Hope Chest

Ever since I was younger, I have always wanted to be independent, that is all I have ever wanted to be, I did not really care how I did it.  This said, I was very attached to movies such as Kiki's Delivery Service and other journey away from home movies.  At the same time, I had also been interested in crochet, sewing, knitting, and other things that were traditional homemaking activities.  At 16, I started having way too many things that I needed a use for, and so developed the hope chest idea. I had heard about this from other older generations (mainly my parents) and decided it would be a good goal.  I had also at the same time started to develop the idea that I would move out when I turned 18.  So I ended up with this idea that I would start a hope chest of things to help me move out when I turn 18 so I have less money I have to spend. 

I am still working on this goal with only a few months left to finish everything I'll need.  I currently have 3 pairs of baby booties (just in case), multiple berets, potholders, I am halfway through an afghan, and I just started a baby blanket today.  I am planning on finishing everything, making a circular rug for the apartment, making a comforter( probably through sewing on a machine), and a pillow case.  I am trying to think of other things I'll need for an apartment.  Do you all have any ideas?  I will post links to the patterns used for everything.



Leia Rhyne

Slut Shaming and Feminism

One thing that has always been a pet peeve of mine is the double standard on sex: Guys are a stud for having tons of sex, while girls are whores/sluts for having sex once. 

The worst part of it, is that the females are the ones calling each other sluts and whores.  
The main reason for feminism is for females to have the same rights as males, yet females deny each other the possibility of having as much safe sex as they want, while males are perfectly okay to have the large amounts of safe sex with less consequences, even encouraged.

Another thing to consider is the fact that women have no straight definition for everyone on what being a slut or whore entails.  How many times must a female have sex?  In what time span? With how many guys?  With what relationship with the guys?

One last piece of food for thought; if this term originated for someone who has sex before marriage, then quite a large percentage of people would be considered sluts and whores as I have no knowledge of anyone I have ever met that was actually a virgin until marriage. Have any of you ever met anyone who was a virgin until marriage?

All of this together brings me to my conclusion that slut shaming should not occur.  There is no problem with a female being so amazing she's able to get many guys to sleep with her, as well as there being no problem with a male being so amazing he gets many females to sleep with him.  As long as no one is passing me any diseases and everyone uses condoms, all of this is fine, so those who have been considered "sluts"(nearly every female over the age of 12 has been considered one by someone at some point whether virgin or not), do not worry as when you are being called a slut, you are basically being welcomed into the general female population.  Congratulations.

                                                 Food for thought,


                                                 Leia Rhyne


P.S. I am not a feminist, I am an equalist.  I fight for rights of everyone to be equal whether white, black, hispanic, purple, green, female, gay, bisexual, transgender, lesbian, or any animals (though I do still eat them, they need to be treated humanely until then).

Regret

Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing with my life.  None of the things I'm doing are things I have pictured myself doing.  In the past, I did not ever picture myself being treated like an idiot for the rest of my life.  Now I do.  I am so tired of idiots acting like I am the idiot here just because my life does not revolve around theirs.  Why do idiots get the idea that just because they are older, they are supposedly wiser?  Why do people in power treat everyone around them as if they are not good enough to sniff their shoes?  Granted, not everyone in power treats others like this, but quite a bit of the time, this is exactly what happens.  I am so sick of this, mainly because I don't believe any of these people are even slightly worth more than me on a normal basis, the only thing that ever makes me believe this is the fact that I have such a hard time getting a stupid date. 

I am slightly sick of women needing men to help define their self-value, especially me being one of them, but there is not enough in my life to help me out with that, mainly because I made a few mistakes last semester, that I'm actually scared will haunt me for the rest of my life (gpa).  Have any of you made any mistakes you regret?

Extended Family and Frito

Lately I have been smothered by extended family, not much else has been going on except for more work.  New people keep coming into work and I found out the newest manager is officially the biggest neat freak I have ever seen.  He got mad at me for not wiping off the silver part that slopes into the trashcan hole.  I was annoyed because he made me stay after for 2 hours yesterday until the lobby got to be HIS definition of clean.  I ended up doing part of his job yesterday and being annoyed that he deemed my time to be much less important than his. Let's call him "Frito," mainly because I really want some Fritos right now and his voice reminds me of the Frito Bandito. Frito proceeded to tell me that the day before I had apparently left the lobby dirty, and said he would be checking behind me before I left.  The only way he could have made this insult worse was the fact that he was telling me this in a crowd.  I let it go, then proceeded to do as he asked, sweeping every square inch of the carpet, then came for him to check the lobby, waited for him to finish his conversation with a friend of his.  Frito looked right at me and ignored me as he kept on talking, I waited 2 more minutes before walking off to do something else, getting even more pissed.  I work my butt off then get treated as if I'm worthless?  I don't think so.  What are your thoughts on this, what would you have done, if not let it go?

Top 5 Reasons Women Wear Short Shorts

A male asked me the other day why women wear short shorts, and at first I thought he was just being stupid, but I googled it the other day, finding that many people wonder the same question.  So I figured, as a female, I might be one of the most qualified to answer this question.  There are  very many reasons, but here are my top 5.

1. Tons of Females Wear Them.  When one goes out to the beach or just out to a mall in the summer, most of the high school girls and college girls will be wearing short-shorts, so A. peers wearing them would be a reason, but this branches out to more that just one reason.  B. You may not know this, but having the ability to make a guy look one's way by wearing shorter shorts brings power.  Many females enjoy this power, even if the guys looking are ones a female would never want to get with, it is still a huge compliment.   C.  This reason goes back to B and A: Many females wear them, so to not wear them would be at a disadvantage.

2.  They Look Good.  when have you ever seen a female wearing short-shorts and not had your eyes check out her legs and arse?  Even if you are a straight female, you will check out the competition.

3. They Draw Attention Away From Other Features.  If a female has good legs and arse, she would much rather have someone look at those than stare at a zit on their face.

4.  It's Hot Outside.  This one is self-explanatory.

5.   They Show Less Than Wearing Leggings With Nothing Over Them.  Have you ever looked at someone wearing leggings and noticed all the cellulite shown through the fabric?  Or noticed how no matter what, the leggings will constantly attempt to ride up their butts?  Short shorts allowing for skin to be show is much better than being able to see the basically pants-less person wearing leggings in front of you.



Hope this helps,



Leia Rhyne

Comprehensive Sex Education

There is one issue in the USA that irritates me more than the economy or stupidity: the lack of good sex education available in schools.  I even wrote an argumentative essay about sex education in USA schools, that will be posted up here soon. Everywhere I find schools that the parents are refusing to let the teens get sex education, and also will not give the talk to their own teenagers(telling teens that they should never have sex does not count).  Teenagers should be given information, and given the ability to make decisions with the information they get, how else will they learn?  There are too many STDs out there for abstinence-only ideas to be depended on (when everyone knows that teenagers like to rebel).

Here's some more information on this from an essay excerpt:

As for the HIV costs, many people have no idea that it can cost up to 36.4 billion dollars per lifetime, including the treatment required and the efficiency costs through being unable to work at times.  Including Antiretroviral therapy (ART), the costs can increase hugely, considering the amount of money spent on normal treatment per year is $114,938.00 approximately, while those using ART can have costs of $230,044.00 per year (“36.4 Billion a Year”).  It is a known quote that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure;” however it is worth much more when there is no cure for HIV, although it may be prevented through the use of contraception.  This can make one wonder why another would argue for abstinence-only teachings when these are the numbers, especially when the costs of children per year are weighed in.

Works Cited

"Birth Control Pills." Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood, 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2013. 

"Cost of Raising a Child Calculator." Cost of Raising a Child Calculator. N.p., n.d. Web. 18

            Mar. 2013. 

 “Facts on American Teens’ Sexual and Reproductive Health.” Guttmacher Institute 2013. Web.

            13 Mar. 2013. 

Feiju, Ammie and Sue Alford. “Adolescent Sexual Health in Europe and the US.” Adolescent

            Sexual Health in Europe and the US. N.p., 2000. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. 

Llewellyn, Cheryl. "Abstinence Education." Sex and Society. Marshall Cavendish Digital, 2013.

            Web. 18 March 2013. 

Palmer, Kimberly. “The Real Cost of Birth Control.”  US News RSS. N.p., 5 Mar. 2012. Web.

13 Mar.2013.

"$36.4 billion a year: Cost of HIV/AIDS highlights racial and ethnic disparities." Medical News

            Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 26 Sep. 2006. Web.

Closer to The Dream

I am getting closer to the amount of money needed to attend UNCG for the first semester.  I am soon-to-be half-way there.  I am starting to think I should double major in French and English, but I also want to do something with Romanian, I want to go somewhere in Europe that is a little hole-in-the-wall, somewhere less touched by American Civilization.

I can't wait to finally branch out on my own, but also I have decided I don't like being home alone all the time, I might want to find some sort of roommate.  I need to find something out there that is just mine.  I want to be near a coffee house, or maybe just a good amount of different gourmet coffee creamers aligned in my fridge.  I decided I would like a room with glass as three of the walls, but a tall table in it with a table just big enough for a laptop and a cup of coffee.

Do any of you have dreams like that?  What are your dreams?

Inspiring Stories from The Fast-food Line

One of the things about working fast-food is that one has a lot of opportunities to reach out to people.  I usually do this by talking to them at the cash register, but sometimes the people come to me or I come to them.

Once, when I was on break, an old man (that looked like he might have ridden a motorcycle) wearing a bandanna came and asked if he could sit down in front of me.  I said "sure," thinking that I only had about 5 more minutes on break anyway, so what was the harm in giving an old man some company?

We started talking and I asked him what had made him want to have a gravy bistcuit today.  Nothing could have prepared me for his answer, which was that it was his favorite food before his chemo therapy started, and he was hoping it wouldn't come back up.  He explained to me that the doctors had given him an expiration date 2 months from then and he wanted to enjoy life a little before he died.  I was almost struck speechless, but I had two more minutes left on break, and said the only thing I could "Everyone has an expiration date, you just might have a vague idea of where yours is, for all I know, I could be hit by a truck tomorrow and you could outlive me."  He accepts this and my break is over, but I tell him I am sorry but I have to go back to work.  He bids me goodbye, and I'm haunted by this all day.

4 months later I see him at Bojangles again, I ask him "isn't it past your expiration date?"  He looks over at me and explains that his last tumor was benign, so no more expiration date.  I am overjoyed.

Someone Else's Easy Perfection

Yesterday I got to be Cashier fully in the morning, I was so happy I couldn't do anything other than grin all day, I laughed when the power went out at Bojangles for a full 30-40 minutes.

I did pretty well on cash register, making me wonder why I'm not on it more often.  I am starting to wonder how to find a way to do that all day instead of lobby all day.  I'm mainly just ready to have a job that's almost like a break.  I feel like the people at cash register have tons of breaks, while people on lobby definitely don't.   Today I did packing for cash register, and I mainly did very well in my main boss' eyes.

I met a new girl who made a Bojangles uniform look beautiful today.  I hated her instantly, mainly because she made freckles, blue eyes, and brown hair look better than I did.  She had no zits whatsoever, she had no hairs out of place, and she was nice.  Making it much worse.  Have you ever met someone like that?

Life

Work finally called to give me the hours I need this summer, I now work 5 days a week.  I started looking at houses and plots in foreign countries.  I really want to just get out of here.  I keep having dreams about work, usually something close to nightmares, but sometimes just dreams with the people from work in them.

Speaking of people from work, I have so few shifts with the guy-who-hates-me that I can't really remember our last argument, and whenever he sees me, he acts as if I'm not there.  I've gotten to the point where I'm caring less and less though.

The one good thing about the increase in work hours is that I can now have more need to actually look for different things to buy.  I keep calculating my paychecks, so I  can think about house payments, that, and my savings account is actually starting to look decent for the first time since before I started college.

I found something close to my dream house on pinterest the other day:

The only thing is that I really want a circular house instead, maybe a white house, but I definitely like the fairy garden motif this has going on. What is your dream house?

Online Classes and 5 Reasons One Should Not Take Them

I have had a few bad experiences with online classes. Here are a few reasons why I would not recommend them:

1.  Deadlines.  The deadlines in the online classes are not going to actually pop up in your head very often unless checked on constantly.  I would constantly forget deadlines for online classes when they changed at the teacher's whim.  I could never figure out when things were due and this created work missed. When in a normal classroom, if the teacher changed the day then they would at least have to tell you about it in the class next time they see you.  An online class will normally not afford you the same courtesy with just printing it online for a day, so if you are not an A-type personality you are probably going to just barely get it in on time.

2.  Lack of Teacher Involvement.  This is a big one because when taking a difficult online class, it is very hard to ask questions or just get answers to questions.  If your teacher is horrible at checking their e-mail or answering their phone, then you are basically screwed.  I would have questions on projects and the teachers would not get back to me for a week when I handed in the project and they had marked me off for not formatting it in a way they wanted (when they never answered my question on that part of the formatting).

3.  Confusing Instructions.  When a teacher is in class with you, the teacher is usually demonstrating what they want for you to do, however, many teachers online just assume you know exactly what they want you to do from their written instructions.  Most written instructions end up being slightly vague no matter how the teacher puts it, and if they are bad at getting back to you...  Let's just say you're screwed over again.

4.  Forgetfulness.  If you do not create a scheduled routine for checking up on the class, then you will probably at one time or another forget to check for updates on upcoming assignments.  This happened to me a lot with my last online class as it was the only online class I was taking at the time, and I was working at the same time.  This mainly left me scrambling at the last minute to get work done.

5.  Lack of Peer Interaction.  I don't know about any of you, but I like meeting friends in college.  I just moved to a new city when I started college, so I immediately wanted to get to know some people, but in an online class, none of that happens.   In a normal classroom, one is at least forced to say something to someone else in class once in a while for a group project or some other assignment or maybe even just asking someone to move over.  These are future connections one can use for job placement later on, so it is smart to network while you have an opportunity to do so.

All of these reasons combined with the fact that most online classes end up not in my memory the second I finish the class.  I end up gaining no substance from them as I have taken notes or really done anything hands-on in any classes.  I rarely even had anything to remember them by later on except for transcripts.

Hope this helps with your decision,


Leia Rhyne

How To Buy College Textbooks Online

Hi guys, this is my sequel to "How To Sell College Textbooks Online."

1.  Do not buy them at the school bookstore unless you have no other choice, if you have no other choice, buy the books used.  Do not rent the books, as when you rent the books, you cannot sell the books to others in order to possibly get your full money back.

2.  Find out which books you need by searching through your college's suggested website for finding which books are needed.  Keep this in one tab as it makes it easier to copy and paste the book's ISBN number into the search to find the cheapest price.  The reason I say to use the ISBN number is because it usually keeps me from making mistakes with the editions, but double check to make sure you're buying the student editions instead of the teacher editions; as for the using the google.com shopping search, I usually end up buying most of my books at AbeBooks.com, but sometimes I am surprised at other places having the cheapest price. 

3.  Sometimes books are just not available anywhere, including the campus bookstore (as a last resort).  If this happens, contact your professor immediately to keep from failing an assignment or two in a class.  Sometimes the books sell out too quickly to get ahold of one, this has happened to me before, and I had ended up finding out that my book had sold out nearly everywhere and was offering a free ebook of the textbook online for a short while.

Hope this was helpful,


Leia Rhyne

How To Sell College Textbooks Online

Hey guys, one of the things I have not really informed you of is how I get ready for the upcoming semester.  One of the first things I do is sell my used textbooks, and buy my needed new ones (new to me, I usually buy textbooks that are used but in good condition).  To start, I usually sell off the old ones.  Here's how I begin:

1.  The first thing that needs to be done is for one to decide on a site to sell the textbooks on.  I usually use ebay.com as half.com only pays people for the things they sell on the 15th and the 30th of the month.  I don't know about you, but it typically makes me very nervous to not get the money very close to the time I sell the product; especially if I know that it shipped correctly.

2.  When pricing your book, there is usually a space that says what your textbook has been being sold for on that website (if not, just open the website in a new tab and search for your specific ISBN number on the textbook for details).  I usually price the book about a dollar or two less than what everyone else is pricing the same product at, for its same condition (if the product is more than having dog-eared pages, or has highlighter or pen markings on more than 10% of the book, then do not attempt to sell it).  Your product will get more views immediately this way.

3.  The website will e-mail you when the product is sold (if it sells, keep in mind that this product will usually sell when everyone is signing up for classes or when everyone is about a few weeks from going to said classes).  It is a good way to get a great reputation if you ship the product the second it sells.

4.  If you are using ebay.com or half.com; your shipping label will be able to be accessed online via your account with either website.  You will need to go to a local post office to be able to get a tracking number (these are typically required on the website used to sell).  Remember to mark your item as shipped as soon as possible.

I mainly get the money back that I bought the books for in the first place, unless I bought them new.  Do not buy books new unless it cannot be avoided, these (like a car) lose value when you take off the plastic wrap.

Where have all the good guys gone? So far away...

I've been wondering about a few things lately.  I cannot understand what keeps guys from ever asking me out, when I do not look awful;  I actually have been asked by a few people if I am a model.

I've decided it has to be my fiery personality, or maybe just the fact that I'm not really on their level.  I watched a girl get hit on at my work yesterday, and I couldn't understand why these guys were hitting on her when I never get asked for my number anymore.  I examined this girl, but there really is nothing about her that I could immediately see that was so much better than me.  She was a nice girl, don't get me wrong.  I like being around her, but she was average in looks, about 40 pounds overweight, she wore these really thick glasses, and she had braces.  The guys were not even hitting on her in a mean or really rude way like guys usually hit on me when they hit on me. 

When guys hit on me, they usually insinuate something along the lines of me being a prostitute (I'm a virgin who has not done anything past kissing with tongue at 17).  I do not dress without any modesty either (I do wear fitting jeans, but I do not ever have my bust hanging out of my shirt, or wear leggings with nothing over them), leading me to be quite confused.  I'm not stupid, I have very little acne, and have an hourglass figure at being 120 pounds at 5ft 2, with larger hips than bust, but not having a flat chest either.  I'm almost my ideal person, and I can't figure out what I have to do to find a male that will actually ask me out.


I'm starting to wonder if my confidence level is starting to drown or something.  I don't know what else it could be, but this is starting to get insanely annoying, like I can't win for losing.  The last guy I was interested in never ended up calling me, even when he acted like he was interested and I knew he was single.  The guy before that lead me on a wild goose chase when he had a girlfriend.  The guy in between was one date that was acting more interested in talking to the girl next to me, or bragging about the fact he had a date with me instead of talking to me on the "date."  The guy before that was only interested in a lay, so where are all the good guys?

Pescatarianism

I officially stopped being a pescatarian yesterday.  To be honest I expected some sort of change but really there is nothing I miss.  The entire point was to keep my parents from attempting to eat our chickens (I still refuse to eat said species of bird), so I don't really feel bad about stopping being a pescatarian.

There was one surreal difference I have noticed so far though; before, when I didn't eat meat besides fish, I never felt like eating meat.  Now a day after starting to eat meat again I am craving it.  I can't wait to eat a Big Mac!!!  :)

A Hard Time

One of the things I've had the hardest time with in college is the fact that I'm currently undecided.  I have no idea what to do with my life, so for right now I am mainly dubbing myself an English Major, but in all honesty I have no idea.

I like languages(mostly romance languages), and I want to do something with that, but I also want to be able to get as much out of the job I get as what I put into college.  French Translators have a small salary to start out with, and mainly French people also speak English.  I really do not like Spanish because it's so common around America, and I like the Romanian language, but very few places offer Romanian lessons; I'm also not sure if I would be able to commit to it if I did it on my own.  I want to take the lessons at a college, but it's really hard to find a college in the US that has lessons in Romanian, while at the same time a college in my state so I only have to pay in-state tuition rates.  I also really do not want to have to do more than 4 years of college, because frankly I just do not like school work in general.

I'm still confused which is why I have a lack of motivation as far as college is concerned, that and whenever I want a boy I seem to get solely focused on him instead of the study part of college, because I think love is much more important than anything else.  Leading to my lack of a love life in college, and my lack of study.  I can't figure out what it is I need to do to start getting good at college, I think most of this would have gone better if I had started out at UNCG where I would be automatically inundated into the college life through the dorms.  I really wish I'd gone to UNCG and stayed in the dorms all years.  The only problem is Sir Piggy, that I would hate to lose.  If anyone else has any answers I don't have, please comment with them.

That is Life

The only thing no one remembers to tell you when you work fast food: when someone says you work a certain job it does not mean you work that certain job.  When I work on lobby, which someone basically says is cleaning, what it really means is that I am the only one whose job everyone else deems unimportant.  Because of this, one working lobby will quite frequently  be working an half hour or more over time.  I originally nearly always worked an hour overtime.  The reason for this is that I was the one person who took  up the slack for everyone's jobs, because everyone else deemed my job to be the easiest job there, and the endless cycle causing me to work overtime quite often.  Because of this, on days I do lobby, I also quite frequently do drive-thru, cash register, and packing at different times of the day for other people to go on break, usually resulting in me not getting a break.  The one thing one will get as a fast food worker is under-appreciation, but the worst part is the most under-appreciation goes to those that have the hardest jobs or work the hardest.  As the French say it "C'est la vie," or "That is Life."

Surviving Summer

Many of the things people will tell you about college has nothing to do with what goes on during the summers.  Summers for the people trying to finance their own college courses usually are along the lines of work, work, and more work; but I have not been able to find that.  I originally was going to do a summer job along with working at Bojangles, but so far no one has called me back for jobs, in my small town, jobs are scarce.  No one really has any extra places for people under the age of 18 because one mistakenly believes that 18 year olds are more likely to have more bills to pay.  News Flash: not everyone graduates high school at 18, some people have to make a living at 17.  There should be exceptions for that, but there's not. 

I was hoping to take a summer course called Math 161, also known as College Algebra.  When I tried signing up for the course, it would not let me in.  I tried contacting my academic advisers (I have two) but they were not able to get me in and neither was the top counselor.  I had the SAT scores to get into the course, but the computer would not allow me to sign up.  I am slightly regretful about that, but not entirely.  I wanted to get the class over with, but to be honest I hate math so much I get anxiety attacks when I have to take math tests.  Nothing cures them, I highly believe that it is contributing to a growing amount of learned helplessness as far as math goes and is something that getting a doctor's note should get me out of.  In the end, it also makes no sense as I am planning a major along the lines of an English major or a Foreign language major.  Neither of these makes any sense as to why there should be any math past simple math involved.

As far as summer goes, I am trying to find something fun to do, but I just find myself wishing something more interesting would happen or I could just quit my job at Bojangles.  My job at Bojangles seems to be the only thing motivating me now as far as college goes however, seeing as I cannot stand the fact that a power-hungry idiot gets to have complete and utter power over me, while there's nothing I can do about it.  I had enough of that at my last job.

The Pain One Goes Through to Get Certain Days Off

Let me start with this one simple fact: I love my job at Bojangles.  I feel like I do well at it, most of the managers treat me well, and the customers are awesome most of the time.  However, getting specific days off, is incredibly excruciating; mainly because of the fact that the scheduling is done by the one boss that does not love me (I am naming her Ms. B for right now).  Let me say first, that I have tried to get into her good books, however she just does not want to be nice to me.  I have only tried to ask for times off on 3 different occasions in the entire 5 months I have been working there, and I got one of them off because I had a speeding ticket court date that day. 

First time denied: Easter Sunday

I asked off for Easter Sunday almost a month in advance, there was no "X" over it at the time(there's an "X" in the book on all of the calendar days no one is allowed to ask off), and I needed a day off to go see the grandparents I see about twice a year.  This is a big family thing for everyone on my dad's side, and unless you are dying; you need to be there. 

The day before Easter Sunday Ms. B asks me why I wanted the day off.  I tell her why, and she tells me that I cannot have that day off, I must work tomorrow, because there is an "X" on that day, she explains to me why it has an "X" on it, acting like I am the biggest idiot in the world before promptly walking to the back to do something else.  I was pissed, but I dealt with it and got through to my break where I apologized to my parents and grandparents for the fact I would not be able to be there.  They understood.  When Easter Sunday happened however, the lobby was dead.  I was to work cleaning the lobby this day as well.  I asked whether it was supposed to get busy later, as I assumed I was not allowed off because it would be insanely busy and I would be needed.  I get my answer from the cashier that says "Nah, it's supposed to be dead on Easter Sunday."  I was immediately confused and annoyed as I now had no idea why I was supposed to work the only day I had asked off in 2 months (I worked on my birthday, and granted I only work about 4 days a week).  I asked why I was not allowed to have the day off then and was answered with "because it's a holiday, no one is allowed to ask off."

I accepted this that one time, before another time came up that I absolutely had to have off. 


Second Time Denied:  Mother's Day Morning

This time I came in and asked off 3 weeks in advance,  I had also asked the shift manager on duty (the only manager there at the time) if I could just ask for the morning off because that was all I needed.  He said to just write that down in the book. 

At this time there was an "X" over Mother's Day, but there were also "X's" all over the week before Mother's Day as well.  Either way, I had to have that morning off, and figured it would be okay since I was only asking for a partial day off. 

The week of Mother's Day, the schedule placed me to work in the morning on Sunday.  I found this out on Tuesday, but at the time, Ms. B was the only manager there, so I figured I need not bother her, and decided I would talk to someone else about the fact I could not be there on Sunday.  I came in on Thursday to talk to one of the higher up managers there: Mr. E.  I explained my situation and he said he would take care of it.

Saturday morning, I come in to Ms. B deciding I should be told in front of all other employees at Bojangles how much of an idiot I apparently am for asking for that morning off when it was crossed off.  She tells me "Okay, I am going to explain this once and for all so that there is no confusion.  When there is an "X" on a day, no one can ask off; it means I have already made the schedule for that week and no one can get off."
One of the higher managers is standing behind her as she says this, leading me to believe the same thing is happening as it happened with Easter Sunday.

I am so furious, I am shaking.  I have to walk off and do something else just so that I do not read her the riot act, and tell her what I am really thinking.  I could not believe that with all of the days I have been called in because someone else needed the day off, that I would have to not have the one day I was asking off. 

She tells me to go on break an hour later, and I am so pissed I clock out immediately and head to Taco Bell so I can hand them my resume.  I get to Taco Bell to find out they are still closed at this time before I call mom to apologize, and hoping she can keep me from going back there and handing in my resignation.  My mother calms me down, reminds me how hard it was to find a job last time, and tells me I need to ask Ms. B if I can come in early, just have a lengthy break and come back so I can still be at the breakfast.  If that did not work, I needed to ask for the employee handbook and talk to another boss about it.

I was waiting for the end of either my shift or Ms. B's shift so that one of us could leave once the conversation was over.  Then my mom got apparently so furious with how she was treating me so she ended up coming and introducing herself to Ms. B to show that someone had my back.  She did not say anything bad, though I was horribly embarrassed by the fact that  my mom was coming in to confront my boss.  She asked Ms. B to see to it that I got a written copy of the employee handbook, before she left. 

Ms. B continuously asked me about it later on in that hour and I kept pretending I had no idea, because Ms. B would make my life hell if I acted like I knew anything.   I kept my head down until Ms. B was about to leave and my bigger boss that was on my side was there (not next to her or anywhere near her when this happened) when I asked about the compromise I was willing to do, when she said "but you already have someone to cover you, I was just warning you about next time."  I was so happy I did not really care about all of the flaws in her statement, I was just glad I got the time off.

I am still applying elsewhere, however, as I cannot believe that she would do that to me after all I have done for her.

Boys and Bojangles

I began dating guys again right before I got hired at Bojangles.  So in the first week of December I had a muscular 18-year-old taking me out on a coffee date, but he seemed to think that buying me a cup of coffee equals the cost of some benefits not on the menu....  Needless to say, after the second date (when he insinuated this), I never went out with him again, thus ending the only two dates I had in 2012.

I got hired at Bojangles on December 13th, and have been working there since.  I even had a crush on one of my co-workers at one time before I realized he was not the down-home country boy who was a total sweetheart on the inside.  It turned out he was just a jerk and an idiot, with a girlfriend.  This jerk had also just allowed me to believe he did not have a girlfriend; while all of my other co-workers were telling me he wanted me.  Thus ending that crush, especially since he later decided I was totally heartbroken over him and decided to tell other co-workers this.  Bojangles happens to be one of the best jobs I have had so far, it's tiring, but I feel like I am appreciated most of the time.  I actually have friends at this job; a commodity I had not had at any of my other jobs.

First Part of Social Life and Work in the First Semester

In the first semester of college, I had one friend besides a friend I had made in high school, but she lived an hour away and could not drive at the time, so she was almost out of the question most of the time.  The one friend I really had was someone I just talked to sometimes after hours at college classes.  She was not really a real friend, I was mainly a loaner anyway so this did not entirely matter much, I was working anyway so I had fewer times to be with friends.

As far as my McDonald's job went, I applied for other jobs the second I moved, and finally was offered a job at a pizza place, because it was not worth it to take one hour to drive to work for 4 hours of work.  I was just so tired of commuting, college took 45 minutes to get there anyway.  The job took its sweet time calling me after I resigned from working at McDonald's, and it was difficult writing my first resignation for a job I had worked at for 6 months, especially when they treated me well. I just wanted some change in my life.  So, in mid-September of 2012, I was learning how to be a waitress for a boss that treated me like an idiot.  He yelled at me constantly for doing things, or not doing things, or just about anything really.  He enjoyed talking down to me, and on my last day he did not apologize for accidentally hitting me over the head with a baking pan, when I was sure he heard me say "Ouch!" as I was right behind him when it happened.  He started yelling at me in front of the customers coming in, and telling me how incompetent I was, so I took his washcloth, handed it to him with my apron, saying "I quit, I will be back in two days for my paycheck, with a clean uniform to hand you."  This was at the end of my second week working for him.

He ended up saying "Come back for your check on Monday."  Something I hated him saying, because he smiled through saying that, while also acting like he was the one with the power in the situation.  When I wish I had told him how much of a jerk he was and I should have called the Better Business Bureau on him.  I called on Monday, and he said he did not have the check for me that day.  I came in on Tuesday without calling, with my mom next to me, because I just knew he was going to say something to set me off if I came in alone. In the end I almost wished I came in alone, so I could roundhouse kick him in the face.  I was near Black belt when I quit Tae Kwon Do, and had gotten trophies for doing well in the last few testings.  I was sure I could take him.

I walked into the restaurant (Hell hole).  The second he saw me, he looked like he was going to say something to me before he saw my mother.  He ended up just taking his sweet time with writing my check that he had told me he would have a day ago.  He finally hands me my check and tells me "I'm sorry you're not with us anymore."

I take the check, and walk out the door saying "I'm not."  That was my last laugh, besides the fact that I now stick my tongue out whenever I see that pizza place on my way to Walmart.

At the Beginning in College

I started college with a 3.84 GPA from high school, and way too many expectations.  I had no idea what I wanted to do in life, but I guessed that I wanted to be an editor.  I started at a community college, and to be honest mainly expected it to be the same easy stuff from high school.  I had never had to study in high school, so I was kind of expecting community college to be the same way; it was not.  I got a huge newsflash when I gained my report card from first semester.  I had never had an "F" before, ever.  I ended up gaining one from the hardest teacher I have had in years...  "Mrs. A." is what I will call her.  She was nice, but she was pregnant and I am pretty sure that affected her mood swings a bit.  Because her class counted as a lab and an English class, I was immediately put on academic probation.  I lost hope in any possibility of becoming an editor, especially with the fact that I had taken another class from her called "Critical Thinking"(Which I gained a "D" in).  The concepts of the class were insanely easy yet she still managed to make the tests really hard, and I had no idea how she was doing it.

All of my other grades were better than her class' grades, but the damage was done.  My parents opened up a piece of mail one day that stated that I was on academic probation, and when they received the mail it hit me hardest.  I had messed up big time.  At first I was going to run away.  I packed my bag full of clothes and 3 water bottles.  I grabbed some cash from my shelves, and then I went to see Ashes, I decided to leave him at home because I knew mom would take care of him.  At first I turned off my cell phone, but then I got to thinking that maybe I should just keep it with me instead of leaving it at home  I had planned to head to Rhode Island worse comes to worst if I could not find a job, because I could at least get a job as a stripper there.  I got to Pittsboro before my common sense kicked in and I realized I should head back.  I finally ended up coming home after attempting to get to my brother's apartment and getting way too lost.  I ended up heading back home in the end because I was just that tired.  My parents did not talk about it, they just had me sit down to dinner and we stayed off the subject; just what I had needed at the time.  They waited a few days for me to calm down before asking me what I was planning to do about my grades, but I had already signed up for the second semester, so I just signed up for ENG 111 to take once again.

Side Story: The Day I Gained my Baby(Sir Piggy)

A week before this, I had been to the Pet Smart just to look around.  What started as looking around ended with me being attached to a black guinea pig.  I had held him at the pet store and immediately fell in love.  He became the one thing I cannot go without, and when I finally move out, I am taking him with me. 

A week after meeting him at the pet store for the first time, I had persuaded my parents to let me keep him.  I had done all of the usual promises, “I’ll take care of him, I promise,” while having to go through all of the usual things, I had amassed enough money to buy him, along with all of his things, beforehand, however, there was one worry left in mind “Will he still be there when I get there?”  I had been unable to think about what would happen if he were not.  I ran into the pet store, got down on my knees, and looked into the cage.    

There in the cage was the same black and orange guinea pig I had fallen in love with.  He looked up at me and I was so amazed as we waited for the lady at the pet store to come get him out of the cage for me.  I was overloaded with happiness at the fact my baby, whom I had decided to name “Ashes”, was there and no one had taken him.  The only thing was, the pet store person refused to let me put him on hold so I could go get the things for him.  I had a decision to make, I could open him up to the possibility of being taken by someone else, or I could take him with me and leave him in the car for a few minutes.  I hesitated, but I had waited so long to see mybaby, opening him up to the possibility of being taken was awful to me.  I immediately decided to take him.  Afterwards I was lectured by the annoying blonde pet store lady, who had assumed I was some stupid kid who did not research the pet she was getting before she looked at it and decided it was cute.  I quickly proved her wrong.I had researched so well I could call a guinea pig by its scientific name “Cavius Porcellus”.  I showed her so too, and she obliged in being a little better.  The checkout was going smooth until I got to target, and target did not have the cage materials I wanted.  I decided to go home and order them online, but until then, I had to leave Ashes in an overturned laundry basket on top of a blanket.  Ashes ended up well, and after a while, he became known as “Sir Piggy”, but when I met him, I was set for life.

Sir Piggy changed my life, by giving me someone to look after, as well as helping me learn to accept my job.  To this day, there are few that are more influential than my baby, Sir Piggy.