Sunday, August 30, 2009
First, I should acknowledge an uncomfortable fact that Rusty and I are having some serious disagreements at present. Normally I'd unload about it, but this time I prefer to save it for the therapist. A little bit out of respect for him, since he has access and reads this regularly, and a bit because I'm just exhausted by the whole subject and prefer not to talk about it if I don't have to.
That said, we went out on a date last night and saw Inglorious Basterds. It was a tossup between that and District 9, and our schedule landed us at the theater 10 minutes before Basterds started and and hour and a half before District 9 started, so Basterds won. I loved it. It was gory and tense and hilarious all at the same time. Can I just say that I am conflicted about Brad Pitt? I really, really, REALLY want to hate him. I hate the Hollywood image of him and his tabloid psycho wife and his "It's A Small World" family. And then there's the fact that he's just so fucking beautiful, it seems unreal. He interviewed on Bill Mahar, and even Bill had an enormous Man Crush on him. How can you hate this guy? But I WANT to hate this guy. And then he shows up in a role that is such an out-there characature, it could have easily fallen flat and made him look stupid, but it worked. Dammit. And Tarantino? Well his love for all things cinema is obvious here--the result is a weird mix of historically-based fantasy and war-action comedy. I can picture in my head Q and Brad at a table scattered with empty bottles of wine while he chatters endlessly about how HE'D make a movie about German-occupied France and how if it had played out HIS way, it would have been so much better... I'd say more, but that would be a spoiler--I know I prefer to see a movie with few expectations, and this one is better seen in that frame of mind. There is no shortage of gore, so prepare yourself. And now I can't think the word "Nazi" without hearing it like Brad's character says it... "Nat-see"
And work has been interesting, too. It's always stressful at the end of the month. We have a quota--oops, I mean "goal" of new checking accounts. Savings don't count, mind you, since they don't earn the bank as much in fees. And every month, it's down to the last couple of days before we make the goal. Friday, The Boss was pushing for a Mega-Blitz of accounts, to hit our goal AND to get 10 accounts in one day. Our branch has NEVER gotten 10 accounts in one day, except for on the Grand Opening day. So he started off by making all of us open a second account. That's OK, it'll earn interest, so I'll use it as a savings account. I put all the cash I had in my wallet in: $2. So that was 4 down. Getting 6 more would be like pulling teeth. We'd been busting our asses all month on marketing strategies: setting up promotions that benefit [Retail Partner]'s employees, making flyers and walking around the store every 45 minutes handing them out, mailing flyers to every business within the town's two zip codes, raffling off a Nintendo Wii, etc. And yet we were still 8 accounts away from goal and only 4 days left in the month. I will say this about my company: we are not paid particularly generously--that is to say, my hourly wage is not impressive. However, the benefits are awesome. Vision insurance? Dental and health for only $24/month? Awesome. And the bonuses are generous, too. Yes, they're tied to the accounts we get, but it's averaging out to an extra $75-100/month. It comes on a [Retail Partner] gift card, so I use it to buy lunches and groceries and such. Very helpful. So yes, when we got our 10th account just minutes before closing time, there was a cheer heard around the state, I'm sure. That means an extra 4 hours of comp time on my next paycheck plus an extra $50 in the bonus pool that is split between the tellers, PLUS the regional manager's buying us lunch next week.
Man, I have totally drunk the Kool-Aid.
I think it's sort of a Fox Hole effect--when you're continually assaulted by rude customers, it bonds you to your co-workers. Yesterday we were in the middle of a busy spurt when a couple came up to the teller window. The man says, "Yeah we have a WHOLE BUNCH [his emphasis, not mine] of rolled coins, and we were wondering if we could exchange them for bills."
"Are you an account holder?"
"No."
"I'm sorry, but we can't take rolled coins from non-account holders."
"Seriously?", he said with an enormous grin.
"Yes, I'm sorry. We don't have a coin counter, and we don't have time to sit and count your coins to be sure they're rolled accurately."
"Seriously??", still grinning.
"Yes, seriously. I'm sorry, but there's just no way we could correct any mistakes if we found them later, since you don't have an account with us."
"But we have ID's."
"Yes, but without an account, I have no way go correct any mistakes, as I said."
"Well, WELCOME TO DICKSVILLE!!" he yelled. And walked off.
His wife hesitated and looked at me uncomfortably. I smiled, unfazed. "Can you tell me, what time is it?" she asked.
That said, we went out on a date last night and saw Inglorious Basterds. It was a tossup between that and District 9, and our schedule landed us at the theater 10 minutes before Basterds started and and hour and a half before District 9 started, so Basterds won. I loved it. It was gory and tense and hilarious all at the same time. Can I just say that I am conflicted about Brad Pitt? I really, really, REALLY want to hate him. I hate the Hollywood image of him and his tabloid psycho wife and his "It's A Small World" family. And then there's the fact that he's just so fucking beautiful, it seems unreal. He interviewed on Bill Mahar, and even Bill had an enormous Man Crush on him. How can you hate this guy? But I WANT to hate this guy. And then he shows up in a role that is such an out-there characature, it could have easily fallen flat and made him look stupid, but it worked. Dammit. And Tarantino? Well his love for all things cinema is obvious here--the result is a weird mix of historically-based fantasy and war-action comedy. I can picture in my head Q and Brad at a table scattered with empty bottles of wine while he chatters endlessly about how HE'D make a movie about German-occupied France and how if it had played out HIS way, it would have been so much better... I'd say more, but that would be a spoiler--I know I prefer to see a movie with few expectations, and this one is better seen in that frame of mind. There is no shortage of gore, so prepare yourself. And now I can't think the word "Nazi" without hearing it like Brad's character says it... "Nat-see"
And work has been interesting, too. It's always stressful at the end of the month. We have a quota--oops, I mean "goal" of new checking accounts. Savings don't count, mind you, since they don't earn the bank as much in fees. And every month, it's down to the last couple of days before we make the goal. Friday, The Boss was pushing for a Mega-Blitz of accounts, to hit our goal AND to get 10 accounts in one day. Our branch has NEVER gotten 10 accounts in one day, except for on the Grand Opening day. So he started off by making all of us open a second account. That's OK, it'll earn interest, so I'll use it as a savings account. I put all the cash I had in my wallet in: $2. So that was 4 down. Getting 6 more would be like pulling teeth. We'd been busting our asses all month on marketing strategies: setting up promotions that benefit [Retail Partner]'s employees, making flyers and walking around the store every 45 minutes handing them out, mailing flyers to every business within the town's two zip codes, raffling off a Nintendo Wii, etc. And yet we were still 8 accounts away from goal and only 4 days left in the month. I will say this about my company: we are not paid particularly generously--that is to say, my hourly wage is not impressive. However, the benefits are awesome. Vision insurance? Dental and health for only $24/month? Awesome. And the bonuses are generous, too. Yes, they're tied to the accounts we get, but it's averaging out to an extra $75-100/month. It comes on a [Retail Partner] gift card, so I use it to buy lunches and groceries and such. Very helpful. So yes, when we got our 10th account just minutes before closing time, there was a cheer heard around the state, I'm sure. That means an extra 4 hours of comp time on my next paycheck plus an extra $50 in the bonus pool that is split between the tellers, PLUS the regional manager's buying us lunch next week.
Man, I have totally drunk the Kool-Aid.
I think it's sort of a Fox Hole effect--when you're continually assaulted by rude customers, it bonds you to your co-workers. Yesterday we were in the middle of a busy spurt when a couple came up to the teller window. The man says, "Yeah we have a WHOLE BUNCH [his emphasis, not mine] of rolled coins, and we were wondering if we could exchange them for bills."
"Are you an account holder?"
"No."
"I'm sorry, but we can't take rolled coins from non-account holders."
"Seriously?", he said with an enormous grin.
"Yes, I'm sorry. We don't have a coin counter, and we don't have time to sit and count your coins to be sure they're rolled accurately."
"Seriously??", still grinning.
"Yes, seriously. I'm sorry, but there's just no way we could correct any mistakes if we found them later, since you don't have an account with us."
"But we have ID's."
"Yes, but without an account, I have no way go correct any mistakes, as I said."
"Well, WELCOME TO DICKSVILLE!!" he yelled. And walked off.
His wife hesitated and looked at me uncomfortably. I smiled, unfazed. "Can you tell me, what time is it?" she asked.
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