Tag: Retail

Journey of Personal Mental Health

FeaturedJourney of Personal Mental Health

Journey of Personal Mental Health striving to gain upward momentum out of my stall that my Anxiety and Depression have distracted. Mental Health is so filled with dips that the highs seem so few and far between and not worth the effort of patching life’s current or past potholes. Restoring to me is seeing a mental health professional, personal physician, adjusting individual behavior or habits that have worked, or the present buzz word ‘self-care. Currently, my mental health pit seems insurmountable. Unsure of just a shift or an accumulation of goals that did not come to fruition on schedule, dietary need, or my depression is flaring up for no specific reason. Probably a combination of all.  

Daily life seems so overwhelming between listening and being part of the world as a whole by listening to the news during this time of political transition and change from pandemic lockdown to limited free choice. We are all going through this at different levels and perceptions. For me, life is going to be a continued minimal viewing of the media. In a big world, perspective is how to live well when our media and politicians seem to squabble like children about decisions that either will impact us or only a tiny portion of society. I have mentioned that I often struggle with finding a balance between being aware of the world and not becoming overwhelmed. I am still happy just sticking with reading the Morning Brew and periodically checking headlines on Bing. I am still trying to remember to work through my interaction with the media. The low aspect of my mental health and continuing my personal choice to go simple on my life intersect with the larger country and world picture. I am adjusting to figure out what triggered my digging or exacerbate the downward movement that my mental health keeps digging with no end in sight.

For May, any time off is spent sleeping, which is not like me. From April to Present, I went from working 70 hours a week to 60 hours a week. With that thought, I should not be sleeping. I have more time in my day. In looking back, though, I had to accept that I had many changes take place in the last three months. March 2020 began the confrontational discussion in a society of how the Covid pandemic should happen. Personally, since July of 2020, I have been working two jobs, one home health with two clients and one job as a supermarket cashier and stock person. At the end of 2020, one of the clients I had passed away, which left me caring for one person and still working as a cashier and then training to be a key holder to a team lead, then department manager with the goal of store manager. Since the beginning of 2021, my body has progressively increased in problems. At random times, fifty percent of the day, fingers numb/pins and needles (feel like they are asleep) and arms from the shoulders down; before, panic did check my heart.

With that increase in health and back pain, I had to give up pursuing store management in the retail industry due to the physical nature of retail, the sector that a store manager is required to do as much physical work as those they lead. That said, that saw me leaving the retail, service, and restaurant, industry that I have worked in the last twenty plus years of my life and my employment career goal. The intention is also to leave the home health industry due to the physical and emotional demands of the job. Like retail, this industry is challenging to find employees for, so I am still working full time, intending to move to a part-time or on-call for one client once more staff are found. Everyone deserves to know that they have people that will help when needed.  

Continuing this review of May is realizing that my daughter is struggling with graduating high school and her journey of depression. With this, I found my pride had come into play and felt that I had failed her. Spending time striving to accept and supporting her journey through life with depression is more important than saying I had a child who graduated from high school the ‘normal’ way. Choosing to be happy, she will live well with what brings her joy; there are other ways to achieve that supposed necessary high school diploma. All are weighing my anxiety and depression, reinforcing that I fail because I left retail and was an unsuccessful mom. Still plan to replace the customer service work with travel agent work that has not happened yet; due to my need to be there for my client, as a home health aide is not feasible.  Feasability to do a fantastic job in both industries that need I high level of attention to detail. All these components have triggered my depression to the extent that the feeling of failure has made it difficult to bring myself out. However, I am starting to make progress. The below video from Adam Savage Tested assisted me in striving to think about moving forward and making changes to patch the pothole that I have found myself in. Need to adjust meds and strive to continue to accommodate food, vitamins, and goals.

Adam Savage’s Tested – “Ask Adam Savage: Coping With (and Learning From) Failure May 16, 2021

I know that it is not about depression but since I feel like a failure exacerbated by my depression. Adam’s video helped me acknowledge that feeling and having loss is a part of life. Mistakes made; success is accepting and learning from that. Mental health makes failure feel worse, but success is in acknowledging what happened and how to make changes to strive not to repeat and change habits or behaviors to learn from the ‘failure.’ Acknowledging the failure and realizing that the success is moving forward. Even if you revisit the loss, success is to keep getting up and returning to life’s journey.

I am looking forward to returning to the path of food search. I enjoyed the previous video (UC Davis Health – Brain Foods for Brain Health – Boost Brain Health with Good Eats) about food and health but a little bit more in-depth than my current place to work with since I have bottomed out. I will consider another information source since I am currently at a point of apathy and minimal concentration. That is, reviewing that deep dive will probably keep me stuck instead of moving up; it brings forth the thought of the new buzzword in mainstream media, “self-care .”

Self-care brings images of selfishness and narcissism nevermind I do not have the time for hours of meditation and exercise, never mind the desire to. So I did some research to find out what self-care is from a health and psychology level. One-piece I found on verywellmind.com had 5 Self-Care Practices for Every Area of Your Life by Elizabeth Scott, MS, from 2020. Another was from Psychology Today titled Self Care 101 by Marie Baratta Ph.D., L.C.S.W. written in 2018. Another place I went to, which is always my first go when I search out simple answers to start my journey of self-improvement, is Mayo Clinic. Unfortunately, I did not find anything explicitly titled Self Care unless it was attached to other illnesses.

Finding self-care instructions geared toward specific illnesses got me shifting my idea of self-care as a level of selfishness started transitioning toward self-care, which I have always strived to do but stop short. After all, I am always putting others first because I think it is selfish to think of myself when others are hurting. Looking over my past and what I have currently read, I cannot care for others, bringing me joy. Therefore, I do not take care of myself. Unsure of why I never connected that I have strived for self-care in all my years of adulthood. 

Great I have acknowledged self-care is okay, but how do I keep implementing when I am currently wallowing in a pit of self-perceived failure—going to start with the list of 5 from Ms. Scott since thinking straight is difficult. The definition of Self-Care in this article is, Self-care describes a conscious act one takes to promote their physical, mental, and emotional health. There are many forms self-care may take. For example, it could be ensuring you get enough sleep every night or stepping outside for a few minutes for some fresh air.

 Another piece of the article that struck me was that I was on the right track now that I understood the building-resilience when faced with aspects of life you cannot change but still thrive. Ms. Scott’s five areas that create or maximize the best self-care are looking at Physical, Social, Mental, Spiritual, and Emotional.

She had the four questions (see article for the total question) condensed to adequate sleep, diet, awareness of health, exercise.   

Let’s review the personal breakdown: sleep is not an aspect I can fix until the client (quadriplegic and I have 80% of the care needs) gets more help. For those who care, my day starts at 5:30 am and ends at midnight; work from Monday to Thursday is 8 am to 4 pm and goes back at 7 pm, and finishes at 11 pm. For the most part, Friday is a day off to catch up on sleep and house chores. Saturday is 8 am to 1 pm; Sunday is two hours at lunch and then back at 7 pm to 11 pm. For those who say change your hours, I cannot; as an individual, if I do not go over six sometimes seven days a week, this individual does have the physical ability to handle day-to-day physical care needs. The individual has an amazing mind. But getting up to get a drink just cause the individual wants to is not possible unless set up to do so. Emotionally, it would be worse knowing the selfish choice I was responsible to make, caused an individual not getting up and living their day to the best. We all deserve to live to the maxim of our capabilities and be supported to do so.  

Next in the question’s diet is something I can work on, which is a constant struggle due to no appetite. Over the years, but mainly in the last six months, I have gotten a routine that seems to help. It is just sticking to it. I have found that I am not hungry in the mornings, so I mix either a chocolate flavor or unflavored protein or meal supplement with my coffee. Lunch is something I pack. Dinner is whatever I cook for the family. I carry beef jerky, nuts, hydration water additives, and protein powder with me in my work bag for when I am hungry, and it is snack time. Additionally, I strive to drink 4 – 24 oz bottles of water, next on the hit parade of self-care.

Taking charge of health was initially a little confusing. Is that not what you are doing with sleep and diet? Then I thought this probably means my mental health or any physical medical needs, hypertension, thyroid, etc., which prompted me to use my Fit Bit app more and purchase a glucose and blood pressure machine. The glucose machine is that periodically I have tested slightly high during blood work, but also both parents were juvenile diabetics, so that is a constant fear of mine. Okay, for me, the next is my kryptonite.

Exercise ick to be immature. Employment has always been physically demanding, so I never thought I needed to. I was getting 10,000 to 15,000 steps in a work shift. So why did I need to exercise? Asthma made it difficult to find exercise appealing. I am fat, and my husband married me fat, so why bother ‘killing’ myself doing something I find painful or boring? Knowing none of those were good reasons and making better choices never really clicked. After all, my whole body is having problems because I did not exercise my body as a whole, just my legs and arms. That came from a visit with my chiropractor, where I mentioned the workpiece. What was said clicked for me? Yes, I exercise while working, but I am only exercising certain areas of the body. What I need to do is exercise the other aspects of my body. For some reason, that clicked when other times I never got the importance. So okay, I need to, but how do I fit this in. Starting small but also how. How is locating something online that makes sense and is an easy start? Below is what I found, and I plan to start July 11, 2021, and see if following this for a month was doable with my current life schedule and how and if it helped. If it does not it is on me not the presenter one must follow though to succeed, just watching.  He also presents in another video the math of the exercise routine if that interests you.

Mark Wildman – 3 Best Exercises for Overweight People 

From there, I intend to have it in my calendar to look at Number 2 on the self-care life by Ms. Scott. 

So there you have it the delay in my writing was from living in the bottom of a pothole of mental health goo of defeat and self-hatred. Honestly felt that I was stuck forever and living in my own La Brea Tar Pits. So it is nice to see the top edge of my pothole and again slowly fill in and re-root my life back to functioning and creative goals and enjoyment of life. As is the theme of my life, a blog life is a journey, and there are many potholes and paths our life can take. It is how we live with mental and physical health that defines our journey and interaction with those around us. So keeping journeying forward and patching in the potholes of self-discovery, it is worth finding the failures and successes. There is no actual failure, just a revamp toward a better success. 

Faith Journey

Below is a sermon by Tony Evans about not giving up that has also helped me realize that we all hit bottom but we have support and direction we just need to change our perception of the world around us and the interaction which is ever moving there will be lows and highs.  Goal is to move forward even during the lows.

When You Feel Like Giving Up – Sermon by Tony Evans uploaded November 13, 2016

Works Cited

5 Self-Care Practices for Every Area of Your Life, By Elizabeth Scott, MS  Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD Updated on August 03, 2020, https://www.verywellmind.com/self-care-strategies-overall-stress-reduction-3144729, 7/10/2021

New Year’s Resolution?

FeaturedNew Year’s Resolution?

Observing Christmas is two days away, and I have little excitement or joy toward the upcoming Holiday. Nevermind the super stressful ‘New Years Resolution’ drama that will be arriving from many in a week. Multiple components are why there is a lack of joy in my interaction with the world around me. Hmm, let’s review what those individual components are.
First off, on the hit parade of living with spiking mental health. Since mid-November, my depression and anxiety has skyrocketed, or at least to me. For example, one of the bloggers I read titled something about imposters. My initial reaction from just the title was that he talked about bloggers pretending to be depressed, and they are not, and I was one of those writers. Yes, irrational, but it took me three days to accept that and read the article, which was terrific as always and reinforced why I have chosen to blog myself. We are a world of diversity of mental health and individuals which we must take responsibility to help ourselves sometimes. Yes, there are educated via college and university professionals that we should speak to and have helped us. There is another level of professionals in the world. These individuals live and breathe mental health, trauma, or any other illness minute by minute and day by day. We are non-university professionals but from a living university of experience, not Harvard or Yale. I am moving forward to another individual component of depression.
The second aspect of my depression that a psychologist noted to me many years ago, but I forget from time to time for a month into winter, is seasonal depression. Which exacerbates my depression I am already trying to work through. For me, this comes into play as an overly distracted thought. Have a challenging time managing my schedule even with calendar prompts. I have all my bills on AutoPay. After all, I would have late payments because I would forget even with a checklist. You have to remember to look at your calendar or list to have them work. I have such a difficult time remembering. I’m not too fond of this time of year for that reason alone. I daily struggle with I am useless. Stupid, and those around me hate me. From November for the next four months, those feelings expand to managers behind closed doors, which means they are planning to fire me, my husband is leaving me, or my daughter’s depression will lead her to suicide. Frustrating all from the distracting thoughts is that constant feeling of I have forgotten something, and I waste so much time trying to figure it out, and it was nothing, but I am late for work because I wasted so much time. Count my life as a success because the time I waste has decreased because I can finally see and understand what is happening to push through faster to accept and keep moving forward—moving on to my next topic on the hit parade.
The third being in Retail/Customer Service is why should I feel joy when I see so many people spending money on presents when last week I watched them choose between getting a package of lunch meat or peanut butter based on cost. Also, they stand there and tell me that they really should not be buying the items. PLEASE stop asking if we are ready for Christmas. Many of us hate Christmas, and reminded us that we have no joy for the Holiday coming up makes us question ourselves. Then there are the screaming children or the kids or adolescents who get candy to keep them quiet or sit on the floor in the aisle blocking traffic and giving attitude when we ask them to move. Let not forget the people who steal but take the time to leave the wrapper to something but take the item. How about the multiple cell phone conversations of arguing about presents or too much money spent. Due to this overspending, people stop shopping in stores from January to March, and my hours get cut in half. I am already struggling over the shopping carts haphazardly put in the cart corrals, but an increase of people leave them in the parking spot beside them or the handicap ramp area. People, the carts do not need to be socially distancing; people do. Let’s not even discuss the attitude and lack of patience or listening skills of customers who accuse you of doing something when their credit card does not go through even though they put it in the machine before you even finished ringing the order. A new one is a tap and pay, and Apple pay does not work at the store, and this is my fault, and the bank or credit card company has told them that this is the safest way to pay and will work at all companies. Nevermind, the touch screens are starting to go because of all the cleaning, and the individual has to use the pen, and the cashier informed how unsanitary that is and how dare I make them touch it. Hello. You have touched cans, packages, and other items that other people have touched, nevermind the touch screen and the number pad. If you work in the customer service industry, please do not come in your work shirt and treat me like I am dirt and stupid because the computer is not working right. There are days I feel like a stereotypical bartender hearing all the problems that I cannot fix even though some of them have been caused by life choices by themselves or others. Okay, so I have reasons for not liking the holidays, moving forward when I see no light at the end of the tunnel except the oncoming train that is going to run me over.
That is where I am at hating the Holiday, at least the commercialized. The Faith-based aspect of the Holiday is a blessing and a curse for me also. Due to my numbing mind, distracting thoughts, and continuously overwhelmed with depression and anxiety. The anxiety of not helping people; some religious traditions get forgotten or started and not completed. So my already helpless feelings multiply because I hear all these people talking about their personal or family Christmas day traditions of reading the story of Jesus’s birth or daily for December following the advent calendar. Nevermind, some religious leaders or okay, meaning friends, tell you or give the impressions that you are less of a person because you are not taking extended periods for the Bible. Bible study and meditation time are essential and helpful, but this is a personal journey of finding the balance between what fits into the demands of life and when and how to decrease the demands on one’s time to spend time in the Bible and prayer. So comparing myself to Jones makes it worse. That does not mean I still keep trying to do something but not make it something that proves my worth. Where does this leave me as we move toward a twenty twenty-one that looks to be a repeat of twenty-twenty? Media and people are struggling with the perceived promise of a vaccine and returning to ‘normal’ also the New Year’s Resolution phase of the beginning of the year.
Honestly, I will not even try to plan New Year’s Resolutions until April or May. I will spend the next three to four months just listing the things in my home and myself that is important and want to change and brainstorm how to accomplish a realistic look at my ebb and flowing mental health needs. In April or May, try implementing life changes two weeks at a time instead of in one set clump created from that research and planning. Feeding the hype makes my life harder, so let’s step back and remove myself from the unrest.
Thank you for taking the time to read. Feel free to comment below to understand others may read the comments, but I probably will not. Anxiety goes through the rough, just considering it still.
May whatever your December and January look like, remember you can do this, and it may not look like another’s journey, but that is the beauty of living. We are all individuals, and our travels look different except the core, keeping fighting and learning. There are good days and bad days. Celebrate the good and learn from the bad.
LOL
Remember, the carts are not social distancing during this pandemic; the people using them are.
Cashiers can not fix your financial mistakes. All we can do is tell you what you overspent.
Reminder
Please shop from January to March. We would like more than ten to twenty hours a week to live on, and we cannot get unemployment because we are employed. Remember, we are paid eight to nine dollars an hour, so that is not a lot to budget and cover expenses.

Random Observation – Mental Health, Personal Value and Covid

FeaturedRandom Observation – Mental Health, Personal Value and Covid

Personal random observation from a valley of depressive thought.  Depression and Anxiety have flared up this last week.  Unsure if the flare-up is due to being that I live in the Northern part of the United States, feeling of no value, or the constant empathy and wanting to help others.  The struggle has become in listening to the media.  Media presents all of these families facing poverty and the consequences of losing a home, education, and food.  Being in a grocery store cashing out individuals who have to decide what to buy when there is not enough money do they buy peanut butter or deli meat, etc.  Our politicians on the Federal level do not seem to care and keep squabbling like selfish children.  Our State and Town officials, at least in Ohio, make decisions that seem to help but follow through seem to be more lip service than actual change.  We have a stay at home 10 pm to 5 am; most people are home at the point those that are not are anti-social anyway and enjoy shopping and being in areas where there are no people regardless.  Then there is my employment struggle.

Being part of the Home Health Aide industry and working in people’s homes to care for the paralyzed or infirmed.  Retail Industry and caring for another base’s needs and finding my place in covering for call-offs.  Finding the balance between home life and making sure that an individual or client can have their primary care needs taken care of but not at the cost of my health mentally and physically and my family needs.  A friend of mine graciously pointed out my internal need to fix all problems.

Got me to thinking about why I try to fix things when the corporate owners, policymakers, and lobbyist should do so or at least what we are lead to believe but see little here in the US.  I also feel that we should still be accountable for the problems we see and help where we can.  What has been making me ponder my value in a cynical look due to my mental health?  Also, taking a view of the media presentation of information?  The roll-out of vaccination to the city hospitals.  I see little that goes to the smaller cities and towns.  Also, there is no information or planning about the general populace mid to late next year or the fall out when people realize that 2021 will be a copy and paste of 2020.

On the other hand, I do not want to take the vaccine NOT for any anti-vaccine reason, but personal health concerns.  I usually run on odd reactions or allergies for prescriptions.   The concern is the allergic reactions documented out of Britan. Unique value where you go when you see you have none and those around you gives you the impression you have none.

My takeaways are that I have value to my family even though the words are not said.  Value to the client I take care of in helping care for the basic needs that a spinal injury caused to decrease physical self-sufficiency but did not harm the mind.  Finally, there is value in caring for the feeding, clothing, and primary care need supplies to those coming into the store.  The weight must be found by myself and not seek to see it through the words or actions of the people I care for or the media.  Simple to say but harder to follow through.

For me, COVID has not impacted my interaction with others just due to the employment I have.  As individuals searching out and determining personal value may be challenging, but now is the time when you may have more time on hand.  There are employment opportunities. They may not be glamorous, but the retail, home health aide, kitchen help at hospitals, and more.  Working lower pay jobs is physically taxing but can help the budget extend and strive to meet some basic needs.  

Thank you for reading this random observation of my value struggles not genuinely impacted by COVID and 2020 chaos.  Low value has always been a part of life.  My takeaway is to stop making COVID the bad guy and accept that things are hard to step back and try to find where you can adapt to change and make the change.  For me, was start saying no or trimming back the time available to the jobs I work.  Stop giving COVID the power it does not deserve. Look around, make changes search the web or friend groups, and problem solve.  As a lower-income society, we have survived before showing the world we can survive and thrive in these financially challenging times.  Yes, government help would be beneficial, but it may come too late. Keep fighting. You can do this.

Thank you for reading for those that have communicated changes to my page or articles.  I will try to get to them, but honestly, I think some of them may have been a trigger to my lengthy anxiety attack, and in November, I worked on an additional component to my blog.  It just will take time for me to make changes.  I work 60 hours a week, fatigue from health needs, nevermind the blog, and family care.  

Life is a challenging journey meant to succeed in the individual eyes, not a comparison to another.  

Sample of having a problem and finding a solution.

CBS Evening News – “Season of Giving”: Former restaurateur helps serve his Los Angeles community

Something to think about mental health and striving on how to implement changes into one’s personal life journey from a larger picture presentation of information.  

CNBC Make It. – Why Finland and Denmark Are Happier Than The U.S. 1/9/2020

Not alone with our struggles of mask wearing…

FeaturedNot alone with our struggles of mask wearing…

I think we have all heard multiple rumors or opinions about wearing masks. I am not bothering to repeat them here. What did spark a Random Observation is the US is not the only country struggling under the perceived lack of freedom in wearing a mask. Here is a piece from Canada that could easily be the United States.  When searched too many to count.

CBC News – Walmart worker assaulted over mask request, says RCMP

The aspect that disheartened me is a human being who chooses not to agree or medically cannot follow the current 2020 mask mandate. The individual took their anger out on an hourly employee who follows procedure based on government and company policy. Also the amount of people that just stood around. Personally, this reinforces the lack of value people have toward hourly employees. Yes, coming from me is a broken record, just continuing my plea to treat hourly employees with a small amount of respect. All employees are asked to enforce rules whether we agree or disagree; it is a choice to have a job or fired after multiple verbal and written write-ups for not enforcing the policy. Here is a thought if you are unhappy with a government policy, write or call the government. Please do not take it out on someone who is doing their job.

Perspective on the lack of freedom people keeps railing about. The individual already felt trapped in their life existence, and this new culture and lifestyle that we find ourselves in was just the straw that broke the camels back. An individual can either feel trapped in work, culture, marriage, relationship, race, lifestyle, rules, and regulations. The list is never-ending because as individuals our perception of life is different. No, the man should not have beaten an employee, but an idea of why the man snapped and maybe people to offer help to those around them that look like they may burst. We can change our circumstances. It may be challenging, but with friends or family, there is a light at the end of the tunnel if you are ready to make that or those changes to move forward out of the emotional or physical pit you find yourself in.

One may feel trapped by the lifestyle one lives in with the struggle. You can change the location or thought process to find joy in the smallest of things.

Included is a song I find great joy in playing often. The video shows celebrities, but the words hold so much meaning when I want to call off work and family obligations and not get out of bed. Another is when I am in the parking lot pushing carts because it is my job, and someone almost hits me with their car or gives me a look of anger because I have slowed them down. New is the walking into work, and a customer is yelling at another customer; they came in without a mask. There are still people that medically cannot wear a mask. We do not know people’s mental health or physical needs toward wearing a mask.  

Mandisa – Overcomer (from 9/12/2013)

No offense on a silly point if you chose not to wear a mask just out of protest there may be a mental health concern.  Wearing a mask is a simple yes it is difficult to breathe but drink off and on let me clarify water, coffee, tea, etc not liquor, head to the restroom, if you are in a store aisle take it down for a moment then wipe the area down in front of you, and many more ideas.  Problem solving we are amazing and creative individuals who find a solution to the problem instead of waiting.  We got this problem heck I have thoroughly enjoyed social distancing, not worrying about makeup from my nose down, and being able to yawn without covering my mouth.  Look for the positives in the new lifestyle of 2020 and beyond; because I doubt this is going to change it is a virus they are ever evolving.

I have been tempted to re-market the two shirts I made when this first started.  Link to the shirt at the store is under the picture if someone did want to buy one through Teespring.
https://random-observations.myteespring.co/listing/different-opinion?product=369 In this world of different perspectives. It is good to warn others that your personal ideas may not match.

Different Opinion

Stay Cordial

Ohio Police Request:  Going to include this for awareness since the police in Amherst, OH, have been looking for a month. Posted 11/27/2020, including date, so this does not get forwarded five years from now.

News 5 Cleveland, OH – Panera Employee sprayed in the face.

Just a funny wrap-up for a negative subject on living life in this chaotic world we live in.

Focus on the Family – Bringing Laughter to Everyday Life – Tim Hawkins 11/16/2020

Works Cited

Nordquist, Richard. (2020, August 26). Broken-Record Response in Communication. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/broken-record-response-conversation-1689041

Retail Holiday Rant

FeaturedRetail Holiday Rant

Working retail during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas always makes me question why I enjoy my job. One to two weeks before Thanksgiving, a portion of our customers increase in being mean and unforgiving of the slightest infraction. With masks, it is even worse because they feel more comfortable talking under their breath. Why do shoppers think that employees have no feelings?

My thoughts come in several components of why and how to counteract it mentally—unique ideas or perspective of why people are disrespectful and forgetful of goodwill toward all. One is people do not want to spend the money on the holidays. Two The family is making demands unachievable, or the individual is exhausted trying to provide. Three adverse holiday history but everyone around them is cheerful and happy and questions why they are not. Four keeping up with the neighbors or relatives and cannot compete or even have a desire to compete, but think they must keep the trend going. Five corporate entities have put holiday decorations and reminders out since September. Six all the personalities have to be appeased, but no one cares what and how they impacted. These are my perception of why, and there are probably many more.

Honestly, when a shopper is nasty to me, I strive to remember the above list. I do not know where they are emotional or physical. My feelings do get hurt; treated like I have no worth. I strive to remember some of that is my depression. The other is that being an hourly worker is considered menial and low value. Even though we did not work, people would have no way to buy food, products, etc. Another aspect I strive to consider I do not know where someone is the cell phone conversations people have prove that.

Given cell phone conversations, I hear when people are walking through the aisle, in line, put their items on the belt, and paying are numerous. Here are some, so YES, be aware your conversation is not private. Those around you do hear. Unsure about anyone else, but I would prefer not to listen to your private conversations. Why are you on the phone when it is about leaving your spouse, a child ran away and trying to find, money is tight, mother in law verbally attacked you and unsure how to handle it? Other conversations heard is you just needed space and left your spouse and staying with your affair, that the underwear not folded and needs put away, and many more. Nevermind the hourly employees that are supervisors that are still taking work calls off shift. Sometimes for questions that could have easily waited for the next day. The best one for me is when, as a worker, I am considered rude because I am not acknowledging you are in my line except to say hi and give the total of your purchases. You are in a private conversation; if I was at a party or networking event, it is inappropriate to approach; being on the phone is the same. An alternative is text questions and answers more private. You have also verified you tried to reach your family to find out if you needed to pick up milk or another blanket, or a present for a friend or family.

Opps did not realize I had so much pent up frustration over the phone conversations I hear and shoppers’ attitudes. No, we are not perfect workers. Yes, we have the workers that sit or stand around and talk instead of work. There are the workers that are slow as turtles. A worker is ignoring you; I have an explanation for, at least personally, I have poor hearing, and with masks, it is even harder now. For me, I periodically misunderstand someone or plain do not hear unless I catch a person’s lips moving before mask-wearing. Now, I have no reference point. But I do not need the attitude that you have to repeat yourself. Most workers are trying to get things right.

Another aspect is the screaming children that are not in an infant carrier. Please, if you are shopping with another adult, have that adult take the child outside or if the child is at an age to compromise and let them pick a toy or candy if they behave through the whole store. Please do not give them something if they have been screaming through the entire store. It is draining, whining, crying, and repetition wants candy or toy every minute at the register. One, it is distracting when trying to converse with other customers. Nevermind the headache; many of us have halfway through a shift.

Now with the mask-wearing mandates. Some of us are not allowed to speak to a customer due to company policy. Remember, some of us still have to wait on these people who chose not to wear a mask. Customers get huffy if we take time to wipe down the areas and slowed down. Other customers are huffy that we have not had a chance to wipe down because we have a line of six people to wait on. Nevermind, we sometimes run low on supplies. Surveys are continually saying they had to wait, so what do you want us to do. Wait on you with speed, and no cleaning or slowness, and surfaces sanitized. Due to the pandemic’s change in cleaning policies, we will be slower to adhere to CDC health guidelines.

Above are constants throughout the year; there tends to increase screaming and customer attitude during the holidays. Some are due to children’s schedules being thrown off by get-togethers and parents concentrating on prepping for a holiday and not spending as much time with them. Another alternative is trying to pay for the holidays and just asking people to be aware that we are human too and respect that we are providing care to you. Yes, we may not be police, fireman, doctors, and nurses, but housekeeping, call centers, clerks, waitress, and any other public encounter have a place in this world.

Sorry for the rant. Being in the Customer Service industry in many varieties, I just reached a breaking point since I had all of the above in an eight-hour shift that seemed constant. 

Side Note: from the supermarket industry or any that provide carts. Can everyone go back to putting the cart into each other instead of just rolling into and leaving them loose in the corral? Lifting them when they have fallen to the side is frustrating and hurts. Since today is a mentally gloomy day, why do some people feel safe to put a child and elementary, sometimes the middle-school-age child, in the cart’s large area? If they do not fit in the front room, they are supposed to walk with you? 

Have to say sorry, but this is heartfelt, so it is draining treated like we are expendable, which I guess job-wise is everyone right now, just from the eyes of a Service Associate that is already tired and has a month and one week left of the holidays. Which will then move into four to five months of decreased hours and still cranky customers; we will not have enough staff to provide speedy service due to budget cuts till sales increase. Another factor of the grumpy customers is that the bills from the holidays come in, and have to balance buying groceries or paying the credit card.  Another reminder of Loving All even when we do not see eye to eye; like the customers who give puns every time they talk, you hate puns but have to smile like they are lovely.  

Thank you to those who thank us and acknowledge that we are trying as best we can.  

John Paul White ft. Rosanne Cash – We’re All In This Together Now (Official Video)

Found uploaded on April 24, 2020, but it is a reminder that we are still at a difficult point. We do not have an end date yet for the outbreak. As a world, we need to keep caring for all of us. People are stressed, depressed, starving and out of work, and that number will continue to increase. Those working do not know if they will get sick or have a job the next week. Everyone is under stress, not just you; let’s try to remember that when we are out and about this holiday season.  Maybe it is time to stop trying to Keep up with the Jones, instead strive to love our families be they blood or not as they are not how we want them to fit our wish.

Thank you for reading. Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, Happy Hanakana, and all unknown holidays.

From https://www.askideas.com

Just a perspective of the public and investigative media on supermarkets: My only concern for these spots mentioned is again time and staff hours are given to the store is limited. These limits do not always provide time to take care of all of these aspects mentioned. The tap pay mentioned, not all companies have that possibility. I liked how they said it is the customer’s responsibility for self-care, not just the company.

CBC News – The dirty truth about supermarkets (Marketplace)

Here is some information and acknowledgement that nurses are struggling.

NBC News – Pennsylvania Nurses Go On Strike as Covid Cases Surge – 11/18/2020

Thank you to all the industries that deal with the same or similair issues but I do not feel right speaking for a bus driver, landscaper, or anyother service industry that I do not have a direct reference to. Keep up the great work the world could not run without us. Would love to return to a time that all forms of employement where considered valuable instead of just the college degreed.

Thank you for those who read. Again a reminder my anxiety and depression I am not a position at this time to read and respond to comments.

2 Week Review 8 & 9/2020

Featured2 Week Review 8 & 9/2020

Just something to think about as you go forward on this day forward from CBS Sunday Morning.

CBS Sunday Morning – Smile Behind the mask

Prep note combined two weeks; my struggles with my mental health has not changed much.

Week Review 8/25-28/2020

Physically had a decent week. Emotionally has brought up plethoras of struggles. Am I doing the right thing by working sixty hours? Why do I feel more value working outside of the home than providing care for my family? What is my place in life? Why do I push myself? These are the thoughts on my mind.

The first question is, am I doing the right thing working sixty hours? Took on what was to be fifteen to twenty hours a week, as mentioned before, has turned into thirty to thirty-five—these extended hours due to lack of employees. Where my mind keeps going is I enjoy what I am doing—interacting with all the individual personalities, even the cranky, nasty ones. Trying to be a smiling face in a sea of tiredness of all the struggles between the top News Topics. Retail also has fewer anxiety triggers by pleasing people in short bursts. That is the thirty plus hours of retail; what about the thirty-one on one.

Home care work is not as anxiety trigger low as retail but does bring joy, providing care for someone who can only minimal ministration for themselves. Doing personal care, home care, and errands for an individual brings some peace that I am helping someone. I am struggling with that if someone I trusted were able to step forward to care for this individual, I would step away from home care. It makes me feel like a horrible person; the family is fantastic and beautiful and wonderful to care for. Selfishly although this aspect of care is something I am not genuinely comfortable. My anxiety does work in me—any ache, pain, infection, or problem I take on as my fault. The individual continually tells me that I am not at fault; her serious health needs cause illnesses. I struggle not to take that on. Does this make me a horrible person that providing care to someone in need is not as meaningful to me as ringing groceries to a constant rotation of individuals?

This week has been weighing on my mind. Physically I will continue, and emotionally I will continue. Over my days of contemplation and reinforced by Sunday’s sermon, I am where I asked to be. Retail feeds me emotionally and allows me also to find spots in my anxiety to work. Caring for the individual gives peace to a family having a person willing to come every assigned time and not call off. An excellent simple thing but home health care has extensive call-offs leaving some individuals left in their beds or wheelchairs because they cannot get themselves up physically. How I met the person I currently care for: her evening aide called off a half-hour before she was due to go to bed, and I was available. Accepting that for both jobs is the right thing right now in regards to finances and emotionally. Where does this leave with my family requirements?

Family care is a whole other crisis; why do I not feel any emotional support or physical support from my husband and eighteen-year-old daughter? Positive aspects my husband cooks for himself. Does my daughter still ask what I am making for dinner? Yes, even though I only have two hours between my two jobs and I still have laundry, dishes, budget care, and grocery shopping. I am keeping my internal anger at this lack of physical support. No one is stepping up to clean or other care items. I do not even know why I am looking for this; I have never had it before. Physical and emotional support is not something either my husband and daughter can; they only see there needs. I celebrate the moments when my daughter asks me what she can do as I bring in groceries, and she puts them away. She empties the dishwasher within an hour of me asking. So I guess I Place myself as accepting the limitations of my family and emotionally pursue rewards outside of the house. 

An additional component of working so much is my daughter is in her last year of high school and is not motivated to graduate; she is probably not going to unless she truly realizes her mistake. I tend to hover, which makes her work less. Not being home keeps me from harassing her about her assignments, her words, not mine. For me, this will be the most challenging year to accept that she may fail by her own choices, and there is nothing I can do outside of doing the work for her, which is wrong. So hard mental health-wise, to know that she is so amazingly talented but has no drive to work outside her comfort zone and strive to suck it up and finish school and move onto what she enjoys and make a life that supports her. Where do I go from here?

On my weekly review of success or failure, I have accepted that I will place this week as a success. The anxiety is there but with difficulty, but successful habits could keep it to the background instead of the overwhelming front incenter feeling of failure.

Enjoy the journey of life as you see fit to live it, not someone else’s perception.

Thank you

Faith thoughts about keeping working on one’s goals; I have found them meaningful. What I enjoy is that Pastor uses scripture as an example that our life struggles have been around since time began. As people, we are not alone in having support and standards of living life well.  

Hope Church – August 30 Service – 9 am

Week Review 8/31 to 9/5

A repeat of last week’s mental health struggle is the same. Balancing between living life as if there are no adverse mental health thoughts when interacting with those around me. Internally the battle of what we are is unsound thoughts, and shifting them to a positive is such a struggle. I talked with a friend when I communicated my work thoughts from last week. She did not get what I was striving to share, which briefly made me feel like failing. Then I realized I was trying to fit her perception, not what and how I live and succeed with my anxiety. As with last week, I consider this week a success. I have not called off either work, and my family home is still standing, and the basics are handled.

Faith input but some truths even if one does not follow a religion. Found this week’s Sunday message, just a great reminder that even the church, even in the beginning, had arguments or differences of opinions. So seeing the conflict of belief in people’s statements and interpretation of facts are argued then and now. As individuals, we must strive to work as individuals toward decisions that benefit those around us for safety and well being. 

Hope Church September 6 – 9 am

Thank you

FeaturedThank you

Thank you, Retail, Services, and Trade Employees. Since the beginning of this pandemic, it has bothered me the media, social media, and signs concentration and praise healthcare workers and as an afterthought, the police, fire, and EMS. Yes, they deserve praise, but it reinforces the employment/career perception of society. What I do see is the lack of thank you to all of the service industries. Thank you to the people who work at the stores, services like hair, dining, and the people who provide us with the products to sell and deliver services. May miss a couple of titles but truckers, factory workers, housekeepers, tattoo artists, bus drivers, crafters, makers, and all that provide for services that are an integral part of living in today’s culture.

With all the current talks of the needs of the people and everyone needs support. Some financial assistance may be helpful in realistic hourly pay to the job description, taxes, and actual medical. Most, if not all, individuals desire to feel value for the work they do. There are those in the world who find value and skill in serving or creating for others. Over the years, I have noticed that there is a lack of respect or support to those impacted through life situations, skills, and/or desire that choose employment in low paying and low respect service or high pay but low respect trade industries.   

What I am asking for others to consider is your perception of a person who chooses or needs to work a retail, service, or trade job. One type of trade is to drive trucks, do you respect the individual for that choice? Do you look and think oh that is all their good for, with that underthought of no respect for the individual? What about the plumber who you call when there is an emergency. What are your thoughts when you find out your child wants to be a plumber? Pride or concern that they are choosing a menial job.

What are your thoughts or attitudes of the clerk at the meat counter, waitress, factory worker, coffee counter, crafter, tattoo, hairdresser, or supermarket? Do you consider that they have a ‘real’ job, or that was all they could because they do not have the IQ or degree for something better? We see this in ads for colleges.    

American Career College Ads

Supporting and showing pride for those who chose to work in the service industry and allow for full-time hours would go a long way in economic equality. Many workers would not push for the fifteen dollar hours if they were able to find full-time hours with benefits.  

Humans want respect, but when you treated like a lesser person, you are a clerk in a supermarket, waitress, cook, and stock. Factory worker, housekeeper, kitchen prep, electrician, and many more. This lack of respect seen in we have high unemployment, but many people will not apply for retail jobs because the pay is low and considered beneath them for some. Bear in mind that it is a generalization, not a specific person, and on social media comments and a couple of comments I have heard from others. Well, let us consider the fact that supermarkets stayed open with only a small amount of thank you, followed by abuse for mask or supply purchase mandates.

Again thank you to those in all aspects of the service/trade industry. Our country indeed, could not run without us. The media may not acknowledge the daily strife and anxiety of our health and safety. Again thank you for working your twenty to fifty hours of work with no benefits, respect, and buying your masks and other supplies.

Thank you for the truck driver who has to deal with the driver who does not realize that you need a good eighth of a mile to brake but cuts right in front. Additionally, the time away from family and friends. Thank you to the housekeeper that is cleaning up after all variety of people with minimal protective gear. Thank you to the factory worker that has to go in and leave smelling like melting plastic, dead fish, cow, or chicken. Also, for those working in a hot, cold, or freezing processing area. Thank you for the different kinds of beauticians and artisans. Thank you to the construction industry. Thank you for the car mechanic. Thank you to the restaurant staff. Much appreciate all you do. If I have missed your industry, I am sorry, but I am not seeing or all-knowing of all the trade and service jobs.  

Thank you, comes from the heart of a worker of the same industry for twenty years waitress, cook, clerk, coffee, cashier, manager, and cleaner. I tried to leave the industry and go into healthcare. When I spoke with coworkers, they would treat me as an equal until they asked where I had worked last. Responded as a manager in a supermarket that respect was lost. One person mentioned that it was good. I got out of such a dead-end job. Here is the rub, though, and that my anxiety and depression keep going over. I was happy working retail and taking care of others rather than working in a nursing home as a Social Worker; their idea of Customer Service does not even come close to what expected from retail. Trying to shift to that was to difficult on my anxiety and depression with no industry training except what I got through college. So I returned to what made me happy helping others with less daily notes that impacted client (customer) care and minimum face to face care.

It has taken me years to accept that I am happiest working retail and taking care of others and providing care for one of the most basic human needs food. Keep up the great work all those that are the reason our country has not stopped running, our families fed, and we have a car to drive. I am going to wrap up with two pieces.

One is from CBS Sunday Morning news about the current information hitting the restaurant industry. The second piece I found from Mike Rowe reinforcing that we need to show our children that working in the service and trade industry is an honorable profession, not something to be looked down on. Side thought some of the racism this country keeps pushing about also stems from the portion of the black and low income community that the employment can get treated with disrespect as work and financial options are low. For US retail a cashier/stocker is paid $7.00 – 9.00 an hour as a lead it is $9.00 – 11.00 an hour, and management is $11.00 – 14.00 an hour, and store managers salaried, so they average $15.00 an hour because it expected to work forty-five to sixty hours a week. Many companies want to have open availability and are not flexible with scheduling. There is minimal work to home life balance.

Next time you are out and about, try to thank a worker from the service industry. Sincerely, all we ask is that you treat us with respect. We have to follow the rules, and being told how to do our job as we are taking care of you is annoying and disrespectful. Corporate no matter the industry already treats us poorly with low pay, not enough supplies, repairs not done, and no training or training that treats us like children. I heard somewhere that one company thinks that employees do fifty percent of theft. So we are already feeling devalued by corporate. Being treated by the people, we care for as children who fail in life makes that lack of proper value harder.  

Yes, there are poor workers, but if you think about it, every industry has that one or two employees that you celebrate when they leave or let go. No one is perfect, and there are jobs or work that see people striving or struggling to find their place. 

For those that feel this was prideful or selfish to post because I am in retail. This piece was tentatively written since June just struggled with posting it, not wanting to offend. I had a shift that made me want to open my mouth and give a customer a piece of my mind. Retail is a fantastic job that is physically tough and stressful in its way. On an hourly basis, your client or customer base is as diverse as the world. With this diversity comes a plethora of opinions and personalities. There is nothing wrong with working to care for others. Not all of us can pursue a degree either through desire or lack of opportunity. Try to treat those who take care of your fundamental needs with respect for all they do.  

Danny Meyer on reviving the restaurant industry – CBS Sunday Morning

Mike Rowe Testimony – CongessmanGT – Found this one sad and humorous that he called our US Politicians about asking him to come back but nothing changes.

Mike Rowe Works Foundation

Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe on Facebook

The Real Mike Rowe – Facebook

Thank you, for reading.  Reminder you are welcome to comment, but at this time my anxiety and depression make it extremely difficult to read the comments.  

Humorous Consequences of Reading Health Articles

FeaturedHumorous Consequences of Reading Health Articles

Humorous Consequences of Reading Health Articles came from reading the information below. The material is about whether regular water versus seltzer is equally hydrating.  Is Seltzer Water Just As Hydrating As Regular Water?  Everything you need to know about your favorite fizzy drink. Written for Food Network by Emily Shiffer.  I found this a funny but frustrating article because I had to apologize to my daughter. I am continually asking her to drink more water because she was drinking a lot of seltzer. After all, I thought regular water is better than seltzer.  

Coming to find out from this article is that the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found there is no difference in hydration between the two types of water. In our home, that is great because seltzer is what both my husband and daughter drink in abundance. It has always been a point of worry for me that they were not getting enough water. Knowing there is no difference is terrific since I finally broke down and invested in a Soda Stream System last month. For those interested after Emily’s article is a link and my observations on the Soda Stream.

Another humorous component is that no one has a clear cut idea of how much water we are supposed to drink. The article did mention The Institute of Medicine’s recommended amounts had men at 13 cups and women at 9 cups. One of the reasons for no precise numbers agreed on is what an individual does in a day, and body weight impacts the amount of water a body needs.  

So my chuckle for the day was that I had to apologize to my eighteen-year-old daughter. That drinking the seltzer is okay in place of water. Of course, given her current attitude, I have probably made a mistake that will haunt me until God calls me home to heaven. Live and learn when you are a mom with a teenager that sees all and knows all. I am unsure how that happens since they are only a quarter of the way through life? Will pursue mind-bending thought at another time.  

Enjoy this interesting short article about the benefits and the debunking of perceived information about seltzer water.

Is Seltzer Water Just As Hydrating As Regular Water? by Emily Shiffer

SodaStream Main Site, Our family, has had the Soda Stream since 6/18/2020 and uses it at least eight to ten times a day. I have not changed the CO2 canister yet, did order one as a backup. There are a variety of ways to exchange cartridges. I have not decided if I am going through Bed Bath and Beyond because I am a member and get a discount or use the SodaStream or Amazon auto exchange.  Undecided at this time.

One of the reasons for purchasing and investing in a SodaStream, we go through two sometimes three cases of twelve cans weekly. In this day in age, with shortages and unstable shipping internationally. I thought it might be useful to find an alternative for my family’s seltzer water drinking before it became a family crisis. Also, maybe reduce a little of our contribution to the landfills.

The one we bought Aqua Fizz Premium purchased through Amazon.  Only because, at the time of purchase, they had a better price. The reason for purchasing the most expensive style was I like the glass bottle. Additionally, my thought was they would have a higher chance of not exploding while filling. (Note: have not run across any articles saying that just my anxiety taking me on a trip.)  The dispenser fully encloses the container if there is an actual problem. The company suggests that one should refrigerate the water before carbonating.  Which is a benefit with the glass because the water is colder and the glasses bottles are pretty. We did buy two extra bottles, which are probably not needed for most people, but I have two heavy seltzer water drinkers.

We do not purchase the syrups; they drink it plain, make syrup, or buy a cheap syrup. My daughter enjoyed a peach syrup we had initially bought for putting on ice cream or pancakes. Another reasonable syrup idea is a Koolaid packet stirred into a sugar syrup. Sugar syrup is 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar heat till sugar dissolved, turn off the heat empty Koolaid (any brand is excellent) into water sugar mix and stir till fully dissolved. Needs to be cooled then put in a jar use as desired cannot tell you how long this lasts because we end up remaking a new flavor within five to six days. Fruit juice is another excellent alternative for flavoring, have found my daughter drinks more fruit juice with the seltzer then before.

So I have to confess I did lie about not using the SodaStream I have a couple of times used to make myself a wine spritzer. For me, a wine spritzer is just one to two ounces of wine, and six to eight ounces of seltzer water add ice and fresh fruit. There you have a light, refreshing mom drink. Do not do this often because I try not to keep the wine in the house due to family history and personal battles when super stressed. But I hate to waste stuff, so when a recipe calls for wine, I purchased the smallest bottle I can find. Then try to finish it by making a spritzer each night till wine is gone.

Aqua Fizz Premium

As you can see, it has been an exciting day in the family home. May the information about the SodaStream help someone. It took me about a year to decide to buy and wish I had made the decision earlier would have in the long haul saved a lot of money. I figure the initial investment will pay off in three to four months. Before the machine, I was spending ten to twenty dollars a week on seltzer cans.

Just a reminder terrible at reading comments due to anxiety. Do feel people have a right to express their views and ideas though so the comments section is open.

Side note our family has no connection to SodaStream, Amazon, or Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Just companies we have purchased from. Figured I would offer my personal opinions, observations, and reasons.

Have a great day.