the pre-holiday experience

[mellowtigger]

Tomorrow is that unique American holiday, Thanksgiving. My employer decided just a week ago to give everyone 3 days off, Wednesday through Thursday. That's nice for people who don't have "essential" job functions. I, on the other hand, volunteered (before being volun-told as a worker with the least seniority) to work 2 shifts during the day today, so I worked 6am-2pm local time, with no break for any lunch. I was the only full-timer there, and it showed. It was terribly busy because of all the people who didn't treat today like a holiday and called in with their issues. Thankfully, I also had a few student workers online, and hopefully they helped us avoid dropped calls from people who got tired of waiting for us to answer the phone.

After that arduous day, I needed something different to shake up my mind. (*whisper* "foreshadowing")

I changed clothes, put in my warzone wallet, and walked to the local small asian grocery store. On my way there, near the gas station I've mentioned before, two young women walked past me. I figured it would be rude to pretend not to see them, so I looked up and tried a small polite smile. The one nearest to me smiled back and yelled, "PUT YO DICK IN MY THROAT!" I guess my attempt at passing friendliness made a bad impression.

Movin' right along.

I got to the store, and a comparatively older woman outside the door asked me something which I couldn't hear. I lifted the side of my warm beanie so it wasn't covering my ear, and she said something again. I think I heard something about 2 dollars. I pulled out my warzone wallet, in which I only ever keep a $1 and a $5 bill. I handed both to her, and she smiled and wanted to hug me. I hesitated, being covid cautious and not having my mask on yet (because I hadn't stepped inside the store yet). I stopped breathing momentarily for air safety, then I approached her to let her hug me. She smiled broadly and said, "You aren't doing anything bad." Whatever that means? I guess my covid-concerned hesitation made a bad impression.

Inside the store, the strangest new thing I found (that I was willing to eat, anyway) was this bag of mozzarella fish corn dogs. I have enjoyed an occasional plain fish corn dog, and I can usually tolerate small indulgences of gluten exposure, so I figured I might as well give these new treats a try. Gotta love food fusions, right? Right?

I walked home less eventfully and ate my dinner in front of the television, watching recent weekends of Saturday Night Live on YouTube. As the Founding Fathers intended.

So how was your pre-holiday?

Comments

[brian_bogue]

mine was a doctor's appointment and the god awful hour of 8 am, which meant getting up at the unholy hour of 5:30 am after not sleeping for 4 hours when I tried to go to bed at 10 pm and not falling to sleep until after 2 am.

[mellowtigger]

Days (/nights) like that are disappointing. :( On work days, those are definitely coffee/caffeine days for me. Luckily, on days off I can indulge an afternoon nap to help. Hopefully you had a better time Thursday morning.

[mrdreamjeans]

Definitely not a pre-holiday. I work Friday through Sunday. Potlucking with friends tomorrow!

[mellowtigger]

That sounds like a fun diversion, at least. Thursday+Friday is my usual "weekend" anyway, so it doesn't feel like anything special for me today. I've started laundry this morning already. And I work Saturday-to-Wednesday, so I can appreciate the "off" schedule.

[mllesatine]

Ok, you mentioned dropped calls - that's when someone hangs up if they are in a waiting (holding?) call, right? I just find that fascinating because where I'm from people don't spend a lot of time in these types of calls. I wait for a maximum of two minutes and then I hang up* but from what the internet tells me Americans are used to waiting on call and just hang around for 30 minutes or so?

* I might call again at a different time but if I failed 3 times, I just write them a letter instead.

Those mozarella corn dogs look nice. Not sure how the fish will fit in. Please tell if they were good.

[mellowtigger]

Yes, that's exactly what "dropped calls" means in this context. I have no idea why phone calls still exist as a technology. The telephony network is incredibly un-secure. Caller ID can be easily spoofed to show wrong information. Governments can intercept phone calls. It should go away. Everything should be chat messages instead, with the option to go audio/visual as needed.

The mozarella version is fine, but I think I like the plain fish-dogs instead. They're not very fishy tasting, only very very slightly. They look the same color and texture as regular corndog mystery meat. ("Parts is parts.")