A Spin

Tomorrow (Sunday) and Labor Day Monday are the big State Fair Days for Girlettes.
I have to go to work, so just a quick 1-second video of trying out the Lazy Susan Spin.

It's taking forever to load. I use my phone to make a hot spot wireless connection--it can be very slow.

Later--I have to go to work, I'll just post a still from the video:

More Book Store Notes

Asst Man came up to me in the BOOK's yesterday morning.
"When you get a chance," he said, "will you go work with the new cashier for a few minutes--and see if you smell alcohol on her."

I started to make concerned noises,
when he stopped himself:
"No, you know what? What difference would it make? Half the people who work here are on some kind of drugs. Never mind."

"Fact," I said. "Pupils big as eyeballs." 
And we laughed. 

I did work with her later anyway--just to help out--and I didn't smell alcohol.
I'm glad--I would be worried if a coworker came to work drunk.
My high coworkers are chill--that's the idea. (I took CBD when I was cashiering, to take the edge off, and another cashier was popping the Xanax.)
But alcohol isn't a great mix with this flammable store.

Around 5 p.m., there was a terrific crash outside, in front. I even heard it in the back workspace. On the corner where the dealers hang out, a car had smashed full-speed into a light pole. 
Emergency vehicles--fire, ambulance, and police--appeared almost instantly, full-on sirens and lights.

People in the store were saying there were gunshots. Who knows in the general mayhem, but it seemed to be just the crash, at first. Manager 2 decided to lock the doors and close early.

I got my stuff together in the back, put on my bike helmet, and walked up front. Several people were in line, checking out their purchases, in the background red lights were flashing.

"I'm wearing my bike helmet for protection," I announced, and people laughed.

I helped close up the store--unlocking the door for each customer to leave.
I let out a regular shopper in the BOOK's--a teenage girl who always wears full hijab dark robes and headscarf. Earlier, she'd asked if I could mark down a manga series I'd just put out for $1.99 per volume. I knocked the price in half for her.
I asked if she'd be okay walking home.
"Luckily I walk the other way," she said calmly.

As we workers were getting ready to leave, I asked the cashier if she was okay. It was only her second day on the job.

"I live three blocks away," she said. "This is normal."
Excellent. If you can handle the mayhem, you are right for this job.

Manager 2 tried to clarify the situation for me, that it wasn't dangerous: "It's just a car crash, San Francisco [my nickname]."

Right. Nothing to get worked up about, it's not a shooting.
But when we left, MORE cop cars arrived, sirens on. It seems something else had come down...

Manager 2 had tallied the books a couple days earlier, and she had announced that in August, the store had had another month of great sales. We get $55 store credit, the highest yet. (It's some percentage of the sales.)

I'd been surprised because I know people avoid the store, due to the hairy street scene. Someone had commented online, "It's like Hamseterdam down there"--a term from the TV show The Wire used for crime-ridden areas that law enforcement agencies ignore.
But judging from people's responses yesterday, people who come here regularly have acclimated.
Me too!
My failed therapy actually showed me that I've got lots of supports in place---I just need to remember to lean on them when I need them.