Thursday, November 18, 2010

Maybe I need a music thingy, too

It's surprisingly quiet working in the warehouse.  Of course there are fans and belts and loudspeaker announcements and cardboard cartons hitting the floor, but the people are pretty quiet overall. I'm used to hearing the hum of voices talking to customers on the phone.

Mostly the people are quiet because they are listening to music players. Ameranth has one too, and she sometimes takes her laptop with us to upload new selections to her player on the drive in. I don't have one ( and wouldn't know how to work one if I did) so now that I have gotten used to the work, my mind is free to wander a bit, tap dancing away from reality and singing my own happy songs. (Not aloud)

Today I kept running in to the same lady as we turned in work and got new assignments, then we chatted a bit during stretch break. We picked stock in the same row once and as she was leaving, I stopped myself from saying "See you on the flip-flop" realizing in time that she was nowhere near my age and would probably not recognize the quote from "Convoy" .  Then I amused myself awhile picturing us all in a line with  a hopper convoy crashing through stacks of empty cardboard boxes. 

The assignments have 12 items on a page and a full one has 10 pages. We fold them in 3 strips of 4 sticky labels and peel off the matching label for each item as we pull it out of a carton. I knelt on the floor and started pulling shirts out two at a time, labeled and threw them in my cart. Turning the page over, I realized that I had more and more of the same shirt, and as it dawned on me that I was going to empty that carton, I found myself saying " You're going in the cart, you're going in the cart and you are all going in the cart!!" in an Oprah voice in my head. Simple mind, simple amusements.

My job coach (this year's term for seasonal leadership) asked me how I was liking the 5AM start time. I paused long enough to make sure I replied politely and said it wouldn't have been my first choice. Later he asked me what time I went to bed and laughed when I said 6:30, 7:00.  When I found out he lives 7 minutes away, I remarked that he didn't have to get up at 3 to get here on time. No, he said, I get up at 3 to run with my dogs. Yikes!  I work with crazy people! Maybe it's a good thing they have earbuds and don't talk.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I think that you would really enjoy having a music thingy! If you can blog, you can upload your music, no problem! It sounds like you sure have a long day!

Wendy said...

You might like a music thingy, and if you can't deal with the newfangled ones, the great thing about thrift stores is that you can get an old walkman from the 80's for 50 cents!
I love that you can take a job that some people might find tedious and find ways to amuse yourself while you work!

Linda said...

It turns out Ameranth has an old music thingy and she is hunting it up for me. I will be like the cool kids next week! Or maybe not.