Quick story...
We were sitting at a light. Near our apartment. One car in front of us, a car beside us and a police car beside the car in front of us. We're sitting there and the car in front of us begins to move. So I go for a brief second while looking up at the light, and noticed - it was still red. I said, out loud, "What are you doing? The light is still red. Don't you see the cop car..." Before I could finish my question to the driver in another car, the policeman had his lights on and stopped the guy.
I flashback to my childhood and remember all the stupid things I did, that were promptly followed by the question from my mother - "What were you thinking?" I know the answer I gave most of the time was; "I don't know." I hope that was the first question the cop asked. I would have loved to hear that answer too.
I had to change lanes, and as we passed the kid looked dejected. Little did we know that we would make jokes about him and laugh at him the rest of the way home.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
The Silent Revenge
The other night, we went to Tony Romas.
Mid-meal who should walk in but the owner of the company that I despised working at. I was only there 5 months. I hated working there. Absolutely hated it. The sad part was it was that job that brought us to Baltimore. It was the best diet I ever went on. I lost 20 - 25 pounds easily, simply from the stress of working there. One time he got in my face and called me a f'ing idiot.
I won't name the company because I don't want to give free advertising, but it sells computers to those who can't get credit. The "rent-a-center" market. I didn't agree with the ethics, because there wasn't any. Few of the customers that signed with us actually received a system. The system that they were to receive was a fraction of the cost they actually paid. It was atrocious. I felt like I was constantly walking on eggshells. This guy was sooo moody. In short, he was an ass.
This was the first time I have seen him since I quit over a year ago. I hope and pray that he thought that I would have turned tail and run back to WV because big, bad, Baltimore frightened me away. But there I was - more successful now that I was at his crappy shell of a call center. He didn't know the first thing about running one. And now, I am better than ever.
He entered the place, and I looked at him - he looked at me... with his beady little eyes, and that was it. I laughed and had a great dinner. He looked over occasionally. That's what made me think that it got to him. Obviously, my leave was not amicable.
It's entirely possible he barely remembered me. It's possible he didn't give me a second thought. It's possible that he couldn't care less. Regardless, sitting there, I felt better. I was successful. I am successful. In spite of him. And that was the best revenge.
Mid-meal who should walk in but the owner of the company that I despised working at. I was only there 5 months. I hated working there. Absolutely hated it. The sad part was it was that job that brought us to Baltimore. It was the best diet I ever went on. I lost 20 - 25 pounds easily, simply from the stress of working there. One time he got in my face and called me a f'ing idiot.
I won't name the company because I don't want to give free advertising, but it sells computers to those who can't get credit. The "rent-a-center" market. I didn't agree with the ethics, because there wasn't any. Few of the customers that signed with us actually received a system. The system that they were to receive was a fraction of the cost they actually paid. It was atrocious. I felt like I was constantly walking on eggshells. This guy was sooo moody. In short, he was an ass.
This was the first time I have seen him since I quit over a year ago. I hope and pray that he thought that I would have turned tail and run back to WV because big, bad, Baltimore frightened me away. But there I was - more successful now that I was at his crappy shell of a call center. He didn't know the first thing about running one. And now, I am better than ever.
He entered the place, and I looked at him - he looked at me... with his beady little eyes, and that was it. I laughed and had a great dinner. He looked over occasionally. That's what made me think that it got to him. Obviously, my leave was not amicable.
It's entirely possible he barely remembered me. It's possible he didn't give me a second thought. It's possible that he couldn't care less. Regardless, sitting there, I felt better. I was successful. I am successful. In spite of him. And that was the best revenge.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Brides Maid Express
We ordered the Brides Maid dresses ourselves from the same store Rachael got her dress. They came in last week. So the next order of business was to get them sent to the respective brides maids.
One of the best things - I thought - that has come about in the past few years is the FedEx/Kinkos... open 24 hours. I have sent resumes from there, faxed documents, made copies... all in the evening.. ok late night. So one night we decided we'd go out to dinner and then take the dresses to the FedEx/Kinkos to send them out. We left the house around 7:30 or so.
Anyway, after dinner we went to the FedEx place (around 9:30 pm). Rachael asked, "Do you think they take packages at all hours?" I didn't see any reason why they wouldn't so I thought I would go in and check. I walked in and stood at the counter. There were some people making copies and using the internet and what not as I looked around. Finally, this guy came up and I asked "Can we bring stuff in to send now?" He said "Yeah. What do you have to send?" I said "It's in the car, I'll go get it."
I went to the car and Rachael and I grabbed the dresses (3 total) and headed in. We took them and placed them on the counter, and waited. As we waited we looked at the boxes to see which one would be best. Again the same guy came up and said "You want to send these suits?" I said "Well, they're dresses, but yeah. We have three dresses going to three different places."
When I said this, it looked like I just gave the guy a calculus problem to figure out. He put his hand on his head and his eyes bulged out. After a few seconds he said "Okay." He then followed that with "I'm not the regular FedEx guy, but we'll see what we can do."
Okay. Maybe I'm not familiar with the complexities of sending something FedEx, but I think it's similar to US mail, but by a different carrier. I mean, you get a box. Put a dress in and put the address on it. Weigh it to price it, and do that three times. And we would have provided the addresses... he wouldn't have to guess them or figure them out solving a series of riddles. I have sent more than one piece of mail out in a day before, and I haven't found it all that difficult. It's not like the dresses needed special packaging, it's just fabric. Nothing breakable, and the bridesmaids would be getting them altered anyway, so wrinkles and stuff were not a worry for us. But somehow this guy felt like I gave him a task that was clearly beyond his knowledge. He looked a little rattled. In his mind, I had just asked him to figure out the future of Social Security. He asked for help from another worker, and they disappeared among the boxes. Rachael and I looked at each other in a confused look.
In a minute or so they emerged again, and the guy said "You might want to come back tomorrow." What? Really? You can't handle mailing stuff? "The regular guy will be in." The helpful woman said "Yeah, he'll be here until 3:00, it gets crowded so you may want to come at two." The guy convinced us that he would not be able to send them successfully because both Rachael and I didn't push back at all, we simply said "okay," grabbed the dresses and headed out.
We were thoroughly confused when we got in the car. We sat for a second, and then I started giggling. We made fun of this guy the entire drive home and his ineptness of sending three packages. When I went in and he thought it was one, he seemed okay with it, but when presented with doing the same action three times, he just couldn't fathom how to do it. The complexity overwhelmed him.
Luckily Rachael was able to take them the following day and got the expert. The 24 hour FedEx/Kinkos had let us down. Obviously, they may have some kinks to work out. Thank goodness Rach had the mail expert send them the next day, otherwise we would have been lost.
One of the best things - I thought - that has come about in the past few years is the FedEx/Kinkos... open 24 hours. I have sent resumes from there, faxed documents, made copies... all in the evening.. ok late night. So one night we decided we'd go out to dinner and then take the dresses to the FedEx/Kinkos to send them out. We left the house around 7:30 or so.
Anyway, after dinner we went to the FedEx place (around 9:30 pm). Rachael asked, "Do you think they take packages at all hours?" I didn't see any reason why they wouldn't so I thought I would go in and check. I walked in and stood at the counter. There were some people making copies and using the internet and what not as I looked around. Finally, this guy came up and I asked "Can we bring stuff in to send now?" He said "Yeah. What do you have to send?" I said "It's in the car, I'll go get it."
I went to the car and Rachael and I grabbed the dresses (3 total) and headed in. We took them and placed them on the counter, and waited. As we waited we looked at the boxes to see which one would be best. Again the same guy came up and said "You want to send these suits?" I said "Well, they're dresses, but yeah. We have three dresses going to three different places."
When I said this, it looked like I just gave the guy a calculus problem to figure out. He put his hand on his head and his eyes bulged out. After a few seconds he said "Okay." He then followed that with "I'm not the regular FedEx guy, but we'll see what we can do."
Okay. Maybe I'm not familiar with the complexities of sending something FedEx, but I think it's similar to US mail, but by a different carrier. I mean, you get a box. Put a dress in and put the address on it. Weigh it to price it, and do that three times. And we would have provided the addresses... he wouldn't have to guess them or figure them out solving a series of riddles. I have sent more than one piece of mail out in a day before, and I haven't found it all that difficult. It's not like the dresses needed special packaging, it's just fabric. Nothing breakable, and the bridesmaids would be getting them altered anyway, so wrinkles and stuff were not a worry for us. But somehow this guy felt like I gave him a task that was clearly beyond his knowledge. He looked a little rattled. In his mind, I had just asked him to figure out the future of Social Security. He asked for help from another worker, and they disappeared among the boxes. Rachael and I looked at each other in a confused look.
In a minute or so they emerged again, and the guy said "You might want to come back tomorrow." What? Really? You can't handle mailing stuff? "The regular guy will be in." The helpful woman said "Yeah, he'll be here until 3:00, it gets crowded so you may want to come at two." The guy convinced us that he would not be able to send them successfully because both Rachael and I didn't push back at all, we simply said "okay," grabbed the dresses and headed out.
We were thoroughly confused when we got in the car. We sat for a second, and then I started giggling. We made fun of this guy the entire drive home and his ineptness of sending three packages. When I went in and he thought it was one, he seemed okay with it, but when presented with doing the same action three times, he just couldn't fathom how to do it. The complexity overwhelmed him.
Luckily Rachael was able to take them the following day and got the expert. The 24 hour FedEx/Kinkos had let us down. Obviously, they may have some kinks to work out. Thank goodness Rach had the mail expert send them the next day, otherwise we would have been lost.
Friday, May 06, 2005
Trents are Like Opinions
It hit me today. I was standing in a training class when one of the trainees said "do you have a brother?"
I said, "Yes."
"Younger?"
"Yes."
"Is he in a band?"
"Uhhhh, no...why?"
"Because I know a guy who looks exactly like you."
I have heard that sentence many times in my life. And I find it hard to believe that so many people know someone who looks exactly like me, yet I have never met anyone who looks like me (I cannot count any relatives).
So then I wonder if this is a compliment. I know the girl didn't mean anything positive or negative by that statement... but still. Is it a compliment to look like so many other people? Is it better to look unique? I don't know.
I have no idea.
However, apparently there are a ton of Trents out there. And I haven't met a single one. But who really looks at strangers and says "Hey, that person really looks like me?" It doesn't seem likely. Though people spend 100% of their time with themselves, you rarely see yourself as others see you. Mirrors don't really look like you... I mean you get a good idea, but that's not what you look like... simply because it's a mirror image. So unless you spend a ton of time looking at photographs (which still isn't exactly you, but it's close) you rally have no idea what you look like.
Weird, huh?
I said, "Yes."
"Younger?"
"Yes."
"Is he in a band?"
"Uhhhh, no...why?"
"Because I know a guy who looks exactly like you."
I have heard that sentence many times in my life. And I find it hard to believe that so many people know someone who looks exactly like me, yet I have never met anyone who looks like me (I cannot count any relatives).
So then I wonder if this is a compliment. I know the girl didn't mean anything positive or negative by that statement... but still. Is it a compliment to look like so many other people? Is it better to look unique? I don't know.
I have no idea.
However, apparently there are a ton of Trents out there. And I haven't met a single one. But who really looks at strangers and says "Hey, that person really looks like me?" It doesn't seem likely. Though people spend 100% of their time with themselves, you rarely see yourself as others see you. Mirrors don't really look like you... I mean you get a good idea, but that's not what you look like... simply because it's a mirror image. So unless you spend a ton of time looking at photographs (which still isn't exactly you, but it's close) you rally have no idea what you look like.
Weird, huh?
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