VS

Retail retail retail. What to do with you. J'adore faire du shopping, but working retail is (as James Swensen would say) another animal completely. These are some things I will not miss about working at Victoria's Secret (only one S. She only has one secret. I hate it when people call it Victoria's Secrets.)

1. Caring about stupid things (like whether someone did or did not complete the Beauty Replenishing Template, leaving marketing out in places where it does not belong, or left too many air bubbles in the window vinyl cling that is crooked)

2. The music that plays (i love the Beach House, Metric and Beegees, but I cannot take anymore Alanis, Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj or Owl City)

3. People who steal (i'm not stupid. i know when you're stealing. i know you're re-selling it. i know that you do it for a living. you're despicable.) 

4. People who return bras (the wire is sticking out because you've worn it every day for a year and wash it in the machine, not because it is defective. it's dirty and gross and i don't want to touch it)

5. People who come in right when we close

6. Needy customers who come in for friendship rather than to shop (i'm sorry, i don't have 2 hours twice a week for you to tell me how much you miss your husband who died 10 years ago.)

7. Minimum-ish wage for maximum effort/stress 

8. Working on Sundays

Reasons I did not quit and will stay on their payroll until I graduate this April

1. Free bras

2. Discount

3. I love the girls I work with

4. Shopping in the backroom

5. Working at Christmastime. It's the most fun.

stardust

I've been listening to Ziggy Stardust (The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) for the past few days.

an infant really

So I went to the gym. I did weights for half an hour, ran for an hour and fifteen minutes, stretched and rode my bike home. I felt strong and good like I do after I exercise. As I was riding to the stop light on Riverside and State I wanted to get up onto the sidewalk so I could push the button for the crosswalk. I saw the dip of a driveway in the curb and though I noticed it was an inch or two higher than any smooth dip transition I knew it would be fine because on my bike I am always going up and off curbs. I don't know whether it was because I was on Todd's bike and I'm not used to it, if his tires were too full to have any give, or if I just went too parallel to the sidewalk but the bike, in slow motion, toppled over sideways. I heard myself say quietly, "sh*t! ow!" I felt and saw and heard everything in slow motion. I knew I was going to fall. I felt myself falling. I felt my body scrape and slide against the gritty pavement. I sat there in shock for a moment. I felt myself get short of breath. I looked at my hands, bloody and full of tiny pieces of gravel. I knew every car that went by looked at me sitting partially on the sideways bike and the ground. I don't know if it was the surprise and I just felt like an idiot, or if it was because I was genuinely hurt, but I cried nearly all the way home. I really wish Todd was home to take the rocks out of and clean my hands and to feel bad for me. I can't really bare to wash them very well because they're uncomfortable.
This is the second thing that makes me feel just like a helpless, crying child who really wants a mother (or a Todd).
The first one is throwing up from the stomach flu.