Home Away From Home for the Holiday

Due to my dedication to my job, I decided to not even bother requesting off for the holidays this year. I felt that if I asked off they might grant my request and find someone else to replace me in my absence which I cannot risk due to the fact that I like my job and need a pay check. I did not think this would bother me. I am 21 years old, my parents need to get used to not seeing me every holiday which I am sure will be the case in years to come after school ends and life goes on. My little sister left Boca Raton without me and got to enjoy a leisurely week away from life and school as I worked many hours and worked on my Broadcast project. My cable went out as it turns out the bill had not been paid on time and since Comcast apparently has a few days off for the holidays, there was no one to assist me in getting it turned on as I sat in solitude and watched Disney movies alone in my apartment. The roommates went to see their family and I hustled through Public at 9 PM the night before Thanksgiving trying to salvage a holiday meal outside of cereal and left over pizza. I missed my parents as it turned out and tried my best to stay occupied but I am conditioned to want to see my family for the holidays as I have done in years past. This weekend I requested time off in December. Who cares if I eat Roman noodles all of December due to the lack of hours in my pay check. Family is important and I need them.

Black Friday, Five Days Strong

It would not be a fulfilled experience in retail if I had not been forced to endure Black Friday. The unique thing about my Black Friday was that it lasted roughly five days.

This year it was common for retailers to extend their Black Friday deals throughout the weekend. In Gap's case, it began last Wednesday and lasted through the weekend.

The Wednesday before Black Friday is called White Wednesday, which I learned as I saw the traffic throughout the mall increase over the hours I worked as the window shoppers came to spot out the good deals for Friday's chaos.

We had a buy one get one free promotion that seemed to catch on in the course of five days. It was estimated that $70,000 would be spent in Gap on Friday. I am not sure of how close we came to reaching that goal but the doors opened at 8 am and by 11 am we had $25,000 in sales.

That blows my mind to think that such a large amount of money could be gained even when a BOGO is going on.

I did not get to celebrate the joys of shopping this year due to my participation on the sales associate side of things, but I can say I have never been so worn out for screaming a promotion at the top of my lungs for hours at at time as I was on Friday.

By Sunday, I was to the point where I nearly did not want to utter the words, "Buy One Sweater Get One Sweater Free, as well as pajama bottoms, and anything that is marked down through out the store is an additional forty percent off..."

It is difficult just to type nonetheless say nonstop to every person that comes into the store with a smile on. I learned that I am extremly long winded this past weekend and hope to never work a Black Friday again. I already look forward to spending some money myself next year.

White Wednesday, Black Friday, Bring It On

Sunday morning, bright and early, I waltzed into my store holiday meeting with a latte in one hand and sunglasses shielding me from the bright lights of the store as I took a seat next to my co-workers to discuss the preparations of the holiday fun we will see in the next month in the store.

Fortunately I am a morning person so I was chipper and alert as we discussed what it will take to drive sales up and succeed in the holiday season without slacking in customer service.

For two hours we went through mini-sessions with different managers discussing how to impact each customer as they walk in the store with speed and accuracy in a time where it is easy to get overwhelmed and give up.

I was pleased to hear all the effort the managers had put into making the holidays go flawlessly for everyone that will walk the doors of the Town Center Gap store.

It made me realize that many times in the past few years, I have done holiday shopping and hated the customer service I received from many stores.

It made me enjoy working at my store so much more and I am really looking forward to surviving this holiday season and the demands retail has to offer.

New Moon

I am a fan of the infamous Twilight Saga and went to see the second installation of the series over the weekend, New Moon.

Before I could see such an amazing movie, I had to do some prerequisite activity to prepare for the 2 hours and 25 minutes I would be spending with my beloved vampire dreamboat, Edward and the lucky love of his life, Bella.

As I ransacked the Dollar Store for chocolate candy to smuggle into the movie theatres, I started to build with anxiety as I approached the movie I have waited one year to see.

I dragged my little sister with me to see the movie which I have not shut up about since I left the theatres last year when the first movie in the saga was released, Twilight.

I did not hear one review that made the movie sound intriguing and I was prepared to be greatly disappointed but knew I had to see it.

Men may not understand why girls of all ages are obsessed with the pale, cold blooded vampire but then again women do not understand why the Star Wars trilogy is some sort of right of passage.
What men do understand is that you cannot see just one movie out of the three, you must see them all. Therefore, I had to sit through the entire movie whether I loathed the film or not.

I cried, I laughed, I smiled, and I remembered that I have spent a weeks worth of hours to read through every single word Stephanie Meyers put into writing all four novels. With that said, I am in complete compliance with everyone who has said, "the movie could never do justice to the book." There is just no way to compare the written word to the big screen.

What I will say is having my imagination put to life in the movies has been a blessing and I was not disappointed at all. It could have been a lot worse and I thoroughly enjoyed all that was crammed into the movie.

I am already craving the third movie to come out, until then the second one needs to come out on DVD so I can quench my desire to watch New Moon over and over again.

Depression In a Sunshine World

I am a very care free individual. I have my head on my shoulders and a strong focus towards what I want my future to resemble.

I have made too many mistakes to count and many my age pale in comparison to the wrongs I have done to get me to where I am. Yet, this is what makes me more mature and grounded then those in my peer group.

I cannot explain why I am the way that I am but I do know that if it were not for the mistakes I have made in my past, I would not be where I am today.

Despite the pressures I feel about never having enough money or being hindered from graduation due to failing my Broadcast Journalism course, I am happy with the way things are going, in general.

I say in general because this semester I feel like there has been a force out to get me and knock me down from where my aspirations are. It is as if I am lost in a maze with only dead ends surrounding me on all four sides. I feel the need to scream for help, for any assistance that someone can lend me yet I hold back because I feel it would do me no good.

I have never felt surrounded by defeat in my life, yet lately it feels oppressive and very apparent in all that I do.

As silly as it sounds, in the last month and a half I have been to eight doctors for my eyes. I was admitted to urgent care this Monday after literally being unable to see due to the irritation in both my eyes. I learned that for the past six weeks, I have been highly allergic to every drop that has entered my eyes.

Because of the poor advisement from an array of different doctors, my eyes could stay red for a long time. I have been embarrassed, hurt and hostile towards people for the past six weeks because no one will talk to the girl with crackhead eyes.

I have two jobs and have avoided eye contact from the public for a month and a half. My abundant social life has left me into exile due to my noticeably different appearance.

I have hit rock bottom this semester. Even in my Multimedia Journalism class, a class I enjoy and feel I do decent in, I learned I have a C- which is unacceptable.

Things cannot continue this way but it seems that I have to overcome the forces that have marked me as their territory. I need to avenge bad karma with optimism, yet it is easier said then done.

I just want to get through this semester, get my appearance back to normal and wake up with a stride of prosperity instead of defeat that I have been sulking in for far too long.

Broadcast Journalism Choke

I may not be an extraordinary student nor the sharpest tool in the shed, but one thing I can say is that I have always done my best in school.

That was until I entered Broadcast Journalism this semester.

It is not that I have slacked off or done poor this semester. It is that I am not equipped with the proper fundamentals needed to succeed in this class.

I have never failed at anything. I have made it to my senior year in college and can't say I have a lot to complain about.

My first edit is due Thursday for my Broadcast class and I feel like I am drowning in anxiety. Emotionally, I have a weight tied to my feet, that is dragging me down to the bottom of an endless ocean.

That may seem to be a dramatized metaphor for how I feel currently but there is no other way to describe it.

I have not had time to do anything besides breathe this project. It consumes me. Even now while I write my assigned blog I feel as though it is a waste of precious time needed to finish my project.

I wasted hours today, twelve hours to be exact, learning a editing software that I have still not figured out.

I have to work all tomorrow then have two quizzes which I need to do great on in order to get a better grade in this journalism class.

It never ends. Between my two jobs, this weekend I worked twenty five hours. I crave for this semester to be over. I want to tell my parents that all of my effort in college has paid off.

I cannot take my eyes off the prize, I have come too far yet I feel like I am back at the finish line.

OCD Annoys Me

On my prime time television kick that I am on, I am analyzing Jay Leno's interview with Deal or No Deal's host, Howie Mandel who has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I had no idea that the quirky, bald-headed television game show host was a complete nut job until just minutes ago.

I understand everyone is different. I believe that there are things that define everyone but OCD does not do Howie Mandel any justice.

He is irritating, a train wreck, over the top, and down right pathetic.

He explained tonight about how he cannot touch anyone and finds urinating in public restrooms is physically impossible for him. It took him two years to take his young daughter out in public and could not change her diaper in a public stall because it repulsed him so much.

What is normal nonetheless tolerable about that?

I have put people with OCD on the top of my hit list of people that irritate me. That is bypassing the filthy rich snobs of Palm Beach County and loud New Yorker's who talk like they are a walking garbage can.

I have only crossed a few people with OCD in my life and tonight solidified why I cannot have anyone close to me that structured and compulsive.