Yesterday marked the end of an era. After 13 years as office 3609, we will be splitting into to offices as part of buying our competitior, RGIS. The Dollar office will stay mostly intact with a few coming over from Johnstown and Wheeling. The Traditional crew joins most of the RGIS office with office 551 (Johnstown). Only a select few were picked for traditional. We’ve all got mixed feelings about our new assignments. I think these first few months should be fine. Things are starting to slow down for the holiday season anyway. Dollar crew will have next to nothing and have been urged to file for unemployment. We’ll still have Lowe’s and Rite Aid to keep us busy.
I worked my last day at part of 3609 at a Rite Aid in Lawrenceville, with an exceptional crew to send me off. This was a nice change from counting 7-11 at the airport.
I’ve been friends with Maura and Ashley since they were hired in the Spring of 2018. Their first store was the JCPenney at Century III Mall and they survived that marathon store. I’m proud of how far they’ve come over the years and how our friendship has really grown. The girls and others in the office have been like family to me. With the breakup of our division, I feel like I’m losing my family. Not just family, but I feel like I’m also losing my support system. We’ll still keep in touch by phone but not having them there everyday won’t be the same.
Maura sent a group text to those of us who are moving to traditional. It was very heartfelt and emotional 😭. Tom, my boss for the last three years and our manager for the last eight said we were family and that the people were the best part of the job.
On this last day, I also opened up to Maura about my gender nonconformity. It started when I told her about the sweater dress from Target I’m interested in buying. It began to turn emotional as I explained my journey and where it began. It started in high school and continued through college as I was up and down with my sexuality. It went away as I graduated college and began to experience life in the real world. After so many years away, everything came to light two years ago.
It was an overnight work trip to Ashtabula and it was my coworker who was wearing a pink dress. It became an innocent crush, as we had also talked about at Bud Murphy’s over dinner a few months later. When asked yesterday, I told Maura that I identified as queer, possibly bisexual. I felt like crying as I poured everything out.
With regard to Harry Styles, Hunter Schafer, and my “twin” Sara Newsom, Emily Swager and her fashion sense have been an inspiration.
Maura was worried how different it might be in traditional and that people might not be as understanding about my gender nonconformity. She told me her and Ashley would always be there to support me. I have a lot of support in addition to the girls. But if things get rough, Maura and Ashley and Tom will be the first people I turn to. Maybe down the road I can transfer to the Dollar crew. I’m so thankful for my support system in this season.
I’ll evaluate things at the end of November. There shouldn’t be much change since we won’t be that busy anyway. The first month is a poor barometer. I think by the end of January I should have a better idea as to where I stand, and definitely by the end of April (which will be six months).
Some places I will apply at (I’m still putting in applications) are Target, Walmart and Excela. If Giant Eagle, I’d like it to be a leadership development position. I’m interested in learning more about how to do makeup and might consider applying at Sephora or ULTA (I wish we had one in Greensburg). I even watched a YouTube video on what to expect working at ULTA and want to view makeup tutorials.
I’m interested in Say Yes to the Dress 👰 so I wouldn’t mind working at one of those places either (Miller’s and MB Bride are both local; Modern Elegance is in Ligonier).
I said yes to the dress 👗 too, in a different way.
Bye everyone. ❤️ you.
Stylish 🍒 