*knocks on glass and waves*
So I realize I have been really rather absent as of late. Real life has been a struggle and it's hard to find the energy to write, post, respond, etc with any sort of regularity when all you want to do is sleep and worry about, well, about everything.
What happened?
I'm not sure how many of you were aware that I was a manager at my local Gap or how many of you have been paying any sort of attention of what's been happening with the company over the last few years. Last June the company announced that they were eliminating 250 field leadership positions and closing roughly 175 stores over the next few years. In July they closed quite a few of them, one being in my state and actually doing really well. Turns out their mall had increased their rent so much that it didn't matter how much profit they were making, it wasn't enough to cover the increase. Yeah. They said then that the list for the stores closing in January would be out in October. October came and went, no list.
Which brings us to the first week of November. Our DM made a surprise visit and only wanted to speak to the boss lady. I mean really. Did she really think we wouldn't guess? So managers knew first week of October that we would be shuttering our doors permanently at the end of January. Employees - first week of December.
Words cannot express how much this sucked. I was lying to my Gap family daily. We managed to come up with a way around the topic without actually lying, but needless to say, we avoided the sales floor as much as possible. And after the reveal? The employees weren't surprised, they were aware of how poorly sales were and had seen the traffic trends in the mall drop drastically. So December sucked, January sucked. My 'favorite' people "Omg! You're closing?! Why?! I shop here all the time!" No you don't. I've worked here for 7 years, 40 hours a week, never seen you before in my life. And gees, why do you think we're closing? I mean really.
So I spent the holidays worried about what I was going to do next. Worried about the boss lady. Worried about my employees who truly needed this part time job to make ends meet. (I had a few on staff that used the job for the discount. Not that they weren't fabulous, but they either didn't need to work because of their spouse or they already had a full time job) Had to write a resume for the first time in forever, went out interviewing, which was a challenge. Most of the jobs I had gotten over the years, I didn't really interview for, so a terrifying experience.
Was unemployed for the month of February. Terrifying. Got offered a position at crap pay, argued back, got offered slightly better pay, accepted the position with the gut feeling that the job wasn't the right fit, but I have two little mouths to feed and one to diaper. Unemployment pay sucks. So, I started that job on the last day of February. Knew three days in that I was going to be miserable with the company. Had a former employee text me of a job opportunity, interviewed out the whazoo for it, got it, and quit the other job just two weeks in. Something else I've never done. I have a tendency to stick with a job once I get it. 8 years with one employer, 7 with the other. Before that was all contract work.
But I am now an assistant manager at a Barnes and Noble, with a much better hourly rate. With job duties that I enjoy and am very excited to start my new job tomorrow morning. Once I buy some shoes and khakis, lol. All my jeans from working at the Gap aren't allowed, but at least most of my tops wardrobe works.
So what now? Hopefully once I'm passed the stress of transitioning into a new company I can get back on the bandwagon of writing again. My first task? Posting here every Sunday just to get my presence back on the web. Second task? avamclean is a bad influence and I signed up for a little Big Bang to get my writing muscles going again. So look out for a Buffy/Steve fic at the end of Mayish. Third task? Take care of my Wishlist fics. I've got ideas, just gotta get started.
Hopefully most of my flist is still around in lj world or the net in general. :) I've missed you all!
What happened?
I'm not sure how many of you were aware that I was a manager at my local Gap or how many of you have been paying any sort of attention of what's been happening with the company over the last few years. Last June the company announced that they were eliminating 250 field leadership positions and closing roughly 175 stores over the next few years. In July they closed quite a few of them, one being in my state and actually doing really well. Turns out their mall had increased their rent so much that it didn't matter how much profit they were making, it wasn't enough to cover the increase. Yeah. They said then that the list for the stores closing in January would be out in October. October came and went, no list.
Which brings us to the first week of November. Our DM made a surprise visit and only wanted to speak to the boss lady. I mean really. Did she really think we wouldn't guess? So managers knew first week of October that we would be shuttering our doors permanently at the end of January. Employees - first week of December.
Words cannot express how much this sucked. I was lying to my Gap family daily. We managed to come up with a way around the topic without actually lying, but needless to say, we avoided the sales floor as much as possible. And after the reveal? The employees weren't surprised, they were aware of how poorly sales were and had seen the traffic trends in the mall drop drastically. So December sucked, January sucked. My 'favorite' people "Omg! You're closing?! Why?! I shop here all the time!" No you don't. I've worked here for 7 years, 40 hours a week, never seen you before in my life. And gees, why do you think we're closing? I mean really.
So I spent the holidays worried about what I was going to do next. Worried about the boss lady. Worried about my employees who truly needed this part time job to make ends meet. (I had a few on staff that used the job for the discount. Not that they weren't fabulous, but they either didn't need to work because of their spouse or they already had a full time job) Had to write a resume for the first time in forever, went out interviewing, which was a challenge. Most of the jobs I had gotten over the years, I didn't really interview for, so a terrifying experience.
Was unemployed for the month of February. Terrifying. Got offered a position at crap pay, argued back, got offered slightly better pay, accepted the position with the gut feeling that the job wasn't the right fit, but I have two little mouths to feed and one to diaper. Unemployment pay sucks. So, I started that job on the last day of February. Knew three days in that I was going to be miserable with the company. Had a former employee text me of a job opportunity, interviewed out the whazoo for it, got it, and quit the other job just two weeks in. Something else I've never done. I have a tendency to stick with a job once I get it. 8 years with one employer, 7 with the other. Before that was all contract work.
But I am now an assistant manager at a Barnes and Noble, with a much better hourly rate. With job duties that I enjoy and am very excited to start my new job tomorrow morning. Once I buy some shoes and khakis, lol. All my jeans from working at the Gap aren't allowed, but at least most of my tops wardrobe works.
So what now? Hopefully once I'm passed the stress of transitioning into a new company I can get back on the bandwagon of writing again. My first task? Posting here every Sunday just to get my presence back on the web. Second task? avamclean is a bad influence and I signed up for a little Big Bang to get my writing muscles going again. So look out for a Buffy/Steve fic at the end of Mayish. Third task? Take care of my Wishlist fics. I've got ideas, just gotta get started.
Hopefully most of my flist is still around in lj world or the net in general. :) I've missed you all!