Retail vs Corona 2021-pt.3

Hello everybody. Tonight I'd like to describe in detail what its like working retail grocery during this current time period of the pandemic on April 30th 2021. For the record, anyone who wants to use my notes on what it's been like to work grocery retail during the pandemic is free to do so. Please credit me though using the name Ogspace. My notes go back to the day before the pandemic began when I was at a punk concert, you can find it all here, http://ofigueroamusic.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html.

Okay, so for starters, we are getting paid pretty well right now. We're currently getting an additional $5 per hour, which totals over $20 per hour from the original $15 per hour. Not bad for retail grocery really. The problem is that it will only last for three months. But there's been rumors from other grocery store workers [within and without our union] that somehow the union will prolong the additional pay period. I'm skeptical but hoping it will happen. You never know. This pandemic isn't going to end soon so it makes sense for the workers to think this way. 

In the beginning of the pandemic my pay was so low and I was getting such low hours that I qualified for EBT. However, at this current juncture, I've somehow made too much money, and my EBT has been cancelled. Bummer. But it's good to be making great paychecks. 

In addition, because of the increased $5 pay, management and upper management have decided to lower hours of all employees significantly in addition to our company closing stores in Long Beach and LA. This has affected most of the staff that doesn't work on the front end the worst. However, because I know how to operate a register, I've somehow been getting increased hours. It pays to want to cashier and be good at it and have a good attitude. 

The front end is the worst affected department out of all at this current stage of the pandemic. That department, the online delivery department, and the deli as well. Many people have quit the deli department so they're always short staffed. It's a very disorganized department. Every night there's only a few people to help our many many customers on the front end. When I left tonight there were only four people that were working the afternoon to night shift. That's hardly enough. Customers were unruly, they were getting aggressive and they complained like there was no tomorrow. It was a bad scene man. Even when I helped the customers a lot of them were still super aggressive towards me. It is what it is. 

The online delivery pick up department has been the second worst affected department. The manager works the 6 am shift and then he has one other person come in at 1 30 pm, and another employee comes in around 3 or 4, and that's it. That's a hardcore breakdown of hours and staff. In the beginning of the pandemic that was the most desired department because the employees didn't want to operate registers so it's easy non-comital work and you shop for other customers who order things online and bag it and bring out the bags to the customers' car, its the easiest job in the entire operation. You don't have to deal with customers too much first hand. It's a shame that the department has ended up so short handed so recently. I would've liked to see it stay a big department. It was doing so well until they cut hours and everybody quit and/or went to other departments. Not to mention staff reducing the staff's hours to about 20 per week. C'est la vie. 

Our store director gave the employees an incentive to get the Johnson and Johnson vaccine through our store. The deal is that you get the vaccine and you show the store director your vaccine card and you get an additional $100 on your paycheck. It's a great incentive. But because it hasn't been advertised at all not many employees have taken up the great opportunity. Consequently most of the employees are still working without having been vaccinated. A lot of them come from Hispanic backgrounds and may be fearful of vaccines because they are scared of the side affects and missing days of work if they get severe side affects. Honestly I can't blame them but the way upper management is doing it is wrong headed, meaning they aren't advertising vaccination at all, meaning most of them aren't going to get vaccinated, meaning some of them are still getting COVID and potentially spreading it to other employees and/or customers! Not good. A few people have caught COVID recently. That hasn't stopped.  

It's been pretty stressful. Most of the staff are tired, exhausted. Most of them have their hours cut. Honestly, I might be one of the few people who's hours somehow went up at this current stage. I even asked around to see what kind of hours my coworkers were getting and most of them were getting pretty low hours, something like 24 hours, or more, but barely more, maybe 28, if even. 

I would say this is a pretty bad time for the store. The front end department [cashiers/baggers/combo clerks] are getting overworked with not enough help at nearly every shift, be it morning, day, or night. Supposedly the pandemic is getting better, but anyone who's actually intelligent knows that this pandemic won't go away soon. It'll get worse before it gets better. This summer is going to hit hard with COVID. Anyone with a brain knows that. If you're reading this pray for all grocery store employees. Tip anyone who helps you out to your car. Don't be a whiner and complainer. Be a mensch. Do some mitzvahs for them.  

The Decameron

What can I say about Boccaccio's Decameron? Well, for starters, its the best dirtiest book in the western canon. A group of noble young women and three men decide to travel and tell tales for ten nights, amongst the ten of them, telling ten tales, thus equaling 100 tales. There's some significance to the number ten as relating to the Greeks, which is where the Decameron name comes from.  It provides a document of life at the time. Written in the vernacular of the Florentine language, it is considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose.

Not every story here is a ten out of ten. In fact, every night perhaps three out of the ten tales that they tell aren't that great. But those other seven in fact have everything you would want in a story, book, or novel; adventure, picaresque, nobles, kings, queens, lords, peasants, farmers, thieves, murderers, a threesome even.

There's sex, lots and lots of sex. But the sex isn't described in a saucy or offensive way, rather it's more interesting albeit still provocative such as "the resurrection of the flesh," "they made the nightingale sing many times," phrases such as that. 

One of my favorite stories was the one where a young girl goes through a series of unfortunate events and finds herself getting fucked by nine different men over a short period of time. At the end of her misery she marries a King, who believes she is a virgin, and she fakes how good the sex is making it seem as if she really is a virgin. It was comical yet still realistic, showcasing something within the human condition. 

What is so fascinating about this book is that the stories are mostly about everyday people; nobles, lords, and peasants, there are lots of common ordinary peasants in the Decameron, and it seems that Bocaccio has a lot to say about them, the way the live, their wants and desires, which always somehow come back to lots and lots of sex. 

Most of the stories have an ABCD format. Something begins, then three things happen, and then the story is over. Some of the stories are only a page or two long, others are more complex. Although the stories are pretty simple, there's always something unexpected here and there to bring the stories to a climax. Usually in the form of actions and/or dialogue. 

Women take on a very important role here although they end up being the butt of a lot of the jokes. However, there are many stories where the wife commits adultery, right under the husband's nose and gets away with it, the wife being the better for it in the end even in terms of the morality of some of these stories. Consequently, you could see why in terms of morality, this book was condemned by the church and religious peoples. 

Boccaccio uses actions and dialogue to move the stories along. One of the finer details to note is that the language the people use is the common tongue and language of the people of the times, making the Decameron something noteworthy as a historical literary work in addition to being the best dirtiest book in the western canon. 

Again, some of the stories don't really go anywhere or are just for giggles, and that's okay. This book is a must read for readers of the western canon, medieval literature, and Italian literature. I was so inspired by Italy with Boccaccio that I've started reading Purgatorio of Dante's Divine Comedy. Before now, I've only read the Inferno. 

A must read for the western canon crowd or those interested in historical literature from the 13th century. 

Vaccine experience

So I took the Johnson and Johnson vaccine through my employer. 

Once I actually got the shot in my arm, I felt very lightheaded and suddenly my body became very weak. I sat down and didn't say anything because I really just wanted to get out of there, away from other people who might have actual covid-19 symptoms. I knew I was going to be okay, but things seemed questionable for a minute. 

Anyways, when I sat down and waited 15 minutes to see if I had any adverse reactions, I realized inside my head I was actually spinning. It gave me something like a super high effect. Everything was super trippy and at first I wasn't sure if I was going to be okay. Possibly my body had a bad reaction to the vaccine because I didn't really eat much that day. The guy at the desk did mention something about the fact that you want to have eaten a bit of food before taking the vaccine. Also, I've heard that people who are overweight might also have some stronger side effects from the vaccine.  

Anyways, so yeah the vaccine gave me some kind of vision quest that I don't really know how to explain. 

Basically, when I got the vaccine injected into me I started feeling extremely faint and woozy. I sat down and it sort of intensified a lot while I was sitting and waiting the routine 15 minutes to see if there's any adverse side effects. 

I ate some taco bell some ten minutes after leaving, and when I was in the car I still sort of felt it. But it became faint for the rest of the day. 

However, the next day when I went to work for a morning shift my body was weak. I was extremely fatigued and began to get headaches. This lasted for two days. A total of three days of feeling some sort of strong side effects from the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. 

Disclaimer! Just because I had strong side effects doesn't mean you will have it nor does it mean that you shouldn't take the vaccine. Everyone should take the vaccine to protect themselves, their families, and everybody they come in contact with. 

Not really sure what to make of whatever I was feeling, but it was stronger than alcohol or marijuana, this was something in a whole league of it's own. 

But still get vaccinated people.

Bertrand Russell The Problems of Philosophy

Great introduction to philosophy. It's not really the problems of philosophy that are important, rather the ideas where they come from, the terms, the definitions, the meanings, the different ways to explain, refute, and rationalization, in short, how to think about well, anything, and everything. 

If you've read a lot of philosophy, chances are you will know everything in this book, or at least be familiar with the ideas and concepts presented, but it's a good fresh reminder and Bertrand's final chapters here are especially refreshing for a retail philosopher in aisle 9 like myself. 

One of my favorite parts of the book was the chapter where Russell explains Hegelian dialectic in 15 pages. It's poignant, and the fact that I'm familiar with Hegel firsthand, I found Russell's interpretation quite appreciated and inciteful. 

Remember that his friend, Ludwig Wittgenstein said there are no problems with philosophy, only a problem with language. One is standing with the pillars of western philosophy and the other is smashing it to pieces in a way.

Retail vs Corona 2021-pt.2

Hello, how are you doing in quarantine right now? I'm doing okay on the front line, working at a grocery store. Here I'd like to update you on what it's been like working at the grocery store during the pandemic. In case you didn't know, I've been documenting pandemic life at the grocery store since the beginning of the pandemic. You can read all about it here. I've even got the first post documenting literally the day before the pandemic began. I went to a punk rock show that day. 

Let me start with cleaning and sanitation. In the beginning of the pandemic there was cleaning going on all over the place, left and right. However, as of February 25, little to no one actually cleans anything. Hear me out, the actual cleaning service provider that cleans overnight cleans the floors and the bathrooms, but not much else. They usually miss the breakroom, which is always filthy. Which is unfortunate because that's where we eat and take our breaks. The cashiers hardly ever clean their register belts. However, they will do it if a customer is disgusted and asks them to. It should be noted that we are no longer cleaning carts for customers.  

Next, our store is no longer providing us with free masks. Which is a hassle because masks are so important, even more important now because they're suggesting that we all wear two masks now. There are gloves available but only in small and medium but they're always hidden and you have to hunt for them and hope to find it. To give credit where credit is due they did provide us face shields. Perhaps they thought that since they gave us face shields they don't have to provide us masks. 

The general mood of the work environment is surprisingly upbeat. The customers seem to have found a happy medium of treating the employees with respect and dignity. Upper management, co-director, and store director seem to be on good terms with the store and its employees. That's a blessing because at other times during the pandemic the morale of the workers has been very low, at depressing levels and management have been more aggressive towards employees.

However, I could attribute the good happy workers logo with a big time shift in my schedule. I'm now working mornings and early afternoons instead of closing. I find it to be a happier time of day for employees, management, and customers. In addition, I feel like although my life has changed drastically, that I'm much more appreciated during these earlier times. 

Lastly, it isn't often that management ever limits the numbers of customers that come into the store. The last time that happened was on Super Bowl Sunday. Things got a little crazy but they only limited the numbers of customers allowed in the store at any one time for maybe half an hour, and then resumed with allowing anyone entry. The lines get very long at my store and it's very difficult to social distance in the checkout line or in the aisles. Me being a cashier, I can hide in the cashier station and be relatively safe from others because you're enveloped in a cocoon by the window shield blocking between you and the customers in front and in back. At least I have that. 

Surprisingly, I haven't even got a cold once during this entire pandemic. Perhaps we should keep the masks. 

Stay safe, keep your head up, and social distance. If you're risking exposure to the virus like we are at the grocery store, godspeed. Do the things that are required to stay safe. 

Signing off this morning. Thanks for reading. Stay connected to my blog to learn more about retail vs corona as well as various posts about music and literature. 

Dubliners

Dubliners by James Joyce is one of the best collections of short stories. Maybe the best ever of all time. Yes, it's that good. 

This is a collection of short stories based on people, their lives, relationships, and the history of their times in which they're living in, Victorian era. It's based in Dublin, Ireland, which is full of alcoholics, Catholics, Protestants, Priests, school children, working people, and rich people of the Victorian style era in which this is written. 

What makes James Joyce's stories here so great and so effective is that he writes a simple style that is easy to read and understand. Not only that, but his stories go somewhere emotionally, something that is very much lacking in modern entertainment like video games, television, and movies where things simply just happen in a linear escapade. 

One of the stories that hit me hard was the one where two friends are talking. One is a bigshot that made it in Europe, traveled everywhere, has a great career, wife, and kid. The other didn't make anything of himself and never left their hometown. We get the idea that the other didn't appreciate his friend because he declined his friends' offer to see his wife and kid, thinking that his friend thinks he's better than him because he's so successful in life. But at the end of the story we find that the successful one with the wife and kid is actually miserable and doesn't like his life. Things like that are impressive in writing, that sort of contrast.  

There's a meta magical realism in James Joyce's writing that is unmatched even by other writers of the same period like say for example, Jane Austen. It's realism but there's always a little something extra, a twist here and there that makes the short stories pop and shine with luster unmatched by other writers of his time period, of even the entire western canon. I haven't completely tapped into and understood this writing style completely, but I will understand more when I read more of his works, the next one being Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. 

Lastly, a review can't be written without mentioning The Dead, the story at the end. Here we have a party where a wife and husband attend. The husband is ready to have sex with the wife in their hotel room, but he sees she's crying about something so it doesn't happen. It turned out that she was thinking about a boy she loved when she was younger, who was a great singer. Music is very important in Joyce's world. In Ireland. In Europe in general during this period. The husband realizes that his relationship with his wife is actually nothing in comparison with the boy who died loving her. The snow falls outside the window. It doesn't really get more meta than that. 

James Joyce is one of the greatest writers of the western canon. I plan on reading much more of his works: Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses, and Finnegan's Wake. 

This Immortal

This Immortal, serialized as ...And Call me Conrad, is a novel by Roger Zelazny released in 1965. 

"It was abridged by the editor and published in two parts in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in October and November 1965. It tied with Frank Herbert's Dune for the 1966 Hugo Award for Best Novel."

It's a short fantastic tale set in a post-apocalyptic world full of mutants and aliens.

In the beginning our protagonist Conrad, who either is or isn't Pan, [a Greek god], takes an alien visitor to a Haitian vodou ceremony. The idea of overmen, or gods, is very important here. The Haitians at the ceremony tell Conrad that his friend is possessed by a devil god named Angelsou. Well, to be fair he was a hired killer. The Haitian vodou section was a good experience reading in science fiction because Haiti isn't mentioned much in science fiction. As a Haitian-American, I find rather that most of the time Haiti is mentioned in popular works, it's always the negative zombies in the fields motif. Here, it was nice to see more of a cultural connection through religion. This shows Zelazny's interests in other cultures and makes his work more interesting other than big dumb objects in the sky of the science fiction pulp fanfare. The notion of tourism comes to mind especially while the characters are traveling in Greece, Rome, and Egypt. 

The story here is nothing special. Other people want our protagonist Conrad to kill someone going on his tour. Conrad doesn't want to do it unless they have a good reason for him to. They don't. So the whole point of the book is for Conrad to figure out why they want to kill him and how he's going to protect this guy from getting killed. It's very simple but the suspense is built up throughout the entire short novel. It's quite the usual linear novel that builds to a climax. 

Again, like in other Zelazny novels, it's not the story that is all that great or important, rather it is the writing style. Zelazny writes a fast, expressive exposition and dialogue that keeps you on the edge of your seat. There's a lot of fast action scenes in this novel. One of my favorite parts was when they attacked and captured by cannibals. And then some anthropologist who became leader of the cannibals pitted their vampire-god against Conrad, but it ends up being Husan, an Arab who ends up doing the fighting. 

Zelazny really got me when I found out they had to fight a vampire. But it turned out that the cannibals keep this guy locked up in a cage and only let him out to eat humans and drink their blood. So he's of course being taken advantage of even though his people see him as a god. Not only that but he's also a fat slab of 350 pounds that can barely move. However, what gives him his godlike physical abilities is not only his drinking of blood, which is the reason why he's called a vampire, because he drinks the blood, but also the cannibals give him drugs that numb any pain that may be inflicted upon him. He's basically a fat beefcake that feels no pain when fighting. But the fight was lackluster. It turned out that Husan had poison on his finger tips and although he got his ass kicked, the poison at some point finally kicked in and our vampire god dies in one instant. Anticlimactic to say the least but it does move the story along quickly. Simply put, it was written that way. 

At the end we still don't know what Conrad is. What we do know is that he is or isn't Pan. Also the novel begins and ends in the same way. Conrad and his girlfriend are just hanging out. Which is a good place to begin AND end a story.