Workin Black Friday

This is the first time I've had to work on Black Friday, since that crazy year about 10 years ago, when I thought it would be "fun" to work a seasonal job at Toys-R-Us, because it would give me a chance to work retail again. What was I thinking?! It was awful!
We were living in Maine. It was ridiculously cold out, and I had to go in at noon. Now, you're probably thinking the same thing, I thought, "Noon? that's not bad, at least it's not buttcrack of dawn early." Well, as any of you know that venture out to go shopping on Black Friday; by noon, there is no where left to park! And, there certainly aren't reserved spots for employees! Nope! So I had to park down the street and walk in that windchill below zero weather, and still had to fight through the crowd, only to clock in 2 minutes late, and be told "we expect people to be on time." Really?! Wow! Wanna hear what I expect?!

I am happy to say, that since I don't work retail, parking, for me, was not an issue today, but my heart goes out to the retail workers that are battling for a parking spot in the rain,snow and freezing temperatures, so that we may enjoy our day of shopping madness.
♪Workin' for a livin', livin' and workin'♪ (Huey Lewis and The News)

So, yesterday, with my mother in NYC for the Macy's Parade, (which by the way, Mom says looks much different on TV. She apparently asked someone "where's Times Square?" and he said "you're standing in it!") my baby brother came with me to hubby's parents house. His other option was to go with my sister to Tennessee, but as an 18 year old gamer, he wanted nothing to do with 4 days in the mountains without technology (including TV, what are they thinking?!) accompanied by 7 screaming kids. And I can't say that I blame him.
♪Time to play the game♪ (Motorhead)

Because of our age difference, (he is only 1 1/2 years older than #1) I was out of the house long before he was out of diapers, so we are only just now getting to really know each other. And, because Mom discovered medications, when he was young, and married a more domesticated man, he had a much different childhood, than I. So, I used this as an opportunity to share some stories of Dear Mom.

See, Baby Brother can not remember a time when mom cooked, or even attempted cooking. Mom, was never Suzy Homemaker by any means, but she had her moments. She could make an edible lasagna, (well, at least one of her personalities did, though that one never was around, much) and Shepherds Pie was a standard (although I never liked it, especially after that time it was shoved down my throat, but that's another story.)

One Thanksgiving, Mom decided that she would try to make homemade gravy. She was all prepared with the drippings, and the flour. She mixed it and seasoned it, and mixed it some more, but it was still too lumpy, so she used a strainer to pour it through to get out the lumps. This worked perfectly! The lumps were in the strainer, and the gravy was in... The Sink?! Yup! It seems mom didn't think about where the liquid was going when it went through the strainer. After that, we only ate canned gravy.
♪Gravy comes in a can, it was put there by a man♪ (Really should be Peaches by TPOTUSA but I can't help the way lyrics get twisted in my head)

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving, and a safe, fun, stress-free Black Friday! ♪City Sidewalks, busy sidewalks dressed in holiday cheer♪

2 comments:

  1. Cute story about your mom. (Cute because I never knew her, right? :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I also had to work this morning for the FIRST time on Black Friday-- and I'm not even in retail. You have my utmost sympathy!

    ~Elizabeth
    http://confessionsfromaworkingmom.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

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