV, wood burning stove, and two full size refrigerators (one of them holds all of the soda and the other his Michelob Ultra).
His wardrobe consists of white t-shirts and handkerchiefs, blue jeans, tube socks, his work boots, and his flannel shirts in the winter. Oh yeah, and don't forget his John Deere hat regardless of what season it is. Because of his refusal to buy new clothes my sister and I always end up getting him something to add to his wardrobe at Christmas time.
The summer time was my favorite growing up with my dad. Because I was out of school, dad would be the first one home from work. He smelled of asphalt and cigarette smoke from working construction outside. Usually he would want to sit in his garage for a little bit to cool off and then hang around outside with my older sister and me. After a few days of heat we would get a huge thunderstorm come through the town. My dad and I were the only ones that liked to sit on the front porch and watch the storm come in. We would watch it without a word being said, but you could see them as he would stare into space and smile. After the thirty minutes of silence he proceeded to tell me what he's thinking about,
"once there was a storm that caused a tornado that came through here. I remember having to get into the cellar with mom and dad."
We sat a few more minutes in silence and the smile faded from his face as he looked in the direction of the storm. "We better get on in the house," he would say. "Okay dad." As we headed towards the house he would remember, "I forgot to put the tractor in the garage, go ahead I'll be in in a minute Shell."
As the storm moved closer my sister and I hurried to get our baths in case the electricity would go out. My dad and I would end up watching the rest of the storm from inside after being cleaned up and then I headed to bed after a hug from his tired but muscular arms and a kiss with his scruffy beard scratching my face.
Most of my fondest memories of my dad are sitting on the front porch or in his garage. He is reminded of his childhood by things surrounding him. There would be a truck coming down the road and immediately he would be reminded of home. "My dad used'ta have a truck like that," he would say. I would then see his eyes start to glisten as he would remember the special times he spent with his dad in that truck.
Spending all of these times with my dad and looking back on them really makes me realize how lucky I am to have such caring and structure in my life. Even though we are separated by seven hours worth of driving now, I still manage a grin when I hear the voice on the other end of the phone, "Hello?"
"Hi dad!"
"Hi sugars how ya doin! How are things goin over there?"
"Fine. How are things at home with Mandy and the kids?"
"Things are gettin better, how's work?"
"Same ole, same ole, dad."
"That's good; I'll let ya talk to your mom, Love you sugars!"
"Love you too dad."
These conversations remind me of the good old days of sitting on the porch with nothing being said, but a million things to listen to.
Word Count: 850
Monday, April 5, 2010
Yoga Journal Feature Article
According to Yoga Journal being in tune with your inner self involves more than just meditation in a biweekly yoga class. Making yoga part of who you are and making it part of your spiritual being makes you a yogi. You have to be in tune with nature.
Being a current biweekly yoga class person I find that just those two times a week isn’t enough to get me through my daily stress of working full time, going to school full time, and sometimes having more homework than I can handle. I am definitely intrigued at the links yogi’s go to to make yoga part of everything that surrounds them.
I would love to be able to say that before I put together a prefabricated home that I made sure that it was okay with the land and the trees through listening to their souls and getting approval. I would love to be that in tune with nature that when placing my hand on a tree I can feel the inhalation and exhalation of the tree sync with my own.
I would love to say that there is no separation between where my feet and the ground come in contact with each other. Being one with nature is a true importance in the everyday living of a yogi.
Word Count: 218
Being a current biweekly yoga class person I find that just those two times a week isn’t enough to get me through my daily stress of working full time, going to school full time, and sometimes having more homework than I can handle. I am definitely intrigued at the links yogi’s go to to make yoga part of everything that surrounds them.
I would love to be able to say that before I put together a prefabricated home that I made sure that it was okay with the land and the trees through listening to their souls and getting approval. I would love to be that in tune with nature that when placing my hand on a tree I can feel the inhalation and exhalation of the tree sync with my own.
I would love to say that there is no separation between where my feet and the ground come in contact with each other. Being one with nature is a true importance in the everyday living of a yogi.
Word Count: 218
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Love Me (Dialogue Assignment)
“What was that?”
“What was what?”
“That noise.”
“I didn’t hear any noise.”
“Really? It came from that direction over there, by the window. Can you check?”
“I’ll check by the window, but I’m telling you that there’s nothing out there. Everything is fine.”
“Why do you never believe anything that I tell you? You always treat me like I am some kind of psychotic person that does not know what she is talking about.”
“I don’t think that, I just think….”
“You do think that! Do not lie to me. That is something else that bugs me. You tell me things just to make me feel better and that just makes me feel worse.”
*rolls his eyes* “Would you just shut up and listen to me. I don’t think you are a psychotic person. You are always blowing things out of proportion. I’m telling you that you’re just being sensitive.”
“I’m not being sensitive, I’m just telling you how I feel and…there’s that noise again. I swear it is over by the window. It sounds like something is trying to break in.”
I am telling you THERE-IS-NO-ONE-OUT-THERE! Now stop acting like a two year old that’s afraid of the monster under your bed. You are being ridiculous.”
“How do you know that no one is out there?”
“Because I looked outside and it’s just a tree limb that’s hitting the window because of the wind.”
“Oh. Well, I told you something was trying to break in, I didn’t tell you that it was a person.”
*sighs* “What am I going to do with you?”
“Love me.” *smiles and bats her eyes*
Word Count: 272
“What was what?”
“That noise.”
“I didn’t hear any noise.”
“Really? It came from that direction over there, by the window. Can you check?”
“I’ll check by the window, but I’m telling you that there’s nothing out there. Everything is fine.”
“Why do you never believe anything that I tell you? You always treat me like I am some kind of psychotic person that does not know what she is talking about.”
“I don’t think that, I just think….”
“You do think that! Do not lie to me. That is something else that bugs me. You tell me things just to make me feel better and that just makes me feel worse.”
*rolls his eyes* “Would you just shut up and listen to me. I don’t think you are a psychotic person. You are always blowing things out of proportion. I’m telling you that you’re just being sensitive.”
“I’m not being sensitive, I’m just telling you how I feel and…there’s that noise again. I swear it is over by the window. It sounds like something is trying to break in.”
I am telling you THERE-IS-NO-ONE-OUT-THERE! Now stop acting like a two year old that’s afraid of the monster under your bed. You are being ridiculous.”
“How do you know that no one is out there?”
“Because I looked outside and it’s just a tree limb that’s hitting the window because of the wind.”
“Oh. Well, I told you something was trying to break in, I didn’t tell you that it was a person.”
*sighs* “What am I going to do with you?”
“Love me.” *smiles and bats her eyes*
Word Count: 272
Monday, March 22, 2010
Dad (Profile Piece)
***I totally changed the person I was going to do my profile on. Sorry for the last minute switch.***
“Well, look what the cat brought in!” This is the type of thing my dad would say whenever I would get home from school. My dad is as country as country can get. He was born back in the hollows and had an outhouse for a small amount of time when he was younger. He comes from a family of six children. Most of them were farmers. His highest education was high school and barely graduated in 1963. Whenever my mom and I would go somewhere and asked him if he wanted to come his reply would be, “you guys go ahead, I have to stay and take care of my dogs. That’s just the kind of guy he is.
Dad is a man of few words. The only things that really get him talking are the words “John Deere, tractor, beagle, and beer.” If you want to talk about anything else it’s a one sided conversation with you doing all the talking. He might add the occasional “huh” and shake his head back and forth. You will never see him in the house either. His house is the garage. It’s fully equipped with DirectTV, wood burning stove, and two full size refrigerators. One of them holds all of the soda and the other his Michelob Ultra.
His wardrobe consists of white t-shirts and handkerchiefs, blue jeans, tube socks, his work boots, and his flannel shirts in the winter. Oh yeah, and don’t forget his John Deere hat regardless of what season it is. Because of his refusal to buy new clothes my sister and I always end up getting him something to add to his wardrobe at Christmas time.
Being a man that has worked construction all of his life, he has a very set routine. He is up before the sun and my mom gets up with him. She makes his breakfast of “EggBeaters” and bacon while he takes a five minute shower. When I lived at home the smell of his deodorant and aftershave would tickle my nose. It made me run out to him and give him a hug. This became our routine. I would brush my face against his cleanly shaven stubble. He would squeeze me with what I thought to be his muscular arms. I would also feel the chapped cracked skin on his fingers when he would squeeze my hands. This was from the thirty-five plus years of working construction and being outside.
He would get home a little before me since he went to work so early in the morning. We would share some time in the garage talking about our days. I would go in to start my homework while he would piddle around in his garage doing little projects that mom had for him.
My mom would get home later and start dinner for us. By this time I would be finishing with my homework and he would finish up with his projects of mowing the grass, gluing something together, or just cleaning his garage. Once he finished we would all come in to eat together.
After dinner, the sun starts to go down. It’s time for him to go to bed. He kisses my sister and I on the heads, gives us each a hug making a grunting noise, and says, “love ya.” He then heads back the hallway to the bedroom so he can wake up before the sun again.
Word Count: 572
“Well, look what the cat brought in!” This is the type of thing my dad would say whenever I would get home from school. My dad is as country as country can get. He was born back in the hollows and had an outhouse for a small amount of time when he was younger. He comes from a family of six children. Most of them were farmers. His highest education was high school and barely graduated in 1963. Whenever my mom and I would go somewhere and asked him if he wanted to come his reply would be, “you guys go ahead, I have to stay and take care of my dogs. That’s just the kind of guy he is.
Dad is a man of few words. The only things that really get him talking are the words “John Deere, tractor, beagle, and beer.” If you want to talk about anything else it’s a one sided conversation with you doing all the talking. He might add the occasional “huh” and shake his head back and forth. You will never see him in the house either. His house is the garage. It’s fully equipped with DirectTV, wood burning stove, and two full size refrigerators. One of them holds all of the soda and the other his Michelob Ultra.
His wardrobe consists of white t-shirts and handkerchiefs, blue jeans, tube socks, his work boots, and his flannel shirts in the winter. Oh yeah, and don’t forget his John Deere hat regardless of what season it is. Because of his refusal to buy new clothes my sister and I always end up getting him something to add to his wardrobe at Christmas time.
Being a man that has worked construction all of his life, he has a very set routine. He is up before the sun and my mom gets up with him. She makes his breakfast of “EggBeaters” and bacon while he takes a five minute shower. When I lived at home the smell of his deodorant and aftershave would tickle my nose. It made me run out to him and give him a hug. This became our routine. I would brush my face against his cleanly shaven stubble. He would squeeze me with what I thought to be his muscular arms. I would also feel the chapped cracked skin on his fingers when he would squeeze my hands. This was from the thirty-five plus years of working construction and being outside.
He would get home a little before me since he went to work so early in the morning. We would share some time in the garage talking about our days. I would go in to start my homework while he would piddle around in his garage doing little projects that mom had for him.
My mom would get home later and start dinner for us. By this time I would be finishing with my homework and he would finish up with his projects of mowing the grass, gluing something together, or just cleaning his garage. Once he finished we would all come in to eat together.
After dinner, the sun starts to go down. It’s time for him to go to bed. He kisses my sister and I on the heads, gives us each a hug making a grunting noise, and says, “love ya.” He then heads back the hallway to the bedroom so he can wake up before the sun again.
Word Count: 572
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Outline for Profile
I think for this I am going to stick with my nephew that I did for my "person doing an activity" post. I think the only difference I will make is some more detail into the mind of a 5 year old and the total exhausting adventure of his day at Mount Vernon. I will probably end with an exhausted boy fighting to stay awake on the bus back to my place.
Due to Inclement Weather...(Revised-and Shorter)
This store isn’t just any old grocery store. It sells nothing but all natural and organic groceries. There is nothing like Doritos, Kraft Mac and Cheese, Charmin toilet paper, or Tylenol. They sell more like cheese covered tortillas, Annie’s Mac and Cheese, and Seventh Generation toilet paper. This store also gets to charge a lot more for things like this. This is okay, because most of the people that shop here are your high end, rich, snobby people that want nothing but the best and healthiest for their families. They usually only drive to the store if they are afraid of getting their hair flattened by rain or wind; I’m not complaining though because I would rather they walk, considering that they can’t drive in the rain or snow.
Before the first snow storm it was as chaotic as chaotic can get. It was the second snow storm that changed the world, at least that’s what the people of Alexandria were thinking. So when the meteorologists on television started predicting the storm, it slowly became busier and busier the closer it got to SNOWMAGEDDON. The snow predicted to start to really pick up in the evening, so the day of the storm was when everyone decided to come out, thinking the world was going to end.
Going into work that day I was a little frightened because I knew what was about to come. I sincerely thought about spiking my hot chocolate with chocolate vodka before going in just to take the edge off. Instead I braved it up, put my long john’s and snow pants on, and braved it up sober. That was the worst mistake of my life. Once I got to work and got a spot in the garage without getting hit, I forced down the lump in my throat as the automatic doors opened in front of me.
Looking out of my department at the frantic and raged filled customers I squirmed with anticipation wondering what kinds of things people were in such a big hurry to buy before the white stuff started to come down. Peering out at the lights shining behind the register numbers I strained my neck out just a bit to peak around the corner and see if anyone was coming. I tried to make a mad dash out to the protein bars to straighten them up but it was impossible. I was approached with my first human that could have been confused for a malnourished brown bear.
It was an elderly woman wearing a fur coat and a hat to match it. She even had the snout to match it as well. I felt like I should curl up in a ball and beg her not to eat me. Then to make things worse she asked me in a growling voice, “Where’s the sugar?” This is when I really started to shake because I knew she wasn’t going to like the answer I was going to give her. I crunched my neck down in between my shoulders and pointed my finger in the furthest direction away from where we were standing and said, “a-a-aisle 1.” She rolled her eyes and grumbled as she ran over innocent people trying to make her way over there. After that confrontation my heart was racing up in my throat so I ran back into the aisle to catch my breath and stop shaking. It was another hour before I could venture out again.
My next adventure out seemed to be better than the first. I tried to swallow my fear of the monsters that roamed the store. I put on my hat and scarf this time to try and blend in with the rest of them, but then I remembered I still had to wear my apron with my name tag on. “Oh dear,” I thought to myself, “there is no getting around these people.” This time I was actually able to venture around and look at the types of things that the people dressed up as monsters were buying.
Every cart that zoomed by me had at a minimum of three gallons of water in them. Why do you need that much water? There is going to be a ton of it on the ground. Another popular item was red meat. The meat department almost had to close down because of the lack of meat that they had in the back to stock their shelves. It seemed as though the only thing people didn’t want was ground beef.
One very upset customer in his boots, hat, snow pants, and sweatshirt decided he had had enough. He picked up his few items and case of water out of his cart, and shouted, “I’M TIRED OF WAITING!” With this being said he stormed out the door, but it still took him some time considering he had to wait in a line to get out of the store.
After encountering the very upset man who left his cart in the middle of a sea of people I was mortified. I just wanted to get back to my aisle where it was quiet and safe. Before I could get there a man quickly approaches me. Immediately I just wanted to turn my back and run. He came up on me so quickly that I froze, my eyes bulging out of my head. I couldn’t take anymore torture. When he gets in my face he says with a smile, “you look like you’re the calmest one in this place.” As I gained the strength back in my knees I managing to get out a small but questionable,”th-th-thanks sir.”
Deciding I really didn’t like being in the middle of the store either I went to the front of the store to be of help in the bagging department. I was able to do some more nosing while up here to see what kinds of things people were getting. With the store closing at 6 pm, and it being almost 5, the crowds actually started to slow down with some interesting purchases to say the least.
A younger couple in their twenties came up to check out their items and the only things in their hands were four bottles of red wine and some cheese. “What’s the special occasion?” the cashier says to the couple. “None, we’re just planning on getting snowed in.” It is fun to see that people are making light of the situation. At least they were happy and not in an angry mood similar to that of the bear-like woman that I encountered earlier in the day.
Another funny instance was as I watched a woman in her forties walk up to the cashier with a huge smile on her face, all she carried in her basket were a couple of red wines, a few white wines, and two-six packs of beer. “I’m not worried about food. As long as I have my alcohol I will be just fine.” “Enjoy your weekend,” the cashier says to her with a smile as she pays and walks out of the store.
One of the last customers of the night was a young man in his twenties. He didn’t seem to have a care in the world. It was as though he were out in outer space somewhere while he waited in line. Like many customers he had a hat on his head, mittens on his hands, and warm boots on his feet. What stood out about him was what was in his hands. He didn’t have water or toilet paper. All he needed was the mini-keg of beer to keep him entertained and the bread to soak it up when he drank too much.
Finally after the exhausting day of frantic, cranky, annoying, and light hearted customers, a person comes over the intercom, “attention team members and customers, due to inclement weather…” We packed up our things, shut the lights out, and went home.
After I walked in the door of my apartment I slowly began to strip the layers of clothes off to get in to something warm and comfortable. The sweatpants and t-shirt in the corner of my bedroom looked fantastic. After my long and terrifying day all I wanted was another mug of hot cocoa, but this time I didn’t make the mistake of staying sober. Due to the inclement weather I added a little extra “chocolate” to take the edge off of a long and exhausting day.
Before the first snow storm it was as chaotic as chaotic can get. It was the second snow storm that changed the world, at least that’s what the people of Alexandria were thinking. So when the meteorologists on television started predicting the storm, it slowly became busier and busier the closer it got to SNOWMAGEDDON. The snow predicted to start to really pick up in the evening, so the day of the storm was when everyone decided to come out, thinking the world was going to end.
Going into work that day I was a little frightened because I knew what was about to come. I sincerely thought about spiking my hot chocolate with chocolate vodka before going in just to take the edge off. Instead I braved it up, put my long john’s and snow pants on, and braved it up sober. That was the worst mistake of my life. Once I got to work and got a spot in the garage without getting hit, I forced down the lump in my throat as the automatic doors opened in front of me.
Looking out of my department at the frantic and raged filled customers I squirmed with anticipation wondering what kinds of things people were in such a big hurry to buy before the white stuff started to come down. Peering out at the lights shining behind the register numbers I strained my neck out just a bit to peak around the corner and see if anyone was coming. I tried to make a mad dash out to the protein bars to straighten them up but it was impossible. I was approached with my first human that could have been confused for a malnourished brown bear.
It was an elderly woman wearing a fur coat and a hat to match it. She even had the snout to match it as well. I felt like I should curl up in a ball and beg her not to eat me. Then to make things worse she asked me in a growling voice, “Where’s the sugar?” This is when I really started to shake because I knew she wasn’t going to like the answer I was going to give her. I crunched my neck down in between my shoulders and pointed my finger in the furthest direction away from where we were standing and said, “a-a-aisle 1.” She rolled her eyes and grumbled as she ran over innocent people trying to make her way over there. After that confrontation my heart was racing up in my throat so I ran back into the aisle to catch my breath and stop shaking. It was another hour before I could venture out again.
My next adventure out seemed to be better than the first. I tried to swallow my fear of the monsters that roamed the store. I put on my hat and scarf this time to try and blend in with the rest of them, but then I remembered I still had to wear my apron with my name tag on. “Oh dear,” I thought to myself, “there is no getting around these people.” This time I was actually able to venture around and look at the types of things that the people dressed up as monsters were buying.
Every cart that zoomed by me had at a minimum of three gallons of water in them. Why do you need that much water? There is going to be a ton of it on the ground. Another popular item was red meat. The meat department almost had to close down because of the lack of meat that they had in the back to stock their shelves. It seemed as though the only thing people didn’t want was ground beef.
One very upset customer in his boots, hat, snow pants, and sweatshirt decided he had had enough. He picked up his few items and case of water out of his cart, and shouted, “I’M TIRED OF WAITING!” With this being said he stormed out the door, but it still took him some time considering he had to wait in a line to get out of the store.
After encountering the very upset man who left his cart in the middle of a sea of people I was mortified. I just wanted to get back to my aisle where it was quiet and safe. Before I could get there a man quickly approaches me. Immediately I just wanted to turn my back and run. He came up on me so quickly that I froze, my eyes bulging out of my head. I couldn’t take anymore torture. When he gets in my face he says with a smile, “you look like you’re the calmest one in this place.” As I gained the strength back in my knees I managing to get out a small but questionable,”th-th-thanks sir.”
Deciding I really didn’t like being in the middle of the store either I went to the front of the store to be of help in the bagging department. I was able to do some more nosing while up here to see what kinds of things people were getting. With the store closing at 6 pm, and it being almost 5, the crowds actually started to slow down with some interesting purchases to say the least.
A younger couple in their twenties came up to check out their items and the only things in their hands were four bottles of red wine and some cheese. “What’s the special occasion?” the cashier says to the couple. “None, we’re just planning on getting snowed in.” It is fun to see that people are making light of the situation. At least they were happy and not in an angry mood similar to that of the bear-like woman that I encountered earlier in the day.
Another funny instance was as I watched a woman in her forties walk up to the cashier with a huge smile on her face, all she carried in her basket were a couple of red wines, a few white wines, and two-six packs of beer. “I’m not worried about food. As long as I have my alcohol I will be just fine.” “Enjoy your weekend,” the cashier says to her with a smile as she pays and walks out of the store.
One of the last customers of the night was a young man in his twenties. He didn’t seem to have a care in the world. It was as though he were out in outer space somewhere while he waited in line. Like many customers he had a hat on his head, mittens on his hands, and warm boots on his feet. What stood out about him was what was in his hands. He didn’t have water or toilet paper. All he needed was the mini-keg of beer to keep him entertained and the bread to soak it up when he drank too much.
Finally after the exhausting day of frantic, cranky, annoying, and light hearted customers, a person comes over the intercom, “attention team members and customers, due to inclement weather…” We packed up our things, shut the lights out, and went home.
After I walked in the door of my apartment I slowly began to strip the layers of clothes off to get in to something warm and comfortable. The sweatpants and t-shirt in the corner of my bedroom looked fantastic. After my long and terrifying day all I wanted was another mug of hot cocoa, but this time I didn’t make the mistake of staying sober. Due to the inclement weather I added a little extra “chocolate” to take the edge off of a long and exhausting day.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Feedback on blog of Liz
When I first started this assignment I was stuck on the subject I was going to do a profile on. Once I came to that conclusion I then read Liz's blog. Wow, this might be a little easier than I thought. I first went through some pictures I had on my computer from when my family came to visit Virginia last Easter. I found one that was from a visit to Mount Vernon. It was one that told a story. That was when the lightbulb came on. The picture helped me to tell the parts of the story that I couldn't remember. I thought it was going to be this long, painstakingly difficult piece to write. Once I got started, the rest just flowed.
"Just Smewin the Fwowers!"
If you have ever been to George Washington’s home in Mount Vernon you would know that there are hundreds of acres to venture off and explore. My family being there from Ohio wanted to search every inch of it. My youngest nephews five senses were going crazy, but two of them were struck very forcefully when we got to the beautiful flower garden: his sense of sight and smell. Due to his short stature his nose was the only thing being teased.
In the flower garden of Martha and George there were many groups of flowers that were blocked off by a small brick ledge to keep people, and especially young ones, from stepping in the garden and crushing the flowers with the soles of their shoes. This was particularly hard for Evan since the top of his head reached just below my hip. Every time he would lean to get a sniff of a flower that caught his attention by its beautiful colors he would start to lose his balance, falling forward, and scratching his hands on the concrete path. He finally got fed up, and with his slight speech problem, looked at me, leaned his head so it was leaning on his left shoulder and said, “Aunt Selley, can you lift me up so I can smell the fwower over der?” Of course I fell in to his dimpled smile and hoisted my arm under his pudgy belly that was rolled over his jeans. He inhaled so hard that the petal of the flower he smelled collapsed to the inside of his nose; and he giggled and wriggled around in my arms bringing his scratchy, dirty hand up to rub his nose.
After he repeatedly lifting him over almost every kind of flower in the garden, I had to turn him down the next time he asked me to lift him up. As everyone else was busy checking out the other flowers in the garden, no one noticed Evan in the corner. Looking around, my sister grabs me by the arm as I was about to yell his name. I immediately looked in the direction she was pointing, turned on my camera, and snapped his picture. He had figured out a resolution to his own problem of not being able to smell the scents surrounding him. He had gotten down on his grass stained jeans, crawled over to the brick ledge between him and the flowers, and was leaning with both hands and his left knee on the brick, stretching his short torso over the ledge. His right foot was barely touching the ground as he balanced himself. After everyone had gotten their picture of him, my sister yells, “Evan, what do you think you’re doing?” Scrambling to his feet as quick as his little hands and feet would let him, he wiped his hands on his jeans. He then shrugs his shoulders and lifts his hands, palms up towards the sky and says, “What? I’m just smewin the fwowers.”
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Review: The Well of Loneliness
It’s hard to give a review to a book when you really haven’t read any books. It’s partly impossible to read extra material when you are busy reading for your classes and working at the same time. Although, I just finished reading a novel for one of my other classes and thought, “shew, this is the perfect time for me to review my knowledge for my other class while fulfilling an assignment for another.”
The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall is not your ordinary novel. It was written in 1928, with no sense of humor what so ever. It actually fulfills the title given to it. The Well of Loneliness will make you feel as lonely as lonely can feel; it’s like sitting at the bottom of a black hole, with no one close to even hear the echoes of your cries up above. It tells the story of a young girl, who at birth was named “Stephen” by her parents because they had assumed the whole time that they were having a boy. So, instead of changing the name to something a little more girly, they left her with that name. What the story really amounts to is that Stephen is trying to find herself throughout the book. She doesn’t know what to call the feelings that she has for females, not males.
During the days of Stephen, being a lesbian was something that was kept quiet. Her father is the only that knows her secret, and when he dies her mother kicks her out of the house. From there she moves to Paris and becomes her own person. She becomes an ambulance driver during WWI, and meets the person she ends up spending the majority of her life with named Mary, until at the end of the novel; the woman leaves her for Martin, a man that Stephen as a child considered to be her best friend. This causes conflict between the friends (Stephen and Martin) and the soul mates (Stephen and Mary). In the end, Stephen ended her life as an established writer, but she also ended it like she started her life…lonely.
The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall is not your ordinary novel. It was written in 1928, with no sense of humor what so ever. It actually fulfills the title given to it. The Well of Loneliness will make you feel as lonely as lonely can feel; it’s like sitting at the bottom of a black hole, with no one close to even hear the echoes of your cries up above. It tells the story of a young girl, who at birth was named “Stephen” by her parents because they had assumed the whole time that they were having a boy. So, instead of changing the name to something a little more girly, they left her with that name. What the story really amounts to is that Stephen is trying to find herself throughout the book. She doesn’t know what to call the feelings that she has for females, not males.
During the days of Stephen, being a lesbian was something that was kept quiet. Her father is the only that knows her secret, and when he dies her mother kicks her out of the house. From there she moves to Paris and becomes her own person. She becomes an ambulance driver during WWI, and meets the person she ends up spending the majority of her life with named Mary, until at the end of the novel; the woman leaves her for Martin, a man that Stephen as a child considered to be her best friend. This causes conflict between the friends (Stephen and Martin) and the soul mates (Stephen and Mary). In the end, Stephen ended her life as an established writer, but she also ended it like she started her life…lonely.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Due to Inclement Weather....
I walk in the door after class on a Tuesday afternoon and turn on the television as I start to the kitchen to make myself some hot chocolate. Not really paying attention to what has come on the TV, I’m blankly staring out window at the mounds of snow that have piled up from the blizzard that broke the record for the most snow. A whopping thirty-six inches is what we got, but once the plows came through and pushed it to the sides it looked more like fifty inches. My hot chocolate is done in the microwave. I go back over to the window to sip my hot chocolate. It was exactly what I needed with it being cold outside and the temperature steadily dropping. I snap back to reality to hear the weather portion of the news. “Looks like we will be getting another winter storm that is headed our way…10-20 inches!” “TEN TO TWENTY INCHES!!!!” I say to myself, “what are we going to do with all of that?” A cold chill sends a shiver down my spine as I am reminded of the “blizzard” of thirty-six inches we had only four days ago, and makes me think of the amount of people that were packed into the grocery store where I work at in Old Town Alexandria.
The store I work at isn’t just any old grocery store. The store sells nothing but all natural and organic grocery store that does not sell anything like Doritos, Kraft Mac and Cheese, Charmin toilet paper, or Tylenol. They do sell things that are similar, but just a little bit healthier for you. This is okay, because most of the people that shop here are your high end, rich, snobby people that want nothing but the best and healthiest for their families. They usually only drive to the store if they are afraid of getting their hair flattened by rain or wind; I’m not complaining though because I would rather they walk, considering that they can’t drive in rain or snow.
The way that people drive in any kind of weather except for sunny is somewhat of an issue around here. It is the only thing that I actually agree with President Obama on. If there is a raindrop or a quarter of an inch of snow lands on the road, they want to shut everything down. Where I’m from in Ohio people would be laughing at them hysterically for their reactions to any form of precipitation. Thinking of this I am reminded of two days before the last big snow storm at my job.
I usually do my opening shift at 6 am on Wednesday mornings due to my schedule for school. I get there early so that I have plenty of time to put out the shipment that has come overnight. This is also my time to wake up and prepare myself for the day. In this instance it was the calm before the storm (no pun intended). Almost finished with my shipment the store opens at 8 am as usual. The morning starts out pretty calm just as it does every other morning of the week. Noontime arrives very quickly and our usual crowds of government workers come in to get some lunch. This is usually our busiest time of the day along with the dinner crowd. Out of nowhere the store gets unusually crowded. “Where are all of these people coming from,” I asked myself as I scratched my head. Why are people panicking? Utterly confused I run to my computer in the aisle to check the weather. Finally all of it makes sense. These people are afraid of the snow that is coming on Friday. I try to prepare myself for what is to come. My aisle of supplements and body care usually isn’t hit very hard, so I end up helping up front. Seeing the crowds of people makes me wonder what it’s going to be like at the evening time. Good thing I won’t be here. With this being said, it was time for me to leave and head off to my evening English class.
Next time I worked: Friday—the day of the storm…
Today was a day that I wasn’t looking forward to. I was working the closing shift of 2:30 pm-10:30 pm. This is the day and time that we are going to get everyone coming out to get their last minute things before they get trapped in their houses for the snow. I take a deep breath as I drag my feet up the stairs into the store. I walk through the door and it’s just as I expected. Lines are wrapping all around the store into different departments. Afraid of what people are going to be like, I am tempted to turn around and go home. It took me a good five or ten minutes just to get to the back of the store to clock in. Knowing that the store is in desperate need of help I kick my boots off, put my shoes on, and grab my apron. Walking past the departments my eyes start to bulge out of my head. Fortunately my aisle of supplements and body care were just fine, but walking past the meat and dairy departments told me exactly what kind of night I was going to have. The only thing left on the shelves of the meat counter was ground beef, which was one very slim section. The dairy department had trouble keeping up with the milk requests from customers. The only thing on the shelf was cream and cottage cheeses. It took me a while, but I finally made it over to straighten up a shelf of mine close to the produce department. I thought to myself, “I’m positive produce is doing okay.” To my surprise there were no smells of fresh leafy green vegetables. The one thing that you would think people wouldn’t want was completely out of stock with no more coming in until the next day, if we were open. Walking over to the other side of the store to straighten up the greeting cards and food bars I poked my head into the area of the bakery. They were selling it as fast as they could bake it. All of their shipments for the day had been delivered and they were down to what was on the shelf. “Holy moley! What is going on with these people?” The only bread that was completely stocked on the shelf was the one that nobody wanted: pita bread. I finally make my way back to the quietest place in the store.
My aisle, smack in the middle of the store, was the coldest and loneliest place in the store. It was so quiet that you could hear the sound of your breath, your clothing rubbing together as you walk, and the click-click of the keyboard at the computer from my team member. We would look at each other and stare blankly, fighting over the phone calls or the people that would come down our aisle; we would only get disappointed to see that those people were only walking through the aisle because the other ones were too crowded. I would also get the people that would stop and ask me a question like, “where’s the sugar?” and I would crinkly my nose and my eyes and say, “in aisle 1.” Usually that’s not a probably in most grocery stores, but in ours it’s clear across the store from the aisle, which is going to be like cutting through a jungle of monkeys and lions just to get a bag of sugar. They would roll their eyes in hatred and disgust as their faces turn red. One woman went as far as to take it out on my team member, who fought back very well. The customer was standing in the middle of the aisle just all the sudden blows up and says, “why is it so crowded in here? Why is everyone here?” to my coworker. Knowing that was the stupidest question in the world at this point, she politely look back at the woman in her mink coat and says, “Ma’am, why are you in here today?” The customer, a little dumbfounded herself says, “Well, because of the snow that is coming.” Not thinking she needs to say much else, my co-worker says, “that’s why everyone else is here too, doing the same exact thing that you are.” That was the only excitement that we received all day long, so every once in a while I would go to the front of our aisle to straighten the food bars and catch a glimpse of what was going on in the front. Now, usually there is only one person that is directing people to the shortest lines so that we can get them out of there and quickly as possible. Today there were like three or four to help with that. With that being said, I saw some pretty angry, and funny people going through the lines.
The lines were snaked around through just about every aisle in the store. One of the people directing the customers approached a middle-aged man in his forties to the nearest quickest cashier, when he threw his hands up in the air and said, “I’M TIRED OF WAITING!!” Not really knowing what to say to the customer she apologizes to him as he picked up his case of water, and his unpaid for bag of groceries and huffs and puffs his way out of the store. That was probably the most extreme case that I have seen. A lot of the other people realized that the lines were going to be line and were picking up their favorite magazines and reading them while they were standing there. There were many of the people that were just getting the basic essentials if you were going to get snowed in for a few days; toilet paper, milk, bread, produce, and a bottle of wine. There were some that I loved watching because of the small amount of items that they had in their hands.
A younger couple in their twenties came up to check out their items and the only things in their hands were four bottles of red wine and some cheese. “What’s the special occasion?” the cashier says to the couple. “None, we’re just planning on getting snowed in.” It is fun to see that people are making light of the situation. What are you going to do about it? The snow is going to come whether you’re ready for it or not. Another funny instance was as I watched a woman in her forties walk up to the cashier with a huge smile on her face, all she carried in her basket were a couple of red wines, a few white wines, and two-six packs of beer. “I’m not worried about food. As long as I have my alcohol I will be just fine.” “Enjoy your weekend,” the cashier says to her with a smile as she pays and walks out of the store. This is all occurring around six in the evening and the store is closing very soon. One of the last customers of the night was a young man in his twenties, with a hat on his head, and a mini-keg of beer in one hand, and a loaf of bread in the other. It was funny to see after the people that had come through the lines with their cart loads of groceries, and then having the last customer with nothing but beer and bread, the essentials for living. Finally after the exhausting day of frantic, cranky, annoying, and light hearted customers, a person comes over the intercom, “attention team members and customers, due to inclement weather…” We packed up our things, shut the lights out, and went home.
As I come back from my day dream staring out of the window, I think of how I’m going to have to get out to go to work tomorrow and deal with those same crowds. As for right now though I’m going to stay inside where it’s warm and drink my hot chocolate, and maybe even spike it with some chocolate vodka, just to take the edge off of the long day that is about to come tomorrow due to the stinking inclement weather.
The store I work at isn’t just any old grocery store. The store sells nothing but all natural and organic grocery store that does not sell anything like Doritos, Kraft Mac and Cheese, Charmin toilet paper, or Tylenol. They do sell things that are similar, but just a little bit healthier for you. This is okay, because most of the people that shop here are your high end, rich, snobby people that want nothing but the best and healthiest for their families. They usually only drive to the store if they are afraid of getting their hair flattened by rain or wind; I’m not complaining though because I would rather they walk, considering that they can’t drive in rain or snow.
The way that people drive in any kind of weather except for sunny is somewhat of an issue around here. It is the only thing that I actually agree with President Obama on. If there is a raindrop or a quarter of an inch of snow lands on the road, they want to shut everything down. Where I’m from in Ohio people would be laughing at them hysterically for their reactions to any form of precipitation. Thinking of this I am reminded of two days before the last big snow storm at my job.
I usually do my opening shift at 6 am on Wednesday mornings due to my schedule for school. I get there early so that I have plenty of time to put out the shipment that has come overnight. This is also my time to wake up and prepare myself for the day. In this instance it was the calm before the storm (no pun intended). Almost finished with my shipment the store opens at 8 am as usual. The morning starts out pretty calm just as it does every other morning of the week. Noontime arrives very quickly and our usual crowds of government workers come in to get some lunch. This is usually our busiest time of the day along with the dinner crowd. Out of nowhere the store gets unusually crowded. “Where are all of these people coming from,” I asked myself as I scratched my head. Why are people panicking? Utterly confused I run to my computer in the aisle to check the weather. Finally all of it makes sense. These people are afraid of the snow that is coming on Friday. I try to prepare myself for what is to come. My aisle of supplements and body care usually isn’t hit very hard, so I end up helping up front. Seeing the crowds of people makes me wonder what it’s going to be like at the evening time. Good thing I won’t be here. With this being said, it was time for me to leave and head off to my evening English class.
Next time I worked: Friday—the day of the storm…
Today was a day that I wasn’t looking forward to. I was working the closing shift of 2:30 pm-10:30 pm. This is the day and time that we are going to get everyone coming out to get their last minute things before they get trapped in their houses for the snow. I take a deep breath as I drag my feet up the stairs into the store. I walk through the door and it’s just as I expected. Lines are wrapping all around the store into different departments. Afraid of what people are going to be like, I am tempted to turn around and go home. It took me a good five or ten minutes just to get to the back of the store to clock in. Knowing that the store is in desperate need of help I kick my boots off, put my shoes on, and grab my apron. Walking past the departments my eyes start to bulge out of my head. Fortunately my aisle of supplements and body care were just fine, but walking past the meat and dairy departments told me exactly what kind of night I was going to have. The only thing left on the shelves of the meat counter was ground beef, which was one very slim section. The dairy department had trouble keeping up with the milk requests from customers. The only thing on the shelf was cream and cottage cheeses. It took me a while, but I finally made it over to straighten up a shelf of mine close to the produce department. I thought to myself, “I’m positive produce is doing okay.” To my surprise there were no smells of fresh leafy green vegetables. The one thing that you would think people wouldn’t want was completely out of stock with no more coming in until the next day, if we were open. Walking over to the other side of the store to straighten up the greeting cards and food bars I poked my head into the area of the bakery. They were selling it as fast as they could bake it. All of their shipments for the day had been delivered and they were down to what was on the shelf. “Holy moley! What is going on with these people?” The only bread that was completely stocked on the shelf was the one that nobody wanted: pita bread. I finally make my way back to the quietest place in the store.
My aisle, smack in the middle of the store, was the coldest and loneliest place in the store. It was so quiet that you could hear the sound of your breath, your clothing rubbing together as you walk, and the click-click of the keyboard at the computer from my team member. We would look at each other and stare blankly, fighting over the phone calls or the people that would come down our aisle; we would only get disappointed to see that those people were only walking through the aisle because the other ones were too crowded. I would also get the people that would stop and ask me a question like, “where’s the sugar?” and I would crinkly my nose and my eyes and say, “in aisle 1.” Usually that’s not a probably in most grocery stores, but in ours it’s clear across the store from the aisle, which is going to be like cutting through a jungle of monkeys and lions just to get a bag of sugar. They would roll their eyes in hatred and disgust as their faces turn red. One woman went as far as to take it out on my team member, who fought back very well. The customer was standing in the middle of the aisle just all the sudden blows up and says, “why is it so crowded in here? Why is everyone here?” to my coworker. Knowing that was the stupidest question in the world at this point, she politely look back at the woman in her mink coat and says, “Ma’am, why are you in here today?” The customer, a little dumbfounded herself says, “Well, because of the snow that is coming.” Not thinking she needs to say much else, my co-worker says, “that’s why everyone else is here too, doing the same exact thing that you are.” That was the only excitement that we received all day long, so every once in a while I would go to the front of our aisle to straighten the food bars and catch a glimpse of what was going on in the front. Now, usually there is only one person that is directing people to the shortest lines so that we can get them out of there and quickly as possible. Today there were like three or four to help with that. With that being said, I saw some pretty angry, and funny people going through the lines.
The lines were snaked around through just about every aisle in the store. One of the people directing the customers approached a middle-aged man in his forties to the nearest quickest cashier, when he threw his hands up in the air and said, “I’M TIRED OF WAITING!!” Not really knowing what to say to the customer she apologizes to him as he picked up his case of water, and his unpaid for bag of groceries and huffs and puffs his way out of the store. That was probably the most extreme case that I have seen. A lot of the other people realized that the lines were going to be line and were picking up their favorite magazines and reading them while they were standing there. There were many of the people that were just getting the basic essentials if you were going to get snowed in for a few days; toilet paper, milk, bread, produce, and a bottle of wine. There were some that I loved watching because of the small amount of items that they had in their hands.
A younger couple in their twenties came up to check out their items and the only things in their hands were four bottles of red wine and some cheese. “What’s the special occasion?” the cashier says to the couple. “None, we’re just planning on getting snowed in.” It is fun to see that people are making light of the situation. What are you going to do about it? The snow is going to come whether you’re ready for it or not. Another funny instance was as I watched a woman in her forties walk up to the cashier with a huge smile on her face, all she carried in her basket were a couple of red wines, a few white wines, and two-six packs of beer. “I’m not worried about food. As long as I have my alcohol I will be just fine.” “Enjoy your weekend,” the cashier says to her with a smile as she pays and walks out of the store. This is all occurring around six in the evening and the store is closing very soon. One of the last customers of the night was a young man in his twenties, with a hat on his head, and a mini-keg of beer in one hand, and a loaf of bread in the other. It was funny to see after the people that had come through the lines with their cart loads of groceries, and then having the last customer with nothing but beer and bread, the essentials for living. Finally after the exhausting day of frantic, cranky, annoying, and light hearted customers, a person comes over the intercom, “attention team members and customers, due to inclement weather…” We packed up our things, shut the lights out, and went home.
As I come back from my day dream staring out of the window, I think of how I’m going to have to get out to go to work tomorrow and deal with those same crowds. As for right now though I’m going to stay inside where it’s warm and drink my hot chocolate, and maybe even spike it with some chocolate vodka, just to take the edge off of the long day that is about to come tomorrow due to the stinking inclement weather.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Due to Inclement Weather...
It had snowed for two days straight. Some places got ten inches while others got close to twenty inches. I had been closing the past few nights, and all anyone talked about was the dreadful snow that was coming. Being from Ohio, snow did not really scare me. I was thinking to myself, these people call it a huge snow storm when two inches fall to the ground, what’s to be afraid of? The next couple of days at work it was not the snow that I was afraid of, it was the mass amount of people panicking because of this white stuff coming that we call snow….
The day it all started I woke up at 6 am to get ready for work. I noticed the temperature had decreased quite a bit in the apartment despite the heat being turned down. I put my couple layers of shirts on as usual, pants, and shoes and headed out the door. Wow! The temperature had not only dropped inside but outside as well. It had to be at least 15 degrees outside, not counting the wind chill. Because of the sudden change in weather, I had a feeling something bad was going to happen today, I just wasn’t sure what.
The rest of my paper is going to take you through the day before and the day of where I work right before a huge snow storm. People are nuts! Lines are clear across the store, and customers are getting verbally abusive. At the end of the night at the store you here: “Attention Whole Foods Market Customers and Team Member….Due to inclement weather….
The day it all started I woke up at 6 am to get ready for work. I noticed the temperature had decreased quite a bit in the apartment despite the heat being turned down. I put my couple layers of shirts on as usual, pants, and shoes and headed out the door. Wow! The temperature had not only dropped inside but outside as well. It had to be at least 15 degrees outside, not counting the wind chill. Because of the sudden change in weather, I had a feeling something bad was going to happen today, I just wasn’t sure what.
The rest of my paper is going to take you through the day before and the day of where I work right before a huge snow storm. People are nuts! Lines are clear across the store, and customers are getting verbally abusive. At the end of the night at the store you here: “Attention Whole Foods Market Customers and Team Member….Due to inclement weather….
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Preparation for Morning Classes
Snug under the covers, the warmth of the flannel sheets entrap me in their smoothness. I am starting to wake up but too comfortable to remove myself from the bundle of blankets. “Just a few more minutes,” I say to myself. Then it all ends. I wake up to a loud and obnoxious, “BEEP! BEEP!” Well, there went that idea. As I start to move, the dog down at my feet under the covers grumbles at me for disturbing her rest. I sit on the side of the bed for a few minutes removing the crust from my eyes and stretching. My toes hit the carpet tingling from the lack of connection to the ground for six hours. Stumbling to the bathroom I look in the mirror deciding that it would probably be a good idea to splash some water on my face. The warm water immediately puts me back into sleep mode. Okay, so maybe I should have used cooler water, but that would have probably put me into shock mode. Still tasting the garlic reminded me of how great dinner was and that I should probably brush my teeth. Finishing my ritual in the bathroom, I start rummaging through the pile of clean clothes on the floor, yes the floor, for a shirt to wear. Once completing my outfit with a pair of jeans, shirt, mismatched socks, and old sneakers, I’m out the door to tackle the next thing on my list: traffic.
First person account of some activity-245 words
First person account of some activity-245 words
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