Karma

karma

I swear, it must be karma.

Today, I got the opportunity to hear one of my favorite michael jackson songs hours before I expected to get up. How lucky am I?!?
Let me tell you...

It was a call to let me know that another store, not mine, was not open. Not only that, there was no one to be seen. No one who could open the doors anyway. So after a couple phone calls, I dragged myself out of bed, called my store to let them know I would be heading to another location... and off I went.

I walked into a mad-house. The keys were dropped in my hands with a "thanks" ...and the store was mine for a day. I look around, there are two employees, both new, both pretty green. I rushed back, put myself back into the computer and headed out into the madness. From about 7am to around 1:30 we were without any downtime, on top of it, I was in the process on scheduiling interviews, making drinks, brewing coffee, training, finding coverage for the afternoon, and lets not forget taking questions from my store. Essentially, I felt like I was on a tilt-a-whirl.

It was productive though. Through all of this, I got 4 people hired... one for my store, two for the mad-house, and one for another store. Found people to work for the day and the upcoming weekend... because the schedule had too many gaps to even try opening the store.

I walked out around 5pm.... looking back with a half smile, knowing i'm one more day closer.

I'm telling you... Karma.

Back to the Future

its official. In a matter of days I will no longer be working for caribou coffee. For those of you who do not know, I have accepted a position with eq-life. Excited is an understatement. But if I wasn't anxious before.... let me give you a small recap of my last couple of days:

For starters, I opened the store yesterday. Another day started bright and early--sometime around the hour of four. After scraping myself off of my pillow, and stumbling into the shower, I found myself setting up the store for our wonderful caffeine addicted customers.

"I have to leave by 12...." one of my sup's started to tell me. After an explanation somewhat drawn out, knowing that I would be in the store even though I wasn't scheduled to be, we came to the conclusion that it would be okay if she left 3 hours early.
"What a weird shift.... ....but i'm off by 10..." another supervisor proclaimed out loud an hour later. "Huh? ...you're here until one!" I fired back. We both made a bee-line to the schedule. After realizing she was incorrect, she explained to me her circumstance based around the shift she thought she worked, we came to the same conclusion of the previous situation.

In my head I'm thinking it will be fine. We really only need two people here anyway, and they might as well leave since I'm here. Well, it turns out, that everything that I had expected to get done, didn't. And on top of it.... I had to re-train a team member on how to make drinks in the middle of a rush because of customer disapoints. Without going into great detail on the rest of the day, my 'easy-day-in-the-back-room-allowing-me-to-get-some-things-done' quickly turned into a crazy, stressful, long twelve hour day.

Which brings me to today....

As I'm rubbing my eyes, wondering why I'm hearing smooth criminal at ten after five, I answer my phone. Someone is late... my shift is asking if its okay to go in. Of course I'm going to say yes. As I tell her to go look at the schedule and make the appropriate phone call, I'm already anticipating re-entering the dream I was pulled out of so quickly.

"...I'm beginning to hate this song" I think as I roll over 20 minutes later. "yeah" I say almost as if I'm expecting the call. What is the purpose of a phone call to the store manager at 5:40 in the morning to communicate that a machine might be broke. I don't get it...

I know I love this song, but now its starting to feel a little over played! Why?!? Why are they calling me so much this morning? This time, its another person. Telling me he's sick and can't find anyone. my response: if your sick... gotta take care of yourself... do what you need to do..." I hang up. As I crawl out of the shower, I notice I've missed yet another call. There is a message... this one is saying that I don't need to come in, someone has agreed to come in. I crawl back in bed.

Next thing I know its sometime after eight. I finish getting ready and go into work. I get there to find out that the person covering can't be there for the entire shift. I also realize that if I hadn't hired someone yesterday, we'd be in worse shape. Needless to say, more training today... and another long one in the books.

As I slide into the drivers seat I think to myself: November 6, can't come soon enough.

C.H. Part II

coffee house update...

Remember the employee with the thank you card?
she stopped in caribou looking for me today. I happened to
just walked in to ensure all was good, when I turn around, and WHAM!
"hey!..." she started. Apparently she was still upset about walking
out on me. And is working for her old boss at another location.
I'm just glad its not mine... but seriously... like I told her:
water under the bridge.

And I might as well throw in for good measure...

I absolutely love getting 27 calls a day. My favorite ones have to do with...
"what do I do if.... " Pick your senario, it could end with: the safe is off, or
a customer is unhappy, or someone didn't show up on time, or what if I can't work....
It seems endless, most of which can be figured out without a phone call to yours
truely. Not that I don't appreciate it. But seriously people. You're smart, your driven,
thats why I hired you. Now go prove it....

(disclaimer to previous rant: does not apply to everyone who works in my store)

Coffee House

There is something to be said for coffee drinkers. I myself, am not one. I get it though, the addiction, the social aspect, even having it be the official start to any day. And since I've been in charge of this coffee shop, I've seen many things, many different people in many situations. There are people who come in multiple times a day, the customer who will order the same drink 21 times a week...

But a few my most interesting times there have involved:

Ray-bans: Forget the black sunglasses he didn't take off the entire interview, this guy not only referred to himself in the third person, but also told me all about how his parents met, and why that somehow related to him working for caribou....
I haven't seen him wear those sunglasses since the day of the interview...three months ago.

drama queen: I had an employee walk out and not come back except to give us all cards, including a birthday card in which she wrote to me: "...please remember me for the card and not me quitting..." The kicker was that she decided she wanted to come back two days later. "Under my conditions" she stated, as she's telling me how much she'd like to work for me again. Needless to say, I haven't seen her since.

Help Desk: Caribou has what they call a help desk. You call when you have an issue, and they are supposed to fix it. Well, I'm on a first name basis with most of those helpers. Not because I don't know what I'm doing, but because I've spent the last two months entering our "off-line" credit cards manually. I hate being off-line. To say the least, i've used some choice words lately...

Ether way, There is something every day... I'll tell you about yesterday later.

Three Wonderful Words

Three words. No more no less. We dance around them, we're afraid of them, yet at the same time we long to hear them. And when we do, its music to our ears. When we realize that we love someone, trying to find the best way to say it, or the right time seems to be as ever elusive as the "perfect" person. But thats what is so funny. Because when we realize we're in love, is when we realize that the person we want to tell is, well, perfect. At least perfect for us. That person that seems to balance us out, cover our weaknesses, somehow change our perspective to realize what life could be... or at least find its meaning. The thing is this: we don't love the people we love because they're perfect. We love the people we love because they are.

We say it too much, we don't say it enough, we long to hear it, we're afraid of what it could mean... all of this energy spent on trying to understand the most simple, yet most complex emotion known as love. Some people fall easy, others more guarded and spend more time trying to analize every moment, every feeling, wanting to be sure. Sometimes it passes us by, other times it slams into us like a sixteen-wheeler at full bore. There are no rules, there is no manual or how-to for love. Every story is in itself unique and its own way, amazingly breathtaking.

Real love, true love has no limits. It will wait, it will forgive, it will last for eternity. It will give everything for its survival, for its longevity, for an opportunity to grow further. Its generousity will give when it has nothing to give.... it will especially give time.

So when I think about saying those three words: I love you. For me it isn't momentary, it isn't something fleeting. its something real... its something I desire to uphold, to share, to encourage, to create...

...and to celebrate

Moments

What are we defined by? Is it our accomplishments? The things that we do for others to see? Do we perform in ways in public which define us? Is it how we want to be perceived or is it something more? The more that I'm thinking about... at least I'm beginning to think it is are much smaller moments. Moments of truth, behind the doors away from those we want to impress, in the shadows where we are most vulnerable, to those who know us, or those we want to know us. The look in someone's eye. Their breath on your neck. The way you feel when the one you love smiles. These small seemingly unimpressive moments define who we shall be. Away from the cameras and out of the spotlight. Celebrity in a lot of ways is fictional. It is the mask for the general public to buy into or at the very least to believe in. And I know there are some extremely wonderful leaders with great renown... but that all started with something small. Some momentary truth to guide them. A commitment to an idea or vision, the realization that by themselves they stand still... that no man is an island. What are those defining moments? What do we expect of ourselves? What sparks the growth? The challenge? The motivation?

I realized close to ten years ago that I had a desire to be seen a certain way. For example; I wanted others to see me as "a good christian boy". So, I would choose to read my bible where others could see me... and not only that, but where they would have to see me. I came to terms that what I was doing and what I was portraying were contradicting. And at that moment, decided that any time in study would be behind closed doors--to ensure that my purpose was not jaded. That was hard for me to do... because growing up, so much of what you want is to be perceived one way or another.

I've approached my relationships the same way. Knowing I want true love, I will not settle or allow mediocrity. It takes a lot for me to face the truth about a relationship, and realize whether its "good for now" or really 'the one". There is comfort in companionship; in having someone by your side. I've had to really dig deep when faced with a comfortable-companion vs. the-love-of-my-life-that-will-take-me-places-never-imagined.

So what moments really define us? I think its the small, little, unannounced moments that take us places we want to be. It's the decisions we make behind closed doors that make us extraordinary and one to be reckoned with. It's the moment when you look into a lover's eyes and know without saying that there is no other place in the world you'd rather be. I know what moments make or break my day---little does it have to do with perception. The make or break happens in the congruency of my reflection. It happens when I look into the eyes of the person I admire most. When I see a smile of someone I long for. These are the moments worth living... They are the definition of who we are and what we value.

Dreaming with a hoping heart

When you're dreaming with a hoping heart
The waiting becomes the hardest part
Suddenly the calendar becomes a measurement
Where timing plays the part of commitment

Is she really here with me?
Does she desire what I will be?
No she doesn't, because she can't
she's afraid, she's scared, she's hesitant

When you're dreaming with a hoping heart
And waiting on love is the hardest part
Caught between pushing on and turning away
Intentions to guard my heart become the only way

Is she really here with me?
Does she desire what I will be?
No she doesn't, because she can't
She's afraid, she's scared, she's hesitant

Walking the line between being broken and being completely fulfilled.
Its a walk of faith, one only of the strong-willed.
While my heart is at odds with conventional wisdom
She wants nothing but to experience some freedom

Falling asleep only to wake up with more question
Waking up afraid of what things to mention
Do I have to fall asleep with hope-filled hands?
Is it something that I can continue to withstand?

When you're dreaming with a hoping heart
The waiting becomes the hardest part.