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.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
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….
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