02-23-05 - 7:59 p.m.
well, here's a new chapter in the life of bmoviemaven. i am 51 years old and working on a walmart loading dock. for 50 cents more an hour!
the accessories department manager position didn't work out- "we wanted someone who could hit the ground running"- but somehow i managed to outqualify everyone else in the store who coveted this fabulous position- (jeans! soda on the job! rock music! box cutters!) and i've left behind the glamourous red line and burgundy vest (you forget- i was cashier of the month in august!) for the casual but cool sweat of receiving. not that i sweat. yes, it's physical, but fuck me, it's winter in fallon, nevada, and cold. and in my hand for 8 hours is a little machine called a telxon, which tracks the inventory. inventory? soda. little debbies. bras. shitty videos. spongebob pajamas. beef jerky. you name it; if walmart stocks it and it arrives on my dock; the telxon must know it. and to think, just days ago, i took all this splendid order for granted. so, you ask, what's the perk, besides that big raise and an opportunity to dress down?
i'm working in very close proximity to a secret crush. without sounding like a kid in pigtails on a gradeschool playground, he's this handsome guy who caught my eye my very first day as he walked through the store with all the pride and self-respect of...well...someone of native american heritage, which he is. think daniel day lewis in 'last of the mohicans', only wearing jeans and polo shirts. salt and pepper ponytail and a profile that belongs on mount rushmore, or maybe the buffalo nickel. and nice! my god, this man is NICE. so for most of the day, i stand over my telxon, watching tonto, a perfect crescent of sweat soiling the fabric between his shoulder blades, use a pallet jack. and i get paid for it.