Shiny, Happy People...

Uh...person. Meaning me. Yes, this is a feel-good, everything-is-going-great, you-cant-get-the-smile-off-my-face kind of post. I have just had a really good day, and again i'm not exactly sure why. Just lately, say in the last 6 or 7 weeks or so, I have found myself smiling, whistling, humming all the time and i have really been enjoying my job. I've come to realise that i love talking to people and i especially love advising people on the fashion aspects of getting glasses. Sure, Yogi and The Bell still get to me, but not to the point where i want throw the towel in anymore. Its a relatively new feeling - this shiny happiness. I like it!

I'm starting to become one of those incredibly chirpy people that i used to loathe. Is this a good or a bad thing ? Is it good that I'm consistently happy, and enjoying the conisistent happiness? Is it a bad thing that i used to really dislike people like that ? Either way, it doesnt matter - what matters is things are on the up and up.

Lets see: I've bought property and have a million and one ideas buzzing through my brain about how to decorate it; I'm loving my job at the moment and, i think consequently, have really brought my store up in the business side of things; I have the next week off work, during which time i will be attending a wedding, going shopping and spending a day at a water park; and i have a casual lunch date next Saturday.

Seriously, i know this post is sickly sweet and your all sitting back going " Oh God, what is she so happy about ? Seriously, all this sap makes me want to throw up ! " - but smile people, and embrace the happy....

It could only be worse if i were naked...

So I couldnt quite decide on a particular topic for todays post, I thought I'd just bullet point all the stuff thats been floating around in my head the last day or two:

• To be quite honest, I have had a shithouse kind of day. Sure, I can kind of understand when a customer with a complaint gets a little nasty or impatient and maybe goes off at me over the phone, even if their issue is kind of out of my hands. But you know what ? I am not paid enough to put up with kind of behaviour from a colleague. Seriously. Yogi, a previously mentioned manager ( so named because, frankly, her face reminds me of Yogi Bear ) made me cry today. I thought managers, when turned to for advice, were supposed to be supportive, not accusatory and condescending. So sorry, that must have been my mistake. However, despite being spoken to like I am beneath her, I have risen above Yogi's behaviour. And by above, I mean I have made a confidential complaint to a manager that is senior to Yogi. It wasnt out of vengeance or trying toget some kind of upper hand, in fact i asked this manager, The Bell, in my email not to mention anything to Yogi at all. I actually tossed up even making a complaint all morning, and finally decided after my lunch break that it was in my best interests to get it off my chest. I guess we'll see what may come of it tomorrow when The Bell gets back to me.

• Plus, I have had the same customer ring me three times not happy that her husbands glasses arent back yet, even though i explained to her that I have asked the lab to rush them through and I have done everything in my power to get them back to my store as soon as possible. You know what ? Sometimes people just give me a headache. And sometimes they make me wish the earth would open and swallow me whole.

• Maybe the earth will upon up and swallow me whole - or rather a black hole might swallow the earth. ( Nice segue - see what i did there ? ). What i wanted to know is why i hadnt heard about this whole proton accelarator/ Stephen Hawkings experiment thingy any sooner than an hour before it was all due to happen. Maybe i just dont watch enough news ? Hell, if i had known about it sooner i might have gone sky diving, or got up the courage to do karaoke, or done my darndest to have hot, sweaty, passionate sex with a younger man - you know, all the stuff you'd want to do before the earth disappears into a void and we all die.

• I saw an article on a tabloid news show about the rise in brides getting botox before their weddings. Excuse me, but how pretenious are these women ? I can understand wanting to look your best on your big day, maybe getting a spray tan and a teeth whitening, of course having your make up and your hair done, but botox ? Injecting poison into your face just to look " better " in your photos? If your getting married, I'd be thinking the guy you're marrying loves you the way you are - he doesnt want to be faced with a plastic version of the women he loves unless its on top if the wedding cake ( which in my case will be chocolate mud - that fruitcake stuff is gross! )

And that be all, thats all I got. Its not much, but its all i could come up with after the kind of day I've had. I'm happy to say that the day has ( almost ) ended on a good note - its funny how pushing yourself to run ( yep, run! ) on the treadmill, slog away on the bike and make it through your weights routine can make you feel entirely awesome. Adrenalin is mucho goodo. Or muy bien, if we're want to use proper Spanish....

Smile, smile, smile !!!

Thank God for the therapeutic healing powers of the a session at the gym and a yoga class, because i had a muy dodgy day. I had three - count them, three - head office management type people visiting my branch today. From here on in they shall be referred to as Mac, Yogi and The Bell. Its a pain in the arse having one come to visit, but three at the same time? Nightmare. First of all, it means i have to fake smile my way through the entire day, even when i'm hearing things i dont necessarily want to hear, and secondly i have to continually find something to do so i look busy. Anyhoo, i dont particularly like Yogi or The Bell ( Mac is pretty cool ) so it really was an ordeal to keep up the " happy, cheery, i totally want to be here! " facade for my entire shift. Especially when one of them was pretty much telling me how shitty a job i happen to be doing with my branch.

For those of you who dont know i'm a qualified dispensing optician and i manage an optometry practice. I've only been manager for a year and though i'm trained as a dispenser, i've had no formal training in how to manage a business. So when when Yogi comes in and start radically changing my frame displays, telling me i have far too much stock and need to implement better stock management and basically treating me like, for lack of a more politically correct term, a retard, well, its pisses me off a little. On the inside. I'm not giving them the satisfaction of letting them see how much they're annoying me. Score one to me!

The Bell is a little different - she's one of these people who is really good at giving back handed compliments or smiling encouragingly as she's giving you negative criticism. That annoys me - BIG TIME. She also drums into you how important certain aspects of the job are, but then gives you no help whatsoever in achieving the targets and cuts you down if you try and do anything proactive towards making the goal. I dont know whats more annoying really - Yogi treating me like an idiot, or The Bell treating me as intelligent, but inferior.

But screw all that. I've put up with them and now they're out of my hair. I can go in tomorrow and put my displays back the way I like them ( and the way they work in my store, not how they assume will be best ) and focus on my targets without feeling like im doing the crappiest job ever. And i know that might sound like i'm just really bad at taking direction and that i have no respect for authority, but thats not it either. Mainly its that they're coming from another city, another market, and assuming that works best for their clientele is going to work best in my branch too. Thats not the case. I just think its best to cater to the market you're servicing - give the people what they want, you know ?

Really, is any wonder i'm secretly applying for new positions in other companys left, right and centre ?