Pretending to be a grown-up

My boss at the pizza place wrote up a series of guidelines to help me deal with complaint calls. Now that I have that, perhaps I won't feel so rudderless when I deal with upset and angry callers. Maybe I'll figure out a way to handle this and I won't quit, after all.

I got a call to interview for another job I applied for, one I might like better, making up "Triptiks" and helping folks plan their driving vacations for AAA. Surprisingly, the pay is only about $1 - $1.50 more an hour than I'm making right now. And, I'd work 8 more hours a week. However, it would be a MUCH longer commute - over a floating bridge -(and in Seattle, that means a LOT) and the work day starts at 8:00 AM. Most normal people don't have a problem with that. I suppose I could do it but I think the main reason I am able to stay at the pizza place is because I like working afternoons and evenings.

I suppose the most logical course of action would be to interview for the job and then take it from there. At least that's what I think a grown-up would do.

STOP APOLOGISING!

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm awfully sorry. Oh, I'm really, really sorry about that...

I am spending a good portion of my work day apologising! I'm sick of it! After a childhood spent cowering under an abusive mother and being beaten up at school for no reason I had to learn to have self esteem and to stop apologising for my existence! Now, I have to do it for a living and it is killing me!!

So many screwed up pizza orders! So many orders that are late...none of it is my fault and yet, I am on the "second tier" of customer service and get all of the complaint calls now. I can't stand it!!! I am the one the customer feels is at fault!

I NEED ANOTHER JOB NOW!!!

Pizza Zen Master

Pizza Zen Master has worked at the pizza place for over 5 years. Pizza Zen Master eats at least 2 meals a day there, five days a week. He is NOT SICK of pizza yet! Pizza Zen Master is a smart guy. Really, really brilliant. He writes essays about the state of the government and the world and posts them on his website and on places like Craig's List. In his spare time he enjoys role-playing games and pretends to be a pirate. Seriously. There are places in this world today where you can go off for a weekend and pretend to be a pirate.

Pizza Zen Master has the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. His hair is long and stringy and he has a very scruffy beard. Pizza Zen Master looks like either Charles Manson or Jesus Christ, depending on which way the light hits him. Some days I am afraid of him and some days I am fascinated by him. He rides the bus to work and reads books on the Knights Templar. Pizza Zen Master is not ashamed to admit he is basically a lazy person and would rather eat pizza every night than cook for himself. Pizza Zen Master has girlfriends who work at the pizza place.

I wonder, how do guys like Pizza Zen Master end up? Will he be another sad, homeless person in a few years due to his lack of obvious ambition? Or, will he continue for many years, happy in his existence, because he has figured out a fundamental truth to life that the rest of us can't fathom?