BAGEL BABE
Shuffling through online job postings, I come across a position that sounds promising. It seems legitimate. The job doesn’t have strange requirements, like “must be able to move fingers independently”, or requests like—”Uncle Uri from the Ukraine has death and you need now to send 100,000 USD to cover deadly expenses, most quickly please”.
The position is for a “sales associate” at a local bagel bakery. Although it’s not a job I’d normally be interested in, I figure it’ll be fine for part-time work. How bad could it be?
There’s no phone number to call so I drive down there to apply. I haven’t been to “Grace’s Bagels and More” before, though I know the strip mall where it’s located. I don’t care for this mall with its inconvenient parking and speed-bump strewn roads.
I drive around the mall, driving progressively faster over each speed-bump in direct proportion to my growing annoyance. I finally locate the store, and it’s a good thing too, because my erratic driving is attracting the attention of a police cruiser.
It’s about 10:00 a.m. and there aren’t any patrons in the store. A college-age girl is manning the counter. Her face is very pale. She’s wearing a full-body apron and her hair is bound in a hair-net. In combination with her latex-gloved hands, I feel like I’ve wandered into Frankenstein’s laboratory.
“Can I speak to the manager? I’d like to apply for the job I saw posted on the web.”
“Sure, I’ll get Grace. Be back in a minute.” The girl turns and trots off to the back area, cordoned off from the main part of the store with a curtain. Grace appears, emerging from behind the curtain like the Wizard of Oz.
She resembles an older version of the bagel-girl so faithfully that I do a double-take. Grace walks up to the counter briskly, peeling off her gloves like I’ve interrupted her performing surgery.
She regards me coolly and studies me from head to toe.
I don’t think Grace thinks that I’m suitable for the position of bagel-girl II.
I have a tanned complexion, which probably makes it clear that I’d prefer the beach to being entombed in Grace’s Bagel Mortuary-by-the-Sea. I’m not wearing an apron. The only one I own a skimpy, French-maid getup, which probably wouldn’t be appropriate.
“So, you’re here about our open retail position. Did you bring a resume?”
“Sorry, no. I forgot to.” I wince.
“Do you have experience in a bakery or with handling food orders?”
“No professional experience. But I handle baked-goods and food ll the time.” She shakes her head. I feel my prospects for employment dwindling.
“So, what are your qualifications?” She stares, unblinking, and I am starting to sweat like I’m in a police lineup.
“Well, I really love eating bagels. I like your bagels in particular because after a few days, you can cut them up into croutons. I have an idea for more business. You can do a have-it-both-ways kind of promotion. Smear one half of a bagel with cream cheese, the other with butter. That way, you cut down on your costs for both since you only use half as much.
I do have retail sales experience. I sold cosmetics at a department store. That’s similar to selling bagels since you have to ask the customer questions. Otherwise, they could end up with a product they don’t want, like an everything-bagel with chive cream-cheese instead of an onion-bagel with dill butter. You know how customers are—they never give you the right order the first time.”
I give her a little conspiratorial wink, but Grace doesn’t wink back.
If you're enjoying this over coffee, tea, or whatever, please consider buying me a cup!OBLIGATIONS
How many people have to be at work by 8 AM? Even if you have a floating start time, there still is some specific time you have to be there, right?
So, what happens if you’re running late? Many people get anxious. It’s 7:50 and you’re stuck behind an accident. You know you won’t make it by 8. Your foot starts tapping. You crane your neck seeking alternate ways to go around the hold-up. You might even curse everything holy due to stress.
When you do arrive, you walk in late. On your walk of shame, you feel every eye trained directly on you. You feel self-conscious for shirking your responsibility.
That may set a tone of failure for the rest of the day. You parlay a momentary stress into poor performance that jeopardizes your good standing even more. You failed in your obligation.
“Obligation,” what an ugly word.
Once something becomes an obligation, it’s then a source of stress. It brings a feeling of entrapment. You feel controlled by it. Anytime we feel things are out of our control, anxiety and stress consume us.
“Obligation,” what an ugly word.
By now you’re thinking, “What’s he babbling about? We all have obligations. We have to be at work by a certain time.”
I agree there are things we “must” do, but I propose “musts” are conditional. We willingly choose to do them. If they are choices we make, then they are not obligations.
Why exactly is it that you “have to” be at work by 8? “Well, duh,” you retort, “I’ll lose my job if I don’t!”
Ah, so that’s it. You don’t want to lose your job. But why? Will you die if you lose your job? No, you won’t. But, you do enjoy receiving a pay check. And why? Because you use that money to pay for the things you desire — a roof over your head, a car to drive, your hobbies, vacations, etc. It is a means to provide for yourself and your loved ones.
You wish to offer a secure and comfortable life for those you love. So, that’s why you really have to be to work at 8. It’s not an obligation, it’s done out of love in order to provide for those you care about. So, instead of it being something you “have to” do, it’s something you “desire” to do as a service to those you love.
It’s much more difficult to feel stress when we realize we’re simply exercising our right of free will, rather than feeling locked into some obligation. In reminding ourselves of why we choose to do things, we reduce our level of stress. It’s just a paradigm shift to replace obligations with what they truly are — choices we make to provide comfort and security to ourselves and those we love.
Instead of feeling stress about failing in your obligation, remind yourself exactly why it’s important for you to be to work on time. Remember it’s your love of those important to you which drives you be to work on time. That may help you to rise from bed earlier and in a cheerful mood. Your optimism might just get you out the door quicker, so if you do get stuck behind an accident, you can still get to work on time. You’ll be in a calmer mood, able to be more productive and add more value, thereby enhancing your security.
If you're enjoying this over coffee, tea, or whatever, please consider buying me a cup!
