Wench-Fest post incoming...

I feel like I am in some terrifying nightmare where I've been thrust back into high school. My life is one big drama. I have tried and tried not to whine or complain, but I just have to get it out before I explode! I am so worn out. Cory is still without a job, and I am still working as many hours as possible at both Kiddie Kandids and with my own photography. I work so hard and things are still hanging by a string. Our savings is virtually gone. We have managed to not go into debt (beyond normal house, car, and old student loans) or get behind on any of the bills, but I constantly worry what will happen if the money runs out. We both worked to hard to get some sort of a savings built up, and thankfully, it has been enough to get us through almost the entire year with minimal additional income. I seriously hate money!

Then, there have been the funerals... the many funerals. Five in 12 weeks. It's hard. It's stressful. I can't do it anymore.

Except for my sister, who was unable to come up here for the latest funeral, we all sat down at my parents dining room table and had the official "Family Meeting". Not what I wanted to think about, but in light of all the goings on, necessary so we were all clear. My parents went throught their living trust and will, explaining what their final wishes were and how they wanted things to be handled. Seeing the members of my family in the various situations over the last 12 weeks, I sincerely hope, and believe, that in the event of my parents passing we would all be civilized and remember we are family.

Then, there is Kiddie Kandids. DRAMA! It's the only word I can think of to describe what goes on there. I suddely remember what I HATED about high school. Why can't grown women just act like grown women? Why do they constantly undercut each other, complain, and inconvenience everyone to suit their own childish whims? I understand the desire to want to do good at your job. I even understand wanting to be the best at what you do. But when it comes at the cost of alienating EVERYONE else you work with, you would think people would stop to think if it was really worth it all. But no. Instead, they don't show up for shifts. Being financially strapped I volunteer. They want to pick and choose which sittings or sales they take so they only get the highest sales. I am polite so I take whatever I get and even give them some of the best sales just to avoid a confrontation. Nevermind the fact that I certified faster than ANY of them, and have seen the most improvement, and even score better on my tests and current sitting indexing, a couple still want to treat me like I don't know what I'm doing. I think they are bitter that they've failed their indexing for the last few months and I've passed every single one of mine. So take THAT! Ugh! I get a raise and you don't, neener neener neener :p

So yesterday, I was scheduled from 10am-4pm at Kiddie Kandids. It was a stressful day. The first two sittings were friends and, to put it nicely, very controlling, nitpicky, comandeering mothers. I needed a lunch SO badly after they had gone. Kristen, my wonderful manager, went to Red robin with me. Before the closing shift (Mary) got in at 2pm, we had gone over the sittings for the remainder of the evening. There was an engagement/family sitting at 6:30 and anoher group sitting at 7pm. We both knew she'd never be able to do it. Kristen had hinted that the 6:30 was picky, but neither of us really had any idea how picky she was going to be. Also, Mary's photography is still somewhat lacking, and this couple had expressed an interest in one of the larger gallery packages. It was decided I would stay to take the 6:30 engagement sitting and leave immediately afterwards.

Mary took a walk-in appointment at 6:20. At 6:35, the 6:30 & 7:00 appointments showed up. I got them both checked in and gave them both backdrop books. I then explained to the 7:00 that they would have to wait until Mary was done with the sitting she was in to do their pictures. Then I took the 6:30 engagement party back to our back bay where we would have some quiet and some privacy. It was closer to about 6:50 before they were finished getting the wrinkles out and the hair perfect. I started into one of the longest sittings I have ever done for a group of 3 in the studio. This woman was so nitpicky I was ready to scream! I tried explaining the image on the computer in the bay was blurry and that the picture was NOT out of focus and that it would look fine once we were at the creation station and even beter after it was printed. She point blank told me the pictures looked like crap and they were not studio quality. It took every ounce of strength not to tell her to get out and find somewhere else that would give her what she was getting for the same price. Attempting to keep my cool, I asked her what her concerns were. Other than the things I had already explained to her (like the blurry images and not being able to show her b&w pictures till we had sent the images over to the main computers) she was upset with things that could really only be tken up with God or some major photoshopping. At some point in the sitting, Mary came back and said "Are you finished with them yet, because I just got an 8:00 appointment and I still have the other two sittings out there. I know you were supposed to be off at 7:30 but I haven't had a lunch yet." to which my reply was "Actually, I was supposed to be off t 4 but I stayed to help you by taking this sitting. I'll let you know when I'm done."

I will leave out what the customer said about her because, well, she had quite a few choice words for making her feel like she was unwanted and unimportant. Yes, there was a little bridezilla going on because she had waited till the week before her wedding to get their family pictures done that they wanted displayed at the wedding. Anyway, it took me a good 10 minutes to get them calmed down and back into the sitting again. The four year old was, well, a four year old. He had been finished about 20 minutes into the sitting, and the mom, of course, kept pushing and pushing him. About an hour and 45 minutes into the sitting, we finally finished and went out to the creation station computers. Not one minute after we sat down, Mary approached me and said "Kristen (the store manager) said since you're not finished I need to shut the computers down, but I can't close the printer or the cash register since you aren't finished yet." She then proceeded to sit down in front of us and eat her dinner, clock out and leave, consquently leaving the store a mess.

It took another hour for my customers to go over all the pictures, get the desired effects, colors, borders, layouts and then an additional 5 minutes to get it all printed. So, there I was, 10pm alone in the store, a mess on my hands and nobody to help. One day after having been sick as a dog, with what was presumed to have been mild food poisining, after closing down the till and the printer, I had done a 13 hour shift at work and got sucked into closing the store on my own. I called my manager and spoke with her for a good 30 minutes, filling her in on everything that had happened, getting the full story about what had been told to her, and what she had told Mary. Needless to say, I was more than upset at Mary by the time I left.

This morning, I woke up and Mary had made a comment saying I was rude and careless and she would never work with me again. By this point, I'm thinking, you know what, I really don't care what she thinks of me. I am proud to say I kept my head and gave her a very civil but straightforward reply, which was, "Mary, I did not have an attitude and I was not careless. I simply told you the facts... that I was supposed to have gotten off at 4pm but had stayed to do one sitting for you so you could get to the other sitting you had scheduled. I was not responsible for any additional appointments you may have scheduled after the fact. I was not there to ... Read Moreclose the store for you (which I ended up doing after you stormed out) I was not there to take your other sittings (which you wanted me to do anyway). You were rude to me, you were rude to my husband and you were rude to the customers I was there helping so YOU wouldn't be so stressed out. I'd rethink the situation and give a little thought as to who you call rude and careless."

ARG! Okay, I think I feel a little bit better now. I have tried being nice, now I'm trying being honest. We'll see how that works out. I am just so sick of the women there acting loike spoiled little brats. I've never understood why people have no work ethic these days. But thinking about it too much just gives me a headache. Maybe she will quit. Maybe she will be fired... the teenager in me thinks that would be really satisfying! But I'm trying to to act the teenage part, so maybe she will just quit and spare everyone the bi-polar drama she's been dishing out.

Congrats if you actually read through all that. Can't say as I'd blame you if you gave up somehwere in the middle. Saying it made me feel better regardless of who sees it. Now to get ready to start another day at work...