New Leadership

Yep, I knew when he came for the walk-through a few weeks ago that he was The MAN; management's choice. His competition was frumpy. She arrived in a cheap, washed too many times, black knit pants suit and looked defeated when she left the store.

KC has arrived. A man's man; Alpha male; calm,confident air. Are you getting the picture? On a closer look, he's older than I had thought and...he's short. Well, he's not short short but you'd expect a six-footer or more with that description, right? N O T! A dry sense of humor and has no problem "cracking" on the help. He assigned my cohort the task of creating a poster depicting assigned parking for the staff. Came into the office, took one look, and announced in that deep, Southern-drawl, "You can't put that up. This looks like something my son drew." No, he did-dent! I thought he was from the heart of Texas. N O T! A true Tennessean, born, bred, and still living in his hometown of Huntingdon.

The store has become an international melting pot. We have an Affrikan as an assistant mgr. Green as grass; just out of training; can't tell him a damned thing. Folks down here haven't had a lot of experience with the brothas from the Dark Continent. I have and damned if he isn't true to form! You know what I mean. I'm gritting my teeth. Jamaican mother; raised in Paris. N O T! You spent time in Paris. You speak French fluently because you are from one of the countries where French is the native language, of which there are 20. Take your pick. Someone told him that he had not lost his accent. "I didn't want to lose my accent but when I speak French, you can't hear it." What did I say? You spent time in France (a day maybe while you waited for the plane to the U.S. of A) but you grew up speaking French in Africa. What a crock! And I'm starting to doubt the Jamaican roots, too.

We also have a Latina--Justice Sonya has nothing on us. She's originally from Puerto Rico. No accent.

Speaking of accents, I'm catching hell on mine. "If you'd stop talking so proper, we could understand you." Maybe it will rub off 'cause Lord knows these folks don't speak the King's English down here. "Wedge" for wage; "acure" for accrue. And, they can't understand me? L O L!

What else? Pulled some early hours this week. 5:30 one morning; 6 a.m., on another. One required; the other because I thought that I'd be able to put some order into the office before K.C., arrived. Wasn't happening. I think they have a sensor which alerts them to when Personnel arrives. Got out the first newsletter; no comments. That's okay. It was the first ever for the store so I'm feeling good. A coworker named it "The Squiggly." Kinda cute.

I'm beginning to think that Tennessee is going to be the death of me. Got caught in a torrential downpour on that two-lane highway connecting Ripley and Brownsville. Couldn't see jack! No where to pull over; there are NO shoulders. Pull off to the side and land in a ditch the size of Texas. Fog thick as smoke on my early mornings in. Fog and darkness are not good partners. Slow down, girlfriend. Speaking of slow down, I was rolling up 19 yesterday morning, giving thought to passing the creeper in front of me, when a car shot around me. LATE are you? Still thinking about passing the person in front when two more cars shoot out--a little white car and a black SUV. In tandem, they were. When the white car ducked back in front of my creeper, the SUV did, too. And hit his lights. The POLICE! No, he did-dent! RLMAO! Leaving a few minutes earlier than usual has got to be the routine. I cannot pay Tennessee money for a ticket. They ask for BIG money down here.

SF, brother, and son, you'll be happy to know that Abby is looking good these days. For a little while at least. She was treated to a little pampering by one of the fellows in the store and the seats are pristine. Smelled so good until I hated to light up...but I did. The shine on his car is blinding. It's a man thing!

Take care, everybody. I'm off to get a paint tray.