Sunday, March 23, 2008

A Happy Easter

Dinner time.

I have just finished smoking two chickens and a mess of turkey legs. So what is the family's dinner conversation about? How about my recent unemployment.

Keeping my spirits high while reliving the death of my career to the pace of our "cheerful" banter, someone chimes in with "There all crooks, like the manager from Auburn."

What?!

That was the store that I was going to work at.

That was going to be my store.

I was going to be the ETL-HR of Auburn T-1096.

I mean that was my plan. Their STL (head store manager) Sean loved me. I mean, come on, he was the one who interviewed me for team lead. A great, moral, and dedicated person to work for.

I guess I was wrong.



According to the Auburn Journal, on the 18th Sean Ryan (Auburn Target's STL) was arrested for embezzling $10,000 over 3 months from the store's safe at night. The best part is he was caught by his own AP (that's basic store security).

All of the sudden getting let go over $50 isn't all that bad. I did not steal like he did, but when I got let go I did not face jail time.

There is always a silver lining. Always.

As a side note, I love how he is in his red & khaki for the mugshot. That means he was arrested at the store, during business hours, while he was working.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Another Salena Thursday

You know its funny how much I look foward to Thursday. It gives me a chance to rediscover the things Chico is known for. Today, we hiked upper Bidwell.

We started at Bear Hole, this picture was taken overlooking Salmon Hole. I wonder where we will go next week?

(This was posted LIVE using my Samsung-u740)

Friday, March 14, 2008

It's A Bright Dark Day

It's cold outside, but I can feel the sun on my face. In the distance I can here the train going through town, and if I close my eyes, I can smell the damp earth of a recent rain storm far away. It has been a while since I last posted a "real" entry on my beloved blog. But a lot has happened since my days at the "Townhouse." I have changed, the world around me has changed.

It took me a while to come to grips with what just happened. . . I think that is why I have not posted anything about it. To be honest I am still trying to recover from the dishearting malaise of their quick action to, and I quote, "end their relationship with [me]." After 5 years of dedication, loyalty, and personal defiance of all the evils the outside world would say about my beloved employer; Target fired me over a return which created a $50 loss to the store. And that's it. That's all of it. I did not steal, I did not pocket any products, and to quell a rumor that I still get phone calls about, I did not rape anyone on the clock. If that last one was true don't you think I would be in jail right now?

Five years, then poof, gone. I always volunteered when help was needed. I always traveled when other stores need help (the best was the 2 and a half weeks I spent in Auburn as Human Resources), and I gave up precious time with my ever shrinking family because "they" needed a closer in a position that only I knew. I interned with them, and was even on the right road to becoming an ETL. But all that didn't matter. Once again they saw a return, which gave a guest a $50 gift card, not cash or a refund to their credit card, but in-store credit, as an error.

Even now I feel I did the right thing. I was helping a guest who, for lack of a better term, I fell prey to their sob story. She was old and got the classic runaround from the operators, and her receipt was about to expire, so I wanted to help her out. Target's revenue for Christmas '07 was $19,900,000,000.00. So what is $50 in store credit? I mean just the day before I saw Debbie (the store manager) give a guest a $30 gift card just to shut her up. Nevertheless, I was wrong and $50 dollars is all it took to terminate my employment. Not a suspension, dock in pay, final warning for a year, or a letter of reprimand; all of which you would receive if you worked in a public institution or at the very least a union job.

They may have taken my job, I would not let them take my pride. I walked out of there with a smile on my face and my head held high. Because, in the end, that's all you have left.