Working Gal

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

^{(“Cold Moon” @ “Waning Gibbous”; New Moon @ 3/1, “Worm Moon” fullest @ 3/18.)}

The header cartoon from today’s “Economist” easily sketches me. I’m thinking and wondering. It’s a miracle if I get something constructive done. Just saying.

Yesterday at work, while stocking shelves, I heard a call over my radio to go to the cashiers. A young man with a carrier containing two baby chicks wanted to return them. His landlord refused to let him keep chickens. Of course, the tiny beings became mine.

They have overnighted in an aquarium under a heat lamp. These two don’t seem big and strong enough to join my other babies still living in a brooder. They’re about three weeks older than the newbies and very active.

It’s a little scary wondering how many chickens I might wind up with in my “Chicken Lady” stint in the feed store. I’m worried about the time and space to care correctly for them. Maybe that’s why today’s header cartoon attracted me.

Otherwise yesterday, I played sleuth. A young man entered the store’s Clothing Department wearing all black, carrying a large backpack, and with a scarf covering most of his face. He walked into an expensive boot aisle. Over my radio came a call for “extra eyes on this guy”.

The concern is a possibility of someone putting on new shoes, leaving his or her old shoes in an empty shoebox, and wearing new shoes to walk out of the store. A “look” common to potential thieves includes dark clothing with a backpack and mask.

I went into Clothing. He was deep in an aisle, pulling a box, and about to try on shoes. I grabbed a duster and entered the aisle, dusting shelves and demo shoes. He stood, trying out the new shoes, and I said, “Hey, those look great. Are they comfortable?” He was silent. I went on dusting toward his direction. Soon he returned the shoes to their box, stood, and left Clothing. He walked straight to the main exit and left the store.

It appears that collective experience teaches shopper “types” or “appearances” that suggest potential thievery. We employees are instructed, for safety, to do nothing to stop an act of theft, but instead, to gather all possible about how someone looked, their behavior, and the license number of a departure vehicle.

Dear Friends: A day of chicks and wariness, and last night of even some snow. Diana