Conduct

Hello.

This is just a reminder from your friendly neighborhood barista.

If you don't hang up your freaking cell phone so I can take your order, I will stab* you with a straw. A long straw. I will then skin you alive with a latte spoon.

Also, "JUST LOOKING" is not an appropriate response to "Hello". The acceptable response would sound something like "Hi, just looking".

No, I'm not going to give you all the marked out pastries or the leftover coffee. You wanted some? You should have paid for it before we closed.

No, you can't take money out of the tip jar. Its a tip jar. Not a take-a-penny leave-a-penny jar.

Do not ask me about everything on the menu and make me describe every possible drink in great detail, only to say "pass" and walk away. You just wasted 10 minutes of my time, and pissed off about three people behind you.

I'd love to stand here and chat without about whatever you feel the need to talk about, as long as there isn't a line. Don't give me the stink eye because I cut off the conversation because a line 9 people deep has formed. You'd be glad I did so if you were 8th in line, trust me. On a related note, don't give me the stink eye when you're a few people down the line and I'm trying to communicate with an elderly, semi-deaf person. It just takes an extra second to get things across, and the most they ever want is a cup of plain coffee anyways. Seriously, respect your elders.

On another semi-related note, you don't get to talk to me like I'm 5 simply because I'm younger than you. Do not stand at the hand off area and try to tell me what you're waiting on every time I pass off a drink. Yours is coming up, I promise. Things are made in the order they're ordered. You don't have a golden ticket that gets you your drink instantly.

Also, don't get pissed off at me when you order the wrong thing. YOU ordered it. I TRIED to explain that a cappuccino would be hot, foamy, and not sweet at all. But no. And then, sure enough, you wanted something completely different.

Do not take it upon yourself to organize the bottled drinks we have in the cooler. They're in the order that they're in for a reason. Its not a zen garden. Leave it alone.

And for goodness sakes, don't argue with me about company policy. I'd love to help you out. Really. But for one, I'm lowest on the ladder of importance. My say has no sway whatsoever on anything. And for two, even if I did have say, if you're trying to rip us off, I'm not going to help you.

That is all.

Quotes

I just realized I completely neglected to do any quotes as of late. Shame on me.

Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything

- Charles Kuralt (1934 - 1997)

I feel this is an important observation in lieu of my impending move to Iowa. When The Boy and I drove down there last November, we didn't see anything. Not even farm animals. Once we got out of Wisconsin, it was just flat plains and a few hills. Bo-ring. And we didn't even take the Interstate all the way across. It was mostly just due to the fact that Iowa is the most boring state in the union. And the whole state smells like a cow's ass. (Unfortunately, I know exactly what that smells like, having visited many dairy farms as a child.)

Also, last night I got this feeling like a giant weight had been lifted off of my chest. Its hard to describe. Its just that feeling you get after you haven't been able to write a thing for a month, and suddenly your mind is full of conversations and plot and character. Not only that, I have this really intense inspiration to paint. Odd, since I'm not really much of a painter, but hey, I'm gonna go with it. Why not?

Seconds

Have you ever had a moment, that feels like forever? A moment where everything snaps into place and you see with stunning clarity? Where you see color as if you've stepped out of a black and white world?

I just had one of those moments.

It was amazing.

(So of course I had to come blog about it.)

Now all I need is a canvas and some paint.

Market

Okay, Tony (crap, I have to figure out a code name for Tony now...) sort of yelled at me for not updating my blog very often. So...

Market: Saturday The Boy and I went to the farmer's market here in Stallis. We got some out-of-this-world corn. Now, I'm not really the type to get hyped up about vegetables, but this corn was that good. It was picked fresh that morning, and when we boiled it up, it tasted good without butter or salt. We decided that this week we're getting a dozen ears, instead of just three. We also got some really really good apple cider, which The Boy used to make himself a surprisingly tolerable hard apple cider. We also got this really good onion herb bread that had onion, basil, and dill in it. We're getting another loaf. Mmm.

Madison: Since I'm moving so very far away, I thought it was a good time to pay a visit to Rats in Madison (Sorry, but you do have three rats. Its not a mean code name, I do like the rats, honest.) I had an excellent time. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Madison is really my kind of town. Of course, that means The Boy would hate it. He doesn't like college students. Or anyone he could deem "hippie". Or anything, really. Ha.

We saw The Dark Knight (which was AMAZING, and I don't even like batman), and wandered around Hilldale mall. I got swedish fish. Then we wandered up and down State St. I love that kind of atmosphere, people just strolling around, some guy playing a guitar, coffee everywhere.

It felt really good to go out of town like that for a night, just to relax and get away from here. Not that I don't like Stallis. It isn't bad. But I prefer somewhere where you don't constantly run into people from high school that you don't particularly care for.

Well, that's my exciting weekend. All I have ahead of me this week is work, so I'm not sure I'll update very frequently. Sorry Tony. Ha.

Exhale

I feel sooo much better now that I've just let things go. Really. Its nice, you should try it.

However, there is a tiny thing that I'd like to rant about.

WHY GOD, WHY, DOES IT HAVE TO BE SO FREAKING HUMID OUTSIDE?
Seriously. This is not necessary.

Ugh.

But in the category of good news, I got accepted (for some odd reason, I think the admissions board does hard drugs. Ha) to Central for the fall. So...I'm off to Iowa. This is super unexpected. I really just reapplied as a sort of...laugh? I don't know. I mean, I did all the stuff but I really didn't expect to get in. And I did. Thus further evidence that the admissions committee does drugs.

And because I'm moving to Iowa for most of the year for the next 3-4 years, there's a bit of bad news. I'm losing my job. As sad as I am to go, and as scary as it sounds to not be working all the time, I'm actually sort of excited. This is going to be the first time, in a long time, that I get to focus completely on being a student. I get to have my nose pierced and not have to worry about dress codes. I get to wear one outfit for the WHOLE DAY. I don't know what I'm going to do over the summer though. Well, I suppose we're gonna cross that bridge when we come to it.

In closing, my life is great, I'm leaving town in a month, and I'm gonna go for a walk.

Peace.

Its been a while since I've posted. Mostly because I haven't had the time. I've been working a shit ton of hours lately, and then I've either been tired, or more recently, out.

I'm liking the whole going out most nights thing. I'm having a good time with everything for once, and I wish people would be excited about that, instead of being harsh. Seriously, when do I ever get to go out and have fun? Hardly ever. This is a treat. Let me enjoy it.

Thing in my life are good. The Boy and I are good. Work is good. My social life is good. It's all good. And in this goodness, and partially to cause this goodness, I've decided to just let it all go.

Holding grudges and harboring negative emotions is unhealthy. So I'm trying my damndest to let go of everything bad that's happened to me in the past. After all, you can't change it, so why dwell on it, aside to learn from it? So I'm learning from my mistakes and picking myself up. Probably to make more mistakes that I can learn from, but hey, that's life.

I don't remember where I was going with that, really.

Oh, I did learn some new games though. That's always nice. Ha.

Alright, I traded shifts with Blake tomorrow at 9:30 am so I have to get to bed. Nighty night.

And remember: Its all good.

Change

Last night I had a really good discussion with an old friend of mine about changing the world. He says that one person cannot change the world, no matter what they do or how hard they try. I disagree. But the thing is, you can't start with the world. You have to first change yourself. Today's quote isn't from my funny quote book.

'Be the change you wish to see in the world." -Ghandi

there's a quote I ran across once that I can't seem to find, which upsets me, but the gist was this:

A man tried to change the world. He failed, and tried to change his country. Failing that, he tried to change his city. Failing even that, he tried to change his family. And failing that, he realized that he first needed to change himself. From there he could have changed his family, the city, the country, and the world. (If anybody knows the original quote and its author, PLEASE let me know so I can give proper credit).

If you don't like something, fix it in yourself before you try to fix everyone else. If you're concerned about the environment, first begin to do as much as you can to conserve before you preach to everyone else about it. Live your ideals. Because then you can be an example. Then you can say "hey, I did it, and so can you."

We can change the world.

I am going to change the world.

Just you watch.

(I was going to end this with my usual "ta" but Best Friend told me that's annoying because I don't actually say "ta". I'm now stumped as how end my blogs. Thanks Best Friend.)

Mirror

I've had something on my mind for a while now.

I'm getting so sick of people thinking that America is the greatest country on Earth.

Because God knows our government isn't corrupt, doesn't violate its people's rights, and does everything in its power to keep the people happy and healthy. Oh wait.

First off, for anybody that's going to counter any of this with "Oh but we're a democracy, the best one on Earth, and we have to spread democracy!", I'm gonna let the cat out of the bag. America is not a democracy. Yep. We're a federal republic. The men who wrote the constitution didn't think the general populace would be smart enough to elect its own leaders, so instead of an actual democracy, we have a federal republic.

Second, America is completely run by money. Everyone can be bought off, and apparently, all of our so called leaders have been. Special interest groups, lobbyists. Any leader could commit an atrocity and have it all erased with the proper funding and bribes. If that's not corruption, I don't know what is.

For the third point, I just have two words: Patriot Act. Seriously. As Benjamin Franklin said, "People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both."

I'm just so sick of people telling me how great America is, when we lack some pretty fundamental things (that a first-world nation should have), like universal health care. Most Americans are one major medical emergency away from the poverty line. Why? Did that person ask to get cancer? It isn't right that our country sucks the life out of the ill. That's just kicking a man while he's down. People die needlessly in this country, all because some large corporations want to save a few billion dollars, so they can pay off the President to speak in their favor.

I understand some of the liberties that I, as an American have. Such as the freedom to religion, which I'm constantly grateful for. I'm glad that women aren't (openly) discriminated against. I'm glad that I can vote, for whatever that's worth. But the thing that gets me, is that I could have all of these same freedoms and rights in most of the developed world. Canada, England, France, Sweden. All those freedoms, plus health care.

I'm sick of the "just look out for yourself" mentality. I'm sick of people being petty. Let's all just look out for one another.

I'm aware that I'm just blathering on at this point, and I should probably get some sleep sometime soon. I just had to get some of that off my chest. Its been upsetting me. There's more, but that's for another rant.

Ta.