I was in the parking lot outside Save Mart this evening.  "Parked" in the middle of the road running smack in front of Save Mart is this van ..... really, just sitting there.  The driver, sitting behind the wheel, is talking to a girl standing just outside the van. 

My husband was driving, we were just dropping off films at Blockbuster, so I jumped out of our car.  As I passed the girls chatting happily away, I said, "this part of the parking lot is actually not for parking."  I further explained, "you can tell because there are no lines separating the parking spots.  See how there are no lines and there are all these cars lined up waiting for you to move?" 

The girl outside the van says to me, "Jesus loves you."

Slow burn ...... trying to leave idiots to themselves ..... trying, trying, trying .....

can't do it.   I reply, "Jesus loves me but not you because, no one can love an idiot.  It simply can't be done."

Now - I have to do something really nice or karma is coming to get me.  I'm working on it.

A week or so ago, I wrote an article for the Tehachapi News and Carin wouldn't publish it.  So - I'm gonna blog it and you'll soon know why she wouldn't publish it.

Ever been in Home Depot and some nice associate is helping you after you've wondered the aisles for half an hour and then, that nice associate just kinda disappears?  Or why, virtually no one is available at about 10 minutes prior to any full hour?  Well, I found out why this happens.

The Tehachapi Home Depot has a policy, explained in detail during new employee "these are the reasons I will fire you" orientation.  The policy is that if you clock out (or in) more than 7 minutes after (or before) your start time, your lunch break or your quitting time, you will get a point against you.  If you get more than 10 points, they have grounds for termination.  The nimrod running the joint thinks this is California state law .... or he tries to convince new employees this is the case.  I assure you all,  there is no law anywhere that says you have seven minutes to clock out after any four hour working period.  The law says that after four hours, an employee requires a break that should be taken within the next, or fifth, working hour.  And, of course, all that means nothing if the employer and employee have come to an agreement that goes something like "if I am in the middle of helping a customer, and I reach the end of my four working hour, I will finish helping that customer and then take my break."

So, here's the way the Home Depot policy works.  If an associate is helping me at let's say 12:00 noon, and his lunch break starts at 12:00, he is required to dessert me and clock out.  Sometimes he tries to find someone else to help me, but because this usually takes more than 7 minutes (as we all know), it is better to just leave me - alone - in an aisle of plumbing supplies I know nothing about and once again go in search of help.

What most employees actually do in order to avoid leaving a customer mid-sentence, is stop helping customers at around 10 minutes prior to their clock out time. 

In other words, the manager of Home Depot has forced his employees to only help customers 50 minutes out of any given hour.  How dumb is that?