Finally Thrusday

Ok, my coworker, the one that coined the term "Thrusday" is a trip and I have to tell you about him. This is my coworker from my part-time employment at the fine jewelry department of a famous retail store of Thanksgiving balloon parade fame.

In our department, we are a bevy of about 15 women of varying ages, nationalities, ethnicities, civil status, etc. We are all very different and yet, contrary to popular belief that "Women cannot work together" we get along so well and we are very much a team. Except for one or two difficult people, who exist in every environment. It would be an interesting sociological research question "What is the average percentage of difficult people (aka SOB's) in each work environment?" My guess is that the percentage would depend on how much money is at stake, more SOB's the more money is involved. But I'm also guessing that there is a stable and average number of agitators or sour apples or just plain obnoxious persons in every work group regardless of education, religion, gender, etc.

Anyway, our little group of women, some full-time and some part-timers like me, work like a charm together and they are absolutely a great collection of wonderful people, warm, friendly, sweet, and very, very intelligent. We spend the time at work selling jewelry, but also hearing about each other's lives, troubles and tribulations, love interests or gripes about spouses, offering each other cheap and unprofessional advice for every imaginable situation. Within our group, there are some that are practically best friends with each other and call each other every day and meet for lunch, etc. One of my women coworkers was the one that gave me a beautiful freshwater pearl rosary another coworker had brought her from Venezuela as a gift, so it would protect my son in Iraq. Another one is 61, works a full-time job at the HR deparment of a local hospital and works a part-time with us at the store. Even though she only works part-time, she is the department's top salesperson in $$. She knows everything there is to know about diamonds, precious and semi-precious stones. She also cares for her elderly mother who needs constant attention. Another is in her late fifties, does math word problems "for fun," works full-time at her daughter's bridal gown business and works part-time at the store. She is one of the most intelligent people I know. She can analyze a problem in the most logical manner and come out with viable solutions that actually make sense. Another studied music in her native country and is selling jewelry here because she still does not know English very well. Despite that, she is taking classes to become a medical biller and is struggling but getting excellent grades in her classes.

Even though I've only worked there for two years, as opposed to almost 10 at my full-time job, I feel so close to all these women. In a very short time they have endeared themselves to me and vice-versa and we have worked harmoniously and enjoyably together.

In this group we have two male co-workers who are charmers and we love them. One of them, "Antoine," is tall, dark-skinned, handsome with his hair closely trimmed, sporting a neat goatee and impeccably dressed always. He is so much fun to work with because he is so creative and outgoing and at the same time a warm and lovely person. He has given each of us a name, a twist on our real names according to our personalities. He calls me "Kermesse" because he says that I am like a school bazaar, I am a communicator, I get around and talk to everyone and find out what they are doing and what's going on. Another co-worker, whose name is Martha he calls "Martillo" (hammer) because she is one of the difficult ones. Working with Martillo is tough because she, unlike the others, competes with everybody to get sales. We have our courtesy rules in our group and they are almost always respected, mostly to keep the peace. If you have shown a couple twenty engagement rings and they decide on one particular one but don't want to buy it that day for whatever reason, you give them a print-out of the item description with your name on it. If that customer comes another day and you're not there at the store, whoever helps them should ring up the sale on your number, since you were the one that helped them. Well, Martillo does not observe this rule, or any other. She is ruthless and will sell the ring under her number, getting the comission. This causes a lot of friction, needless to say but I said it anyway. Martillo is not a popular person with her coworkers but I feel sorry for her so I treat her nicely too. We have another co-worker "Clara," which means "Clear" in Spanish, whom Antoine calls "Un-Clear" because she is one of the top salespeople in our department but she forgets to write down what she sells in the log, making for huge discrepancies at closing time.

I usually work night part-time and weekends at the store. Most of the time, when I get out of my day job I feel really tired and I have to force myself to trudge to my part-time job. BUT once there, I have a wonderful time, and I really look forward to seeing my friends there and catching up on the latest goings-on with them. I love those people!