I went to visit Melanie over the weekend... left Saturday morning and came back late last night. Hit a snowstorm on my way north... I've driven in snow before but it was night and visibility was zero and the highways hadn't been touched... about 45 miles away from Fairfax I considered pulling over and getting a hotel. In all honesty, I should have stayed an extra night at Mel's. She worked today but I could have left after she got home and just hung out or drove around (Hampton only got rain). Ah well. So instead of taking about 2 hours and 15 minutes to get home, it took me over 3 1/2 hours. But I'm home safe. I almost took an exit but hotels are expensive (as it is, I didn't enjoy spending money for gas for the trip, as I have no income...) and I just wanted to be home.
But I had a really nice time... we had dinner Saturday evening at this seafood restaurant in Poquoson called Surfrider that was next to the marina, and then had brunch at Marker 20 in downtown Hampton on Sunday, then went to Norfolk to putz around the mall there (It is a big mall but on a Sunday I was surprised it was as quiet as the Galleria... maybe it's just because I'm still reeling from my awful experience at Tysons Corner Center, which is awful for employees and shoppers alike). We also watched The Purge and had some candy and wine late Saturday night. Got a little tipsy but nothing spectacular :) Melanie basically paid for everything... I wasn't expecting that. Luckily we decided to just have dinner before I left last night at Olive Garden, and while we were there I remembered that I actually had a $25 gift card (random and lucky) so I was happy to help out a little at that point.
In the vein of what I said earlier about not having income, my interview Thursday morning went fine except that... the manager there... well... let's just say that even though I try not to judge people that I've just met, I got a negative vibe about her. I know it was an interview but she never smiled, she made a snarky comment about my college degree, and when I used the word "applicable" she looked like a deer in the headlights (did she not recognize that word ?)
Also eventually I found out that all they have are sales associate positions that pay a flat rate of $9/hour. Such bullshit. First of all, I applied through Paper Source for a keyholder position and she acted like she couldn't figure out why it was there. Then, she didn't tell me there was no keyholder position until we were already nearly an hour into the interview. And she was very haughty... basically saying that there's more to the store than cards and stationary and that the custom printing stuff takes 2-3 months to learn and I need to know what someone wants when they ask for "vinyl cutting" and the whole time I kept thinking, "First of all, no shit. Second of all, I'm sure all of your workers are good at one or two things and had to learn everything else, and third of all, you're acting like it's a very knowledge-based business which is all fine and good, but do you think 95% of Starbucks baristas know how to make a macchiato before they are trained ?"
So if she offers me the position, I might take it just because it's money. But I did not like her.
In other news, Khang quit 7 For All Mankind a couple weeks ago and Shamir put in her 2 weeks a few days ago. So they are looking for more associates, a P/T keyholder, and a F/T keyholder. I almost considered going for something, even though I don't know anyone working there anymore and Khang says it's not the same. But I did apply to Joe's Jeans in the same mall, which has a P/T supervisor position. We'll see.
I guess I just overestimated my ability to get a decent retail job, or else I underestimated the availability of the jobs. Every day that passes, I get more and more scared.
~Rachel
P.S. Mom also gave me money to get my hair done... which hasn't been touched since before I went to Minneapolis in October. It was getting straggly and the color was brassy. I thought about pocketing the money and just going to Hair Cuttery since it costs half as much, but... I really like Julie at the hair salon I go to and I just found her in April or so, after looking for someone since moving here in 2005 from Ohio, and mom said it was her gift to me because I've been trying to find a job, I'm rarely sleeping because of stress, and I was sick for over a month and still trying to figure out what's wrong with me (also she said if I'm interviewed, I should have nicer hair... blah). But it worked out anyway, because I told Julie a little of what happened, while expecting nothing in return (I was just explaining why I cancelled my appointment in November and why I hadn't been back) and she gave me 30% off the service and told me to keep the tip (that literally saved me like, $65). Some people are just good human beings. So now my hair is trimmed nicely, shaped up, and a gorgeous chocolate brown instead of brassy orangey brown.
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