John’s Musings

It was a busy Saturday at Kroger. It was also my first Saturday that I was scheduled to close in accounting. Work was stressful and busy, but I tried to stay ahead of things.

At around 5:30, I was adding up some checks in the accounting office when I noticed some of my co-workers enter the room adjacent to the accounting office, a room know as the countdown room. Since there’s a small 6″ x 2′ window between the two rooms, I was able to join in this conversation and chat with my friends while working on the pickup. We maintained a light banter until a 16-year-old coworker, who’s name is Trevor, walked into the small, crowed countdown room. He had been in a very bad mood all day and showed no sign of letting up.

Courtney, one of the girls in the room, teased Trevor about the fact that the whole room smelled like his bag of cheesy poofs that was sitting in the room. Trevor, looking for an excuse to get angry at anyone, projected an angry reply in her direction. Courtney told him to chill out. At that moment, Trevor got in her face and told her never to tell her to chill out. Courtney pushed Trevor back and told him not to get in her face. Trevor then struck Courtney in the chest. He kept lunging at Courtney, while the the other co-workers in the countdown room tried to restrain him to some extent. “Back off!” I ordered him quite loudly. “I can do what I want. I’m a f***ing cop!” he retorted, referring to some junior police-academy program he was involved with through his school. Trevor then stormed out of the room.

Fortunately, there is a camera the records everything that occurs in the countdown room. I suggested to Courtney that she find a manager right away and get the footage. She did so, and the footage was pulled.

Faced with the evidence, Trevor was told that he could either be suspended or her could resign. Trevor resigned.

I was glad that Trevor’s employment with Kroger had reached a close. He usually had a very bad attitude and a volatile personality. Most of the front-end employees were glad to see him go, especially, of course, after the above-mentioned event.

I came to work today with a sense of closure. I was furious on Saturday concerning what had happened, but I had time to cool down.

However, the general sense of closure we all shared had been revoked. Apparently Trevor’s father felt he had to make a trip to Kroger and quite loudly tell the manager that he felt that it was unfair that Courtney wasn’t fired (a.k.a. forced to resign) because she had “teased Trevor”.

Excuse me?

I may be old-fashioned in this respect, but I was taught (and I will always believe) that hitting a woman for any reason other than life-or-death self-defense is completely and unequivocally unacceptable. The provocation is irrelevent if you go so far as to strike a woman because of it.

I’m standing in shock as Trevor’s father is nearby, loudly explaining why he felt this and that was unjust. He said he is going to press harassment charges. He told the manager he was going to call the union and get Trevor’s job back for him.

And I’m nearby, livid as hell. Having witnessed this extremely disturbing occurrence, I know who was at fault. I know who was not at fault. The little wimp who hit a woman because he was mad at something she said was undoubtedly and unquestionably at fault.

And his father’s reaction couldn’t be farther from what it needs to be.

It’s Friday night. I’m chilling here with a glass of cranberry juice, which is sadly the only good thing to drink here. I’m listening to some Evanescence and Pink Floyd, and am thinking about typing out the mother of all blog posts.

Ok, why not.

Today was one of those days where I woke up with no clue as to what I was going to occupy myself with.

That can be a bad thing.

There’s only so much Xbox I can take. After a while, I decided on running some errands. I deposited my paycheck, cashed in my big bowl of pocket change, got the mail, and rented 4 episodes of South Park at my local Blockbuster.

After that, I had nothing else to do, and subsequently became bored. So I did something that I’ll always regret. I saw “Let’s Go to Prison” at my local movie cinema.

If you are thinking about possibly seeing that movie, I have one word for you: Don’t. Believe me, the movie poster with the image of a bar of soap on a shower floor should be enough to prevent you from seeing it, but if that isn’t enough, please listen to me when I beg you not to see that movie.

After that, I did something extremely stupid. I bought a pack of Marlboro mediums and smoked one. That left me nauseous for the rest of the day. I still feel sick to my stomach right now. I don’t know why I smoke from time to time, but I really think I’m cured.

So here’s the thing. I need to find productive things to do when I have a day off. I need to have some purpose, or else I’ll go crazy or I’ll continue making stupid decisions to pass the time.

So I’ve come up with a short list already, and am definitely open to suggestion:

1. Look for more web development clients on Elance.com,
2. Take my sisters somewhere,
3. Apply for classes at Ivy Tech,
4. Better myself musically,
5. Clean the apartment,
6. Clean my dad’s truck,

And I can’t think of anything else.

So anyhow, I’m thinking about this whole Emily thing a lot. I just want to make sure that if I’m interested, it’s because of who Emily is, and not because of who I hope she is, if that makes any sense. I’ll have to see. No matter what, though, I’d definitely have to say that she’s the kind of person who I’d be happy to be friends with, if that were all. But she’s also the kind of person that, from my observations thus far, would be great to have as more than a friend.

I’m just scared to death of showing interest, a mistake that has caused me to lose out before. My main fear is rejection. I have to overcome that fear, but it’s hard. I just have to keep reminding myself that nothing ventured = nothing gained.

But anyhow, I’m very tired and (still) sick to my stomach. I’m out. Thanks for reading.

-John

Yesterday was the day of the big (relatively) blind date. After a long day at the old Kroger, Emily picked me up and we went to Wal*Mart so she could pick out a wedding gift for a relative. We then went to Higher Grounds, a local coffee-shop. After acquiring some beverages, we sat down and talked for about an hour. I’d have to say it was mildly awkward, but we did have some good conversation, and I’d definitely like to spend more time with her. She’s a very nice girl, who is, believe it or not, actually pretty normal.

I’m very interested in seeing where this goes.

So, today is another day off. I’m going to see the new James Bond movie tonight, but what should I do in the meantime? I need some help, here.

So much has changed this past week. I believe Heather found someone else. But she’s blowing me off nicely by hooking me up with a friend of hers, who I asked out to coffee later this week.

I’m thinking you all are tired of these types of updates. I think I’ll limit myself to monthly relationship updates, and will start blogging about politics, social injustice, and music.

-John

This week has been quite an interesting one. It’s had some extreme highs and lows.

Let’s start with Sunday’s evening outing with Heather. I took Heather to a local coffee shop after she got off work, and we sat down over coffee for about an hour and a half, just talking, cracking up, and ultimately getting to know each other pretty well. We talked about things that one generally doesn’t share with just anybody, and had some very deep and personal conversations. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Heather drove me home after work on Tuesday evening, as it was rainy and I was without a suitable means of transportation. I had asked her earlier if she saw us as “just friends” or if she herself believed there could be something more. She walked out of the car with me and then told me that before she wanted to get to know me better. I agreed, saying that I wanted to have more experiences like we had last Sunday, as they were thoroughly enjoyable. We hugged, and she left.

So now we are still friends, but that could change sometime in the future. Who knows? All I know is that she’s an amazing person, and I’m honored to have her friendship. In the four months that I’ve known her, I’ve become very fond of her and have come to care about her deeply.

So there you have it. Sunday was awesome. Thanks all for the tips, as they were very well-received.

-John

I come into work today, and immediately learn that Jessica’s boyfriend (who is now her former boyfriend) was informed about the relationship that Jessica and I had while he was in boot camp. I learned that on Saturday night he was boiling with rage over it. Fortunately (for him), one of my co-workers talked him out of attempting to inflict bodily harm on me. I talked with him today and straightened things out. I told him that what I did was something that guys don’t do to other guys, and that I only pursued Jessica because I was led to believe that she was single at the time. He was cool with that, and we are now cool.

Dang, work is one big gossip network. It’s a big pain in the ass sometimes.