Work is getting to suck less. I am starting to actually like the idea of staying there for a while. I think this calls for a more in-depth description of the Bagel Store and an introduction to some Bagel Store characters.
The Bagel Store is a very mom-and-pop breakfast/sandwich place which has its own tiny, stranded looking building in the parking lot of a strip mall. It is an absolutely tiny place - three or four people work at a time in the afternoon, and we still get in each other's way constantly. The front of the store is even smaller. It is about the only place in Massachusetts where country music is played on a regular basis. Or rather - country music gets played in front, and a top forty station gets played in back. The top forty station reminds me of why I don't listen to the radio. Every day when I come to work, I know exactly what five songs I am going to hear, and I know that I am going to hear them at least twice. Most of the rest of the air time is spent on commercials. The Bagel Store always smells like a combination of coffee and sanitizer. No matter how many times we clean the floor, it always looks a little dirty. The exact same people come in at the exact same time every day, and they always get the exact same thing. A lot of them work at the strip mall. It's charming.
It should be noted that among the people who work there, almost everyone's name is shortened to one syllable, whether or not it sounds ridiculous. Mine isn't. I think it's some sort of rite of passage.
Okay, so characters:
Harry and Gail: Mom and Pop. The owners of the store. Take what they do very seriously and are pretty successful at it, I would say. Seem very powerful and intimidating, but are both dumb as bricks. (There's a spelling mistake on almost every sign in the store. They have heavy Boston accents and spell things phonetically. Example: "fill the splendar in the draw.") Made fun of constantly. Rarely present.
Mora: Forty-something year old manager. Lets us do things the easy way if Harry and Gail won't find out. Smokes. Swears. Takes shit from no one. Is loved and fiercely respected by everyone.
Jessica: The Bitch. I have had to work with her a lot recently, and she has actually been bothering me less. She is still a bitch, but she is actually kind of funny sometimes. Also, she seems to be perfectly aware of the fact that she's a bitch. That is often the one word used to describe her by her friends. It is kind of weird. She is very perky and silly. She tells stories about how much she slacks off and how bad she was when she first started. She has another job at a dry cleaning place across the street, and her entire life seems to consist of Bagel Store, Dry Cleaner's, getting drunk. She never mentions school.
Sam: Pretty slutty, I'd say, but one of the few people who really cuts me some slack for being relatively new. Also, very good at being a bagel store clerk.
Lauren: A manager, about twenty years old. Still relatively ditzy, but possibly the least ditzy person besides Mora. Also, a brunette. (The last two mentioned were blondes.) Has mentioned needing to get the hell out of the Bagel Store.
Matt: Hyper. Mischeivous. Not funny. All around obnoxious kid. Constantly made fun of to his face, but it doesn't seem to bother him. Smokes cigarettes with Mora in back of the store and periodically gets paranoid that his parents will find out. The only person there who lives in town and goes to my highschool.
Jake: Flamboyantly gay and extremely nice. Younger than I am, but brags about how he'll be manager someday soon.
Harry Jr.: Harry and Gail's son. Dumber than a brick. Threatened with sexual harrassment suits by all the sluts.
Among the regulars are five old guys who come in every day and talk about the state of society. They read each other the police reports. The quietest, oldest and most adorable of the old guys is everyone's favorite customer. Mora, Sam and Jessica fight over who's boyfriend he is. "So Phillip, we have a date tonight, right?"
"What are you talking about? I have a date with him tonight!"
"Are you trying to make a move on my man?"
He kind of chortles. After she makes his sandwich (BLT on white bread, lightly toasted, easy on the lettuce, cut horizontally and NOT kitty corner) Jessica says, "You have an amazing day, Phillip!"
One time when I made his sandwich I gave him an extra plastic sandwich box by accident. He came over and gave it back. "Oh, thanks!" said Jessica, and then threw it out after he went back to his table. "Yeah," she said to me, "we love Phillip, and he's our boyfriend and everything, but... we don't really want anything he's touched, because he's like eighty and we honestly don't really know what he's done with it." I laughed.
One of the several things I can do perfectly without anyone yelling at me is make lemonade. I make the lemonade every time I am there. It is mostly sugar water. It is also really good. I am like a hummingbird at the Bagel Store. I have a glass every hour or so. I should probably stop.
Anyway, I guess most of the reason it is getting better is because I am getting to actually know what I am doing. I think I am going to make an effort to memorize the prices and just get my green hat soon. I have been there for about a month and a half. That is three times longer than Ivy. snigger
So, telling random Bagel Store stories instead of doing homework. I'm going to think about how screwed I am and then go to bed.
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