On the first day at my current place of employment the manager looked at me and said
"It takes a certain type person to work here".... over the last year I have come to understand exactly what she was trying to explain!
Not only do I know now "I" am that type person, but so is everyone there!
trust me it isn't easy ... The place itself is just chaotic!
while when working on the front line at the "blingy kingdom", I had learned the necessity of functioning as a team, the importance in following a chain of command and how things are broken down into parts or roles in order for things to work properly as a body.
Now its all about "individuals"!!
To cope I try not to take things too seriously and can always find some analogy ... the space we have to work in is not only very small but enclosed as well. There is a high wall separating us from the actual public we are there to serve, which makes communication or even just seeing them at times impossible! both sides are equally narrow and most often packed with people! So you can imagine the stress of everyone trying to do or get what they need all at once. Not everyone handles this well ... not only do customers fight with each other like children, they attack us too!! I have been screamed at, had things throw at me, insulted and even threatened! To make it worse our side has problems of it's own ..... on a whole for some reason I related things to england.
Like - working there is kind of an island and if we don't have respect , understanding or patience life isn't gonna go well for any of us! after all, we are each just trying to do the same thing - our jobs! With so many people crammed into one space we are constantly bumping into each other ... everyone deals differently with it ... one seems to make himself into an immovable object you can't pass around at all, ..... another expects you to learn how not to have any physical contact with them what so ever and will start yelling when you do... both can be very frustrating ! Luckily the rest of us are able act in more productive ways .....
Not only is the space narrow, it's short too ... so if you get to close to either "end" you can't get back in ... LOL
Yesterday I kept getting pushed out and thought to myself it was like working in a a mosh pit!!
but I guess you would only get that if you have seen one....
It's fast paced and what makes it even more fun (satire)... is there is a only one small table for 8 people to do things on simultaneously ... one is putting together a gift basket, another sandwiches for catering, while cookies are being packaged, vegetables chopped, salmon sliced, phone orders taken ... ahhhhhhh !!! I'm getting stressed just thinking about it!!!
All at the same time in the background 5 phones are ringing.. the people you are helping are screaming about being double parked.. the ones waiting are arguing (with you and each other) over waiting, in the left corner there is a game of charades being played with a group of Italian tourist trying to "act out" what they want, on the right children crying, Add in the lady who for some reason thought bringing her dog inside was ok, and sees no problem with it licking and eating the bagels on the shelf. Another woman with a baby carraige/snowplow pushing through the crowd. People with O.C.D, A.D.D and some we think have either just arrived from outer space or have never been in public before!! cell phones and questions toooo stupid to even answer! I don't think there is a way to describe it properly ...
But somehow we also have to remain professional through this ..... and again I thought of England or at least what I think it's traditional manners and politeness are, or should be ... from all I learned from my one grandmother.....
still luckily we are not expected to put up with shit !
This post isn't really about work though.... it's about individuals.
Myself and the ones I have come to know during my time here.
Cause like I said ... we are all that type person, or at least in the same phase of our life.
What that means might be equally hard to express.

I remembered back to the conversation I had with Jayde before we both left East Liverpool ... about how being there had felt like living out the hitchhikers guide .... and we had been waiting with our thumbs up for a ride ....
All the adults I work with right now came from somewhere else .... and all arrived were we are in the same way..... they took that ride when it came, alone.
weather it was what we really asked for/dreamed of, wanted exactly or not.
some are just ok now being here and live normal lives as is .....
but others still see it as another rest stop of some sort...
not one of simply waiting but actually doing ....
It's not that any of us thrive on hectic environments, are out right gluttons for punishment, need to be in stressful situations, or enjoy extreme anything, cause trust me none of us do! ... but it's that we somehow can that makes us alike and that we all learn from it and each other and honestly grow through the process in entirely positive ways.
Most of us know already we will not be here forever, but aren't irresponsible gypsy types just bouncing around either so why we choose to remain in such demanding conditions while we sort ourselves out I do ask ..... cause I also know none of us are stupid .
For me there was a moment in the beginning I did make a conscience choice whether or not to remain there, when I could very easily have found a new less demanding job, I'm sure all of us did ....
What I needed most at the time was to find my balance and center of peace again, and what it takes to stand up inside a mosh pit is strength.
Makes me think of the symbol for Pisces - two fish facing opposite directions.... both going to the same place really....... It represents personal evolution and is explained varies ways in every culture ... but what it means is .... I took the low road ... it's far from easier but it is defiantly quicker!