Springtime in CO and 11 Inches of Snow
Apr. 11th, 2005 02:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grrgoylI just have to face it. Fate has clearly set Herself against me ever shopping at Hot Topic again. Either I'm in the store with no money, or I have money but can't get to the store.
After my depressing birthday Friday (thanks again to all who indulged my cries of self-pity), I was resolute and very excited about going back to Hot Topic for a little treat, maybe that $6 CD sampler that was just out of reach of my budget earlier, maybe some snarky bumper stickers, maybe even a little something to wear for my sister-in-law's wedding. My plan seemed even more perfect when I was scheduled into a Victoria's Secret Sunday morning and would be within walking distance of my destination when I got off work. Everything was coming together nicely.
But Fate tag-teamed it with Mother Nature and brought down one of our world-famous Colorado end-of-season blowout snowstorms. When I left for work at 5:30 a.m. the roads weren't too horrible, but apparently horrible enough to keep 21 of the 35 people we had scheduled from showing up. Not good. One of them had the nerve to call our boss to report that she had gotten halfway to the store and then decided to turn around again. Perhaps wisely, her identity was not shared with the class (though not for lack of me trying, certainly). The remaining 14 of us soldiered on.
My friends Ashley, Tamara and I didn't have it so bad at first, getting to count the fragrance side of the store while the other unlucky souls had to wade through box upon box upon box of bras and panties (because Fate's contribution to the Big Joke on me was to move all the contents of an off-site storage in for inventory. Fate, you are a bitch). We were singing a different tune however in the backroom, where we had box upon box upon box of mixed up cosmetics and assorted lotions and shower gels to dig through.
Naturally the prevalent topic of the day was the storm. Ashley was getting all worked up, remembering last season when the entire city was shut down for 3 days from a storm like this one, and becoming convinced we were going to get stuck here at the mall. I was a little less worried about the prospect since I wanted to shop anyway (not that I had any desire to shop for 3 days, though). Tamara (who is from Texas and stated in no uncertain terms that she does not "do" snow) started making plans to forcefully invade McDonald's and other denizens of the Food Court if necessary. Damn Texans. A few inches of snow on the ground and she was already trying to decide which coworker to eat first. I was just looking at the bright side and envisioning shopping in my favorite store all by myself without annoying goth kids shouldering me out of the way.
Then we started overhearing the store people talking about highway closures, a conversation that did very little to alleviate Ashley's rising panic. The eventual news that the mall would not be opening at all today didn't help much either. Well, goddammit. With my shopping trip suddenly ripped out from under me, the current situation quickly lost all its charm. As we neared the end I was getting a hunger headache and starting to eye my own buffet options among the auditors. There was an even more pressing question on everyone's mind, as most of us were also scheduled for a Barnes & Noble later tonight. Our boss was in constant contact with the District Manager, who would tell him nothing. The best he could offer us was the guarantee that if we showed up and the inventory was understaffed and cancelled, we would be paid for 2 hours and sent home -- smoothly downplaying the less appealing possibly-getting-stranded-or-killed-on-the-drive-there-or-back aspect of the deal. No, people were generally not happy with this offer.
We finally finished and fought our way through the blinding snow and lashing wind to our cars. This was my first inkling that clog-style shoes, no matter how comfortable, are really not ideal footwear for these conditions, as they almost immediately filled with the stuff, soaking my socks straight through. Before I could focus too much on this misery though, a little Asian man ran up to me from his car and asked, "Mall closed?" I was stunned. "Yes, the mall's closed. No mall today." He ran back disappointed, and I wondered what could possibly exist on the entire planet that was so crucial to buy that he braved such hellish conditions to get there. Crazy, crazy consumers.
The drive home was nerve-wracking at best. Everywhere the roadside was littered with the abandoned vehicles of other, less careful drivers. One notable idiot in a Volvo in front of me on the on-ramp kept slowing down and slowing down until we almost stopped. I know enough about winter driving that usually if you stop, you're a goner, especially driving as I was in a car with nearly bald tires. So help me if this moron got us both stuck...but we were alright. I didn't dare do more than 30 white-knuckled mph on the highway, and for once the SUVs were smart enough not to tailgate. It wasn't terribly far into this drive that I had made up my mind if my bosses thought I was going through it again tonight, with the rest of the city closed down, just for a stupid inventory, that they could fire me if they wanted. I was 99.99% sure Tery would have no problem with this decision.
I made it all the way to our parking lot safely, amazingly. But then the problem I faced was that every empty space was now full of 7 hours' worth of accumulation. I circled once and then realized I had no choice...I came back around and drove at top speed straight into one, deliberately burying my car in a snow drift. That was quite exhilarating! It was so high that when I opened my door I had to push hard to get it through the pile enough to exit. It came up to my knees as I walked to the house, again completely filling my shoes. I got inside and announced my intention not to leave the house again today. But thank god we got a call after only a few hours cancelling the inventory. I know it seems like common sense to the rest of the world, but in 14 years with this company I think I've only seen an inventory cancelled one other time. It simply doesn't happen.
But will I ever get to shop at Hot Topic again?
After my depressing birthday Friday (thanks again to all who indulged my cries of self-pity), I was resolute and very excited about going back to Hot Topic for a little treat, maybe that $6 CD sampler that was just out of reach of my budget earlier, maybe some snarky bumper stickers, maybe even a little something to wear for my sister-in-law's wedding. My plan seemed even more perfect when I was scheduled into a Victoria's Secret Sunday morning and would be within walking distance of my destination when I got off work. Everything was coming together nicely.
But Fate tag-teamed it with Mother Nature and brought down one of our world-famous Colorado end-of-season blowout snowstorms. When I left for work at 5:30 a.m. the roads weren't too horrible, but apparently horrible enough to keep 21 of the 35 people we had scheduled from showing up. Not good. One of them had the nerve to call our boss to report that she had gotten halfway to the store and then decided to turn around again. Perhaps wisely, her identity was not shared with the class (though not for lack of me trying, certainly). The remaining 14 of us soldiered on.
My friends Ashley, Tamara and I didn't have it so bad at first, getting to count the fragrance side of the store while the other unlucky souls had to wade through box upon box upon box of bras and panties (because Fate's contribution to the Big Joke on me was to move all the contents of an off-site storage in for inventory. Fate, you are a bitch). We were singing a different tune however in the backroom, where we had box upon box upon box of mixed up cosmetics and assorted lotions and shower gels to dig through.
Naturally the prevalent topic of the day was the storm. Ashley was getting all worked up, remembering last season when the entire city was shut down for 3 days from a storm like this one, and becoming convinced we were going to get stuck here at the mall. I was a little less worried about the prospect since I wanted to shop anyway (not that I had any desire to shop for 3 days, though). Tamara (who is from Texas and stated in no uncertain terms that she does not "do" snow) started making plans to forcefully invade McDonald's and other denizens of the Food Court if necessary. Damn Texans. A few inches of snow on the ground and she was already trying to decide which coworker to eat first. I was just looking at the bright side and envisioning shopping in my favorite store all by myself without annoying goth kids shouldering me out of the way.
Then we started overhearing the store people talking about highway closures, a conversation that did very little to alleviate Ashley's rising panic. The eventual news that the mall would not be opening at all today didn't help much either. Well, goddammit. With my shopping trip suddenly ripped out from under me, the current situation quickly lost all its charm. As we neared the end I was getting a hunger headache and starting to eye my own buffet options among the auditors. There was an even more pressing question on everyone's mind, as most of us were also scheduled for a Barnes & Noble later tonight. Our boss was in constant contact with the District Manager, who would tell him nothing. The best he could offer us was the guarantee that if we showed up and the inventory was understaffed and cancelled, we would be paid for 2 hours and sent home -- smoothly downplaying the less appealing possibly-getting-stranded-or-killed-on-the-drive-there-or-back aspect of the deal. No, people were generally not happy with this offer.
We finally finished and fought our way through the blinding snow and lashing wind to our cars. This was my first inkling that clog-style shoes, no matter how comfortable, are really not ideal footwear for these conditions, as they almost immediately filled with the stuff, soaking my socks straight through. Before I could focus too much on this misery though, a little Asian man ran up to me from his car and asked, "Mall closed?" I was stunned. "Yes, the mall's closed. No mall today." He ran back disappointed, and I wondered what could possibly exist on the entire planet that was so crucial to buy that he braved such hellish conditions to get there. Crazy, crazy consumers.
The drive home was nerve-wracking at best. Everywhere the roadside was littered with the abandoned vehicles of other, less careful drivers. One notable idiot in a Volvo in front of me on the on-ramp kept slowing down and slowing down until we almost stopped. I know enough about winter driving that usually if you stop, you're a goner, especially driving as I was in a car with nearly bald tires. So help me if this moron got us both stuck...but we were alright. I didn't dare do more than 30 white-knuckled mph on the highway, and for once the SUVs were smart enough not to tailgate. It wasn't terribly far into this drive that I had made up my mind if my bosses thought I was going through it again tonight, with the rest of the city closed down, just for a stupid inventory, that they could fire me if they wanted. I was 99.99% sure Tery would have no problem with this decision.
I made it all the way to our parking lot safely, amazingly. But then the problem I faced was that every empty space was now full of 7 hours' worth of accumulation. I circled once and then realized I had no choice...I came back around and drove at top speed straight into one, deliberately burying my car in a snow drift. That was quite exhilarating! It was so high that when I opened my door I had to push hard to get it through the pile enough to exit. It came up to my knees as I walked to the house, again completely filling my shoes. I got inside and announced my intention not to leave the house again today. But thank god we got a call after only a few hours cancelling the inventory. I know it seems like common sense to the rest of the world, but in 14 years with this company I think I've only seen an inventory cancelled one other time. It simply doesn't happen.
But will I ever get to shop at Hot Topic again?
