Thursday, September 20, 2007

Decisions, decisions.

Firstly, thank you all for your reassuring comments. I'm happy to know that people are actually reading my blog (even without pictures posted). This last week was rather stressful and I'm happy to say that it is now over.

I have decided not to pursue a career with Whole Foods. While their company is always in the Forbes 100 top companies list, this particular stores' dealings with my co-workers and I does not impress me. I am embarrassed for Whole Foods for treating some of my co-workers in the manner that they have and not too surprised. All the people who have stayed at Wild Oats stayed because they did not see themselves working for Whole Foods. People did not see a future there or want to work in a store as large as the one down the street. For many of the reasons customers claim they do not enjoy shopping there, many of the employees have had the same concerns. Of course, their feelings extend a little further than, "Are you going to carry Wild Oats peanut butter over there?"

After most of the job offers have been handed out and seeing how displeased many people are it did not leave me enthused to go over there. I know I was in a bit of turmoil for a minute, but it lasted briefly and I have not changed my mind since. My fear with that company is that there would be no room for me to go anywhere without me leaving the state and I find that frustrating and irritating. I chose to move to Maine so I have no plans for leaving it at all. Plus, I have no car to leave it with.

Anyway, my decision is set in stone and I am happy with my choice. I will be working for my old boss at a store which I will not name. I will only tell you that a giraffe some times resides in the logo.

In other news, I'm a crafting QUEEN! I promise I will post pictures very soon. I'll tell you Saturday that way I will set myself a deadline. I've been using up yarn and refashioning some clothes. Woohoo! I might even post a video blog for you guys!

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

I will not vamoose again!

This is a pictureless post, so please bear with me.
    Recently, I have been in the throws of life. For the past seven months of my life, I have been worrying and thinking about whether or not I would have a job. Granted, I've been working in retail so it shouldn't bother me that much, but I have enjoyed the opportunities I've had while working at my current job. Whole Foods and Wild Oats have officially merged. My store is officially closing. There is no closing date as of yet, but it frustrates me to no end to think about it.
    Each day since the news broke, I've dreaded going to work to answer customer questions and respond to stupid comments. "I'm so sad to hear you're closing. When do the sales start?", "So is it official?", "I don't like it over there [at Whole Foods]. It's too big." I just don't care to talk about it alllllllllllllllllll the time. How do you even respond to some of these comments? I'm quite sick of it and I wish people would just shut up.
    Thankfully, Whole Foods is absorbing all of our staff members if they want to work there. I have a meeting/interview with them tomorrow to discuss where I would like to work over there. I'm just not sure I want to work there. I can't help but think about it all the time either. I don't like being consumed with thoughts of, "What next? Will I like it? Is it worth it? Is it time for a change? Will I like the people?". I know that if I go there I will succeed. I try really hard at what I do now, but I don't know if I'll like the environment. I know most of it is my perception of things and my attitude towards them. I am trying to think positively, but I'm also trying to be honest with myself. That's so hard to do.
    The past four mornings I have even been dreaming about it. I can't help but think that something bad will happen. My biggest fear is that I want to be counted. How silly is that thought? I want to be noticed. I mean, could I be sillier than that? I just want to make sure that all the work I've put into Wild Oats for the past year will be noticed and understood if I go to Whole Foods. I have a college degree and I'm a energy-driven individual. Please, allow me the chance to do what it is you want me to do with the attention to detail that I give things and you will not be let down.
    I'm nervous about talking to someone from over there as I tend to get a bit tongue tied when I want to express myself verbally. Also, I only have a half an hour and what if I don't mention the important stuff? How do you explain to someone who you are? You just can't explain that.
    I am clearly stressed about all this and I'm not the only one. I hate feeling selfish over this when I haven't worked for the company as long as some people. I feel so conflicted as I think that I should be selfish since it affects my life and where I might be in the future. I expected to stay at Wild Oats and move up, but without there being any other locations nearby there wasn't a lot of opportunity to go anywhere. There might be more of a future for me to be promoted with Whole Foods.
    As a side note, these thoughts go through my head about a thousand times a day. They never stop. They never slow down. I think this way on a consistent basis and it can get rather tiring. Even when I'm not stressed, excitement takes over and I can't stop. Ah, well. That is me, or rather, a part of me. Maybe you guys can make sense of my thoughts for me. If you can, please just write a one paged typed essay or a nice paragrpah, double spaced, Comic Sans font, size 14. I like the words big for better reading enjoyment.