I really need to get better about finding the time to write. On my days off, I seem to find the moments necessary to pump out at least a few thousand words, but any day that I’ve been working, I just cannot seem to make it happen. It could be that I haven’t been sleeping all that well (which has to do, of course, with the fact that it’s been warm lately, and I’ve been laying down to bed while it’s still light out), or that by the time that I get home, the Minkey has already risen, and seeks to either monopolize the desk’s occupants, or run around the bedroom, shrieking. By the time that I finally have some peace and quiet, it’s usually just about my bedtime (or a little after), and the choice between trying to get some writing done or trying to get myself to sleep isn’t really a choice at all. Eventually, my son will be going back to school, which should free up some hours between when I get home from work, and when I have to go to pick him up from school. But until then, I guess I will just have to figure something else out. I’ve even considered trying to get to sleep an hour earlier, so that I can have an extra hour to my morning in which I can sit down to write before I go to work. Of course, this would mean that I would have to go to bed around five o’clock in the afternoon, and considering how hard it is to fall asleep by six, I’m not going to hold my breath.

Speaking of my job, it seems that I am beginning to work my way up the corporate ladder. When I initially interviewed with the Store Manager (who I discovered was leaving shortly after I had started working there), he informed me that there were two types of positions open: a regular cashier gig, and supervisor position in the Back of House. If he was going to consider me for the latter, he informed me, he would have his Assistant Manager conduct another interview, and, based upon his recommendation, I would either get the better job, or not. As it turns out, I wound up with neither. I did my training (as I’ve discussed in this blog before), thinking that I would wind up as a cashier, but in my first week out of training, I was scheduled to be working with the jobber crew. Since then, I’ve managed to earn the respect of my manager and my coworkers, and convinced said manager to adjust my schedule to get me to as close to thirty hours as he can (his superiors are breathing down his neck because I am, apparently, only classified as a part-time employee, because almost nobody, it turns out, is actually scheduled for full-time. But there is a small silver lining: for the past week, we have been discussing, this manager and I, the prospect of my promotion to the job to which I thought that I would probably have preferred.

It speaks volumes about my work ethic, that within a couple of weeks at a job, I’ve already impressed someone enough to make them want to promote me. Well, that, and the fact that since the position has yet to be filled, this manager (who it turns out is the Assistant Manager with whom I would have had my second interview, according to the Store Manager) has been having to fulfill the duties of the supervisor and his responsibilities as an Assistant Manager. He’s eager to pass the torch to someone so that he can actually manage to give himself some breathing room, and plan things out a bit in advance, as opposed to flying by the seat of his pants, which is what he has been forced to do since the post was last vacated. At some point this week, he’s going to give me the second application (I guess that I have to do another one, for some reason), and set up my interview with the Store Manager (whether it be the one who hired me, or his replacement). He’s trying to tamp down my expectations about the pay increase (which I’m not too worried about, as I have picked up the job-specific stuff very quickly, and the management requirements have been far exceeded), but as I told him, even at the minimum end of the pay scale for this position (which entails a $2 raise), I will be making double what I’m making now, as the position is full-time. And that is the sad reality of the working poor in this country.

Most larger places have responded to the employer requirements of the ACA by ensuring that the majority of their employees are classified as part-time, so as to avoid the obligation to even offer them the chance to purchase health insurance. This has had the consequence, at least in my place of employment, of making it so that we never have enough people to stock the store consistently, which, in turn, means that we have less product on the floor, which in turn means that sales drop because customers cannot find the things they came to purchase, which results in labor shrinking, which means that there are even less people to do the work which already required more people in the first place. I can already feel the stress of management creeping into me once more, and I haven’t even been officially promoted yet. Flor just wanted me to find a job which I could work, wherein I wouldn’t be required to give a shit, and, to be honest, it kind of appealed to me. But the extended stretch of joblessness which I experienced meant that I can’t just coast along on a small amount of hours just for some dicking around cash. As soon as something happens, I’ll make sure to let you guys know. Until then, just cross your fingers and wish me luck.