"IT'S DEJAS-VU" (ALL OVER AGAIN)….

Hi Friends!

IT'S "DEJAS-VU" ALL OVER AGAIN © stevenn beck

So last evening I met my friends (and former work colleagues) in Howard Beach for drinks and dinner. As usual it was a great time - I am really happy that I can get to see them pretty regularly, They are all really terrific - and fun - people and very important in my life. (Otherwise I can't exactly say that I miss much else about work.) Of course afterwards I had my usual, no good, horrible recurring nightmares about A"S"S" (I am, after all, suffering from extended - and evidently indefinite - post-treumatic work stress) but that would probably happen from time-to-time anyway.

However what I DIDN'T expect is today's reminder - especially since I'd had an awesome workout and those good chemicals were running through my body….I felt super-jazzed. Then I made a mistake - I stopped off at CVS to drop off a prescription (only to be told that there was no generic form of the medicine and that my CO-PAY would be $90.) Very aggravating. While CVS filled the order, I walked next door to a fast food restaurant for lunch - they actually serve a fairly healthy - and delicious- salad. Whooops…..

1- The line was out the door. At noon - arguably the busiest part of the afternoon - there were just two registers open.

2- At one register the worker kept keying in the wrong order. The food would arrive - the customer would argue. The order would have to be voided and the food re-ordered. This happened to three straight customers…as the line kept getting longer and longer and waiting customers became more impatient. And at the second register the worker seemed to be sleep-walking through her day, taking her time, making small-talk with the folks preparing the food. Basically ignoring the fact that the place was now crowded with customers waiting to be served.

3- I looked to see if I could find the store manager (although I was not about to lose my place on line - there were no other restaurants nearby, I was hungry - and I'd already received a text from CVS telling me the prescription could be picked up). I didn't have far to look….the store manager was at the extreme corner of the counter, taking the orders from the customers in their automobiles. The store manager? She appeared to be working harder than anyone else, pushing the orders through….no time to breath - and no time to notice (or address) the growing line and increasingly chaotic situation. In between orders the manager had to answer a phone call- evidently there was no one else available to do it.

4- It was drizzling….but someone had left the door to the outside play area open - so naturally a parent allowed her small child to go out there. (Allowing the parent - no doubt - to work on her heavy text message workload in lieu of actually interacting with the kid.) Anyway the child climbed through one of the tunnels in the play area, got scared - and wouldn't come out. Loud screaming for help…the manager had to interrupt the car orders to go out and rescue the child - damned if I know why the mother couldn't do that! - because the people in the back - the ones preparing the food - were overburdened with food orders and the only workers left were the two at the counters.

Talk about re-living your past…..when I got to the counter (finally) I asked the employee what the deal was….and the answer - which I half-expected - was that three fellow-employees called in sick - on top of a recent cut-back in staff because the store has been losing money.

Damn….the more things change….

Tonight…another round of nightmares for sure….:-(

Bye for now- be safe!

Stevenn