September 21, 2008
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Borders Annual Spooktacular
So I planned out the store’s annual Halloween party yesterday at work. I’ll be darned if I work on it when I’m not getting paid. There was a time I might have done so, but not any more. There’ll be scary stories read and a craft that’s yet to be determined, five different stations where the kids can trick or treat, an activity corner, and me as a Wandering Pooka giving out a trick, a treat, or a dire warning upon request. And because I’m a sneaky brat, there will be a somewhat educational trivia contest on the origins of Halloween aka Samhain.
I made up two activities… one is monster hopscotch. I’ll make a hopscotch grid on the floor with tape and make cards for each number. The kids will throw a stone and when they hop to the number the stone lands on, they’ll either get a treat right away or they’ll have to do whatever trick the card demands. I also came up with a “pin the eye/horn on the one-eyed, one-horned flying purple people eater.” I’ll have to draw and color him. Though head office wants the party actually on Halloween, we’ll have it on the last Wednesday (Oct. 29th) instead since we had it on the weekend last time and it was close to a disaster in terms of coverage.I’m sure at some point, probably a week before the event (like with the “event kit” for the new Paolini book… which we really needed since no one could stomach the derivative drivel enough to put together an event that was a positive reflection of the series), they’ll send down some official packet as to what they want done at the party, but I’ll ignore it like I did last year. It’s not like it’s at all useful if I don’t get it in time. At least they let me know a little over a month before the fact that we’ll be having a Halloween party again this year. Last year, they gave me two weeks I think.
In the meantime, I am still trying to prepare the kids section for our “open house” on September 29th. They want me to “refresh” various sections in the kids section and considering I’m the only one available to work on it, I have a feeling it’s not going to be done to specification on time. I mean, they want me to take all the books out of the spinner racks, organize them, and wash the racks before putting them back. Obviously someone with a lot more free time than me came up with this. Considering I can only work on it in my “spare time” on the weekends before doing my regular work during the week (when I used to start my regular work pretty much as soon as I finished the previous week’s load), I’m surprised I’ve managed to get as far along as I have. Honestly though, I doubt that the people in charge have ever had to work a real job a day in their lives. They just tell people what to do without ever doing anything themselves. And while I don’t mind hard work at all, I absolutely hate lazy a$$e$ who get paid to do nothing but delegate… badly.
Tattoothe webnovel so far…
Chapter 1: Blood is ThickerChapter 1.1 in which Glory is not mindful of the store
Chapter 1.2 in which Glory is made to do something she would really rather not
Chapter 1.3 in which Glory thinks she might be sick
Chapter 1.4 in which Aaron makes a mistake
Chapter 1.5 in which Glory is made to see the error of her ways
Chapter 1.6 in which the circle remains unbrokenChapter 2: A Farewell to ArmsChapter 2.1 in which Aaron makes another mistake
Chapter 2.2 in which Glory reflects on her path
Chapter 2.3 in which we learn Aaron is not really a nice boy
Chapter 2.4 in which Glory speculates on the holiness of salt
Chapter 2.5 in which Glory learns of the necessity for upper body strength, but makes do with what she has
Chapter 2.6 in which Aaron tries to make amends, but is still pretty much an assChapter 3: Small SacrificesChapter 3.1 in which Glory is spat on, twice
Chapter 3.2 in which a cop is threatened
Chapter 3.3 in which someone is crying
Chapter 3.4 in which there’s more to the moon than meets the eye
Chapter 3.5 in which Glory comes face to face with an loony environmentalist
Chapter 3.6 in which Glory gets turned around
Chapter 3.7 in which Glory is threatened
Chapter 4: The Shape of Things to ComeChapter 4.1 in which a doctor makes his rounds
Chapter 4.2 in which Glory is asked some awkward questions
Comments (8)
Do you get paid by the hour or salary? If you get paid by the hour, I’d honestly tell them you’ll get it done during your regular work time, or get paid overtime. No free rides for lazy ass employers! If you’re on salary, you’re kinda screwed.
I think it’s cool your store has such a big Halloween event. I don’t think our local B&N does anything.
Yeah, hourly. I recently had the “opportunity” to take a salaried position. I passed. lol
In all honesty, the changes at Borders have been both good and bad. Yeah, they took away matching on our 401K and there’s no more holiday pay and in some ways have become a lot more uptight about how they want the merchandise displayed exactly the same way in every store, but in other areas, like this Halloween party, they’ve gotten more relaxed. It used to be we couldn’t have any holidays mentioned in the store. Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if they had us do a tree this year for Xmas. On the other hand, the books they’ve wanted on their political displays have been simply atrocious. We’ve had so many complaints. And the thing is, I’ll personally add books that give a counterpoint to whatever crappola the politicians and media are trying to shove down our throats and the following week I’ll get new sheets that add the books I had to add myself to stop any kind of whining from the customers. Let’s just say that Borders has gone way Right in their political showcasing. It’s really quite disgusting and blatant to anyone who has charge of putting the displays up in the first place (namely me). I think part of my disgust with working at Borders any more is politically motivated. I mean, I’m not blind for goodness sake! lol I can see what’s going on. My only question is, are they honestly for the Republicans or are they trying to create controversy against their own corporation in preparation for driving the price down before selling the company off? Because I really do think the bigwigs are planning on selling out.
That book store of your own sounds like a spooktacular idea. You’d make a great go of it!
sounds like you will be having a lot of fun on your party. i think dressing up would be fun even if it does involve talking to children.
Those activities sound wonderful! I’m sorry that they’re working you like a rented mule, though.
Spooktacular, you don’t say. Do all Borders stores do this?
@Tuhazzablack - Yes, this is the second year. Prior to that, they didn’t acknowledge any holidays. They’re making me do it on the 25th now though (a Saturday) and all Borders will be doing it on that day, 2-4 pm. Most of them will probably follow whatever instructions Borders sends down from on high, but Halloween is my favorite holiday and since I’m in charge of it, I “own” the party. I’ll be doing it my way.
Sweeeeeeet! Thats cool. We have a borders here in town, though its only been here for a few years (everyone still calls it by its previous name) so I’ll have to stop in with some of my friends.