#jobness

[esseastri]

had a job interview today, after spending 11 months applying and hearing nothing back from anywhere, and I think it went well and also I hate capitalism and everything about the job process and I'm going to collapse into a puddle now bye

[esseastri]

networking makes me want to upchuck but I AM DOING IT please applaud

[esseastri]

for the curious, or those who haven't seen the hints I've been dropping--I have quit the bookstore. It was a Decision that I hated making, but the farther I've gotten away from making it, the more sure I am that it is the right one.

It's been a hell of a five years and I will always have a special place in my heart for that store and the work I did there and the authors I met and supported. That job meant a lot to me, and I'm going to miss parts of it, but on the whole, I need a break and I am deeply grateful that I get to take one. I'll be looking for a new job (still in the book industry) in the new year, but I'm taking the end of this hellyear for myself, to rejuvenate.

I am having Some Feelings about it all, but honestly? the overwhelming one is Relief. But don't worry, you're still going to get unhinged book tweets from me until twitter dies! (and then you can get unhinged book posts from me on insta at esseastri there or probably here as I migrate back to being more active here!)

[esseastri]

so I had half a meh day and half a crappy day at work, and then like...20 minutes before close this couple comes in

and I’m kinda grumbly because I hate it when people come in that close to close--I’m trying to finish up all my closing tasks and mop and finish dishes and put snacks away and you want me to make you tea which makes more dishes ugh get out--but they’re really excited! and nice! and so I’m like “aight, you’re allowed to be here 20 minutes before close I forgive you”

and then the lady is like “I need...chocolate tea. Because Reasons.” And her husband is shaking his head and he just stares at me deadpan and goes, “she won’t shut up about chocolate tea it’s been a Thing all day”

So we get her her chocolate tea and she turns to her husband and goes, “You’re getting something too.” And he’s like, “I am?” and she’s like, “Yes, come on.” And he just stares at the wall and goes, “there’s too many.”

So he turns to me and he’s like, “what’s your name, I’ll look for your magnet and just have whatever is your Choice!”

and I was like “welp. I ....still don’t have a magnet. the coworker who makes the magnets is on vacation. But if I did have a magnet, it would be on this one, this one, or this one and here’s why.”

and anyway, we pick a tea and he’s like “You decide if it’s hot or iced, I blindly trust you, surprise me” and I’m like “welp, okay then”

So I’m making their tea, and I have Pandora on in the shop because it was just me and Zero customers for an hour so I’m blasting Bastille Radio, and then Sail by awolnation comes on and the lady bursts out laughing and just grabs her husband and they start waltzing around the teashop to Sail.

And it’s fucking adorable.

So, I finish their tea and go hand it to them and they’re like, “we’ve been looking at all the teapots and mugs and trying to pick out which one the other one of us likes best.”

And was I like, “sorry what”

and she was like, “Well, I think he likes this one or this one best.” and he was like “And I’m pretty sure she likes this one best.” and they both laugh because they were both wrong, but not by much. and then he turns to me and he’s like “which one is your favorite?”

so I tell them and we start chatting about teaware and stuff and then he asks me how I knew he’d like the tea I recommended for him and how I recommend teas, so I took him through my Narrowing Down process and he was, like...genuinely interested in how we match tea to people and it was A Good Convo, and then he looks at his wife and he’s like, “I need to spend 30 bucks so I don’t pay off the house tonight.”

and she was like “you’re not spending it on me!”

and I was like “uuuhhh this seems like a you problem?”

and he was like “okay, so I have enough money to pay off my house, but if I do that, then I won’t have money for food, so I need to spend just enough money to discourage me from paying for the house until the next paycheck. So I’m going to get this bowl she thought was my favorite but wasn’t and then I’m going to buy her some tea.”

and she was like “no, you’re not”

and he was like, “yes, I’m buying you a pound of tea.”

and she was like, “that’s wayy too much.”

and he was like, “you’ve done nothing but talk about how you are staying away from chocolate and sugar, and this tea is chocolate tea but it’s not sugar so you can actually enjoy it, so I’m getting you some.”

and she was like, “not a pound, dear god”

So they got four ounces of chocolate tea and the bowl that wasn’t his favorite but she thought was, and while they were paying, he was like, “sorry, you probably want us to leave, since we’re keeping you here.”

and I was like, “you have 3 more minutes until close, which means you are not keeping me here, and tbh you’re my favorite customers I’ve had all week, so it’s really not a big deal, you guys are adorable and great and I would not even be mad if you were keeping me late.”

and they were super cute and walked out holding hands and I went back to finishing up closing and it took me 40 minutes and it was awful, but I didn’t even care because they were waltzing to Sail and it was so great and I’m so glad these two people exist, they were so nice and awesome.

Usually I really hate customer service and retail in general, but customers like that remind me that sometimes it’s not so bad and there are good people who exist and just want to make other people smile and I’m so glad they made me smile.

[esseastri]

tfw you’ve got a lot of stuff you want to get done and some of it is important adulty things and some of it is writing and some of it is just whacking about online but regardless, you actually WANT to DO STUFF for the first time in a really long time, and instead of getting to do all that stuff, you have to go stand about a store for eight hours and get paid to take people’s money in exchange for goods and services

[esseastri]

So I work at a teashop that’s next door to an indie bookstore and last month, I also got a job at the bookstore next to the teashop, and so I was already friends or at least acquaintances with most of my new bookstore coworkers, and they all already knew me from the teashop. It was great, there wasn’t that awkward period of Getting To Know You.

Anyway, I was talking to my one bookstore coworker today and she was like, “Can you go get me some tea? I don’t know who the Worker Bee over there is and I should know her name by now, but I don’t, and I don’t want to be awkward.”

So I went and got her tea and came back and I was like, “[T], pls, [A] has worked there for more than two months, you should know her name!”

and she was like, “Listen, I am SUPER BAD at names, so I assign people titles and refer to them that way exclusively until it’s too awkward for me to not know their name. Like, [A] doesn’t stop moving, so she’s Worker Bee. [W] was Hotstuff.”

And I was just like, “Wait, what was my title before you knew my name?”

And she stares me dead in the eye and says, “Star Wars Girl.”

To which, in the moment, I responded, “AS IT SHOULD BE.”

But here’s the thing: I caNNOT REMEMBER EVER TALKING TO [T] ABOUT STAR WARS EVER, so I guess I just. ?? How did she KNOW? I just EXUDE STAR WARS AT ALL TIMES? APPARENTLY?

Which, while unsurprising, is HILARIOUS to me.

[esseastri]

I’m so bad at writing about myself tho, like, can’t I just set up my profile and say “YO LET ME WRITE THINGS FOR YOU YOU WON’T REGRET IT” and just...leave it at that?

people would hire me to write things for them with just that to go on, right?

riiight?