Saturday, June 16, 2007

A Leave of Absence

So I turned in my letter of resignation. It wasn't about the sleeves, or lack thereof, not really, though that was a major priority check. It was about the appalling waste of time, and the uncomfortable realization that I wasn't being very smart with my own use of time.

Being Sent Home To Change during the peak hours in the garden center when we were already understaffed and inundated with people was an egregious waste of competent staff. A "please don't wear anything sleeveless again", and a comment at the next staff meeting would have made the point very handily--especially as it was a first offense. I cried all the way home, took a shower to cool off and calm down(heat exhaustion and 80-hour work weeks have an unfortunate effect on my equanimity), and realized that I was most upset over the waste of my time. If I'm going to have my time wasted, I prefer that to be my decision. So after I got dressed again in "something with sleeves", I wrote out my letter, and turned it in when I went back to finish my shift.
For the next two days, there was a steady parade of staff, coming by to quietly thank me for "putting on sleeves so I didn't test their self-control", tell me what a raw deal I got, congratulate me on having legs and arms( I normally stay quite covered up to avoid sunburn and scrapes), and tell me they thought my outfit had been pretty and tasteful. It turns out there's been a good bit of unhappiness at HR decisions(which I was blissfully unaware of since I spend my time playing with the plants and customers)--so I heard a lot of other anecdotes.
I stopped in to say goodbye to the store manager and got talked into taking a leave of absence instead of resigning. He'd been told it was over "wearing a tank top." For the record, it was a tailored, sleeveless blouse. I have yet to see a tank top with darts. I explained that it was over the usage of my time. I desperately need to paint the porches and accomplish numerous other tasks, and although I love the time I spend in the garden shop, it wasn't getting any of them done. AND, I need some sleep. 4 hours a night just wasn't cutting it--especially when the next-door neighbors are sorting out their family issues at the top of their lungs while I'm trying to sleep. So I'm working out the posted schedules, and counting the days... Soon, yeh, soon.
I Must ask my dear friend Fashionista Lite to expound on the fine distinctions of sleeveless blouses, shell blouses, and that mainstay of modern casual wear, the tank top (which those of us who are desperately conservative consider "unquestionably fast" in a professional setting) , on to the current fashion trend among the young and extremely visible set to turn lingerie into outerwear.