you're in charge

the thing about people leaving town, or changes being made when i'm in the line of succession (metaphorically speaking), i tend to be left in charge without adequate mention of the fact that i am in charge. though i think my boss did the best job of making the case than anyone before him, but i saw a now asst. mgr who got promoted out of my store and she said,

you're in charge this week.

i said,

really?

that's how he made it sound.

oh.

and i smiled.

as much as anyone can be in charge at that place, i guess.

we have a lot of ideas, strong people, and the flux of workers which makes for a sometimes volatile mix of pro-activeness and outright rebellion. when does one become the other?

i said to my boss,

i know what to do, i just need to do it.

he'd been telling me for some time to stop asking for approval before i do stuff. and, well, it took some getting comfortable, and we overlapped slightly (amazingly, not too much) in our efforts, but all ends well.

i have decided it is keeping my finger on the pulse of a store that is most complex. if a customer wants this or that we have to make it happen, within reason. i would probably sell my mother to make this store successful, which is, perhaps more a reflection of the ailing relations between my mother and i than anything else.

we get deliveries from this company who often short our order just when we need the product. forcing us to scramble around from store to store taking alms of the product shorted.

the other night, just that happened. they had been delivering while we were there, but they didn't. so i made sure to see them as soon as they walked in the next night.

we didn't get this.

and since it was pouring rain, i offered,

i'll walk out to the truck, get it myself and bring it back in. do you mind?

they couldn't shake me off, i was relentless (in a most charming way, of course).

and so, i walked out in the rain, and hopped in the back of this 18 wheeler, and extracted the product we were shorted the previous night.

shorting another store, yes, but they had two of the item, so it was a necessary act.

these commando techniques are met by laughing kids who can't believe i'm lugging boxes in the rain and forcing my will on the delivery guys. i'm just glad they changed their route so we're the second stop.

peace.

btw, i am told by my sweet eleven year old informant that bucky is for sale. or will be soon. i miss him.