Whew…..! I must begin this moment of reflection with a standing round of applause to all you “workin people” that have run this world all these years, I mean it is amazing to have the foresight and now hindsight into the life of worker bees like YOU! With that said…..I must say, again….WHEW!

I started working at seventeen, first job was WENDY’S, the eagerness in me balanced out the constant smell of pickles on my hands! I learned great life lessons during my tenure creating the perfect burger stack as in…mayo, ketchup, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, and mustard under the meat on the bottom bun…in that order. Then there was the lovely motto: If there’s time to lean, there’s time to clean! Ugh, it’s like the “it’s a small small world song!” That will always be trapped in my head!

Then my nearly two years at Kroger, a courtesy clerk professional thank you very much, at your service. That was back when we actually took the groceries to t h e cars for customers…..rain or shine. It was really fun !!..she says smiling. This would be a foreshadowing, details to follow. After that there were various and sundry waitress jobs, they  call them servers these days, less domestic sounding I guess.

I got married then My next big job was becoming a MOM. The days of slinging hash to paying customers was far behind me, I was looking at eighteen years to life of carrying groceries and slinging hash, ironically enough, but I didn’t have to work a “real job” on top of that. I was so blessed. Then after eighteen years, I  went back to a job, the day my first baby started University of Tennessee (GO VOLS!) And my last baby started kindergarten……I shed a few tears that day!

But, I was still young, sorta, so I survived it, tired but could juggle it all. So I worked for about seven-ish years then we moved back to middle Tennessee where I found a job which lasted ten months….So for three years I have pretty much got lazy….lazier! Whew! Finding a job had gotten much harder these days and Getting older is not easy! I believe there is a correlation between the two…hmmmm?

To my great joy I now am back to work…..but I gotta say, this old girl has had to get her stamina built up again. The saying “use it or lose it” is so true! This job has been a long time coming. I worked for this company way back in college, thirty ish years ago….hence the previous foreshadowing! Kroger #564, thanks! By the way …the lingo there is calling all the stores by number not street names, ugh, I hate being a newbie, so out of the loop! But thankfully I am  not hauling out groceries any more….I get a desk job! And I love it!  I am involved with the employees, taking care of the HR duties plus more. It is never boring and I am always busy which I like, bored at work it the worst. I now am a working stiff with the rest of y’all.

This brings me to my question…how have you done this all these years?? Whew…..this is hard!! I realize how fortunate I was to not work when my babies were small, besides the day care issues and cost, the sheer physical demands on the body are huge. I work a nine hour day and some days overtime, it is all I can do to drive home. My husband makes dinner( bless his heart, he has had to evolve so much, but I sure am proud of him)  and I know if left to me we would starve. I feel in time I will get my sea legs and be less tired, the learning curve is big but getting easier after two weeks.

I just have to say, it is not hard to go to work happy, be happy at work, I know what a blessing it is to have a good job, I am thankful and humbled for the opportunity, I will never be forgetful of the days of waiting and denial. It’s hard on the mean streets. I know this will help me when I hire the team for the store. Our customers deserve the best and I am the first person these eager  newbies meet. I just hope they can see my desire to get them started on the right track and enjoy working there. Highly satisfied customers is our goal and I believe if we have highly satisfied employees our goal will be accomplished. This working girl is ready for the new chapter……working 9 to 5, la la la…..I mean 7 to 4:30+!

I just want to applaud all the men and women who have made it possible to live in a world that keeps turning on the blood sweat and tears of all y’all worker bees. I am glad I can help now, and soon I hope I will be less tired…age is not my friend now. My heart goes out to all the moms who paid the price as well as the dad’s. You all ROCK!