Tag Archives: Work

It So Easy

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I am quite a lucky guy. So lucky. No sarcasm intended. Sincerity. I have a good man who loves me so much. Bill is my rock. As much as I bitch sometimes about him, he is there for me, supporting in me and believing in me.

He is so happy that I am employed again, thrilled that I am working at a cigar shop. I can depend on him for anything. True, sometimes in my petulant moments I whine about him driving me crazy but I take a step back and see how miserable my life would be if he wasn’t in it.

The people in my life, Annemarie, my brothers, my sisters in law, Julio, Roda, even Roda’s mother are happy that I’m working again and sometimes they’re thrilled that I am working again. I am happy to be working again.

Sometimes.

The times that I’m not are when I am not at the job. I like the people I work with. It’s going to and coming from the job, where I find myself looking back at my life is when I wind up taking big gulps from the well of despair.

And it’s not my life per se, it’s the jobs that I had. Working at Wanker Banker, and Bio-ID. I left the Wankers at the right time inadvertently and Bio-ID collapsed from the economic climate and the lawsuit following the dismissal of a managing partner.

I know I’m not alone in this situation. Thousands, millions of other people are out of work.

I have a job and like I said when I am there I am fine. I am busy or trying to be busy. I like my co-workers and they seem to like me. The customers like me as well. I’ve been introduced to dozens and almost immediately have forgotten most of their names.

I have a lot to learn besides names though. I have to push the product and be very knowledgeable about the cigars. Try to form relationships with new customers and steer them to the brand of the store. It’s a good brand, internationally known.

And there are many cigars with the brand name on it, from mild to medium to full bodied. I have to know what they taste like, whether it has a spicy flavor, a creamy taste, things like that. Calvin, the assistant manager has been showing me these things but I am a bit overwhelmed.

At some points during the day he asks me what do I know so far and I generally draw a blank. Yesterday being my first day I didn’t know much but did my best. I was given a DVD about the founder of the company and had to watch it last night.

Now I have other homework to do, which is visit the company website and learn some more. Unfortunately I am toast right now. And I was toast when Calvin decided to see what I knew with regards to the brand’s cigars.

I drew a blank despite taking notes about what he was talking about earlier in the day and even read those notes eating a sandwich on a park bench at lunchtime. I was good with the customers, steered them to the brand, encouraged them to give it a try as I chatted with them in the humidor.

But at 6:30 when Calvin asked I came up short.

I also took the smart move and brought my suit and shirt and tie in a garment bag and changed when I got to the shop. I could have dressed better but chose black jeans and a dark shirt for some reason.

But I got through day 2 and will return for more. And I love my family and I love my friends and I love Bill Vila so much.

It’s Like That

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Wow. I am home from my first day back at work and I am watching a DVD about the founder of De La Concha as was suggested by Zach the assistant manager of the store.

I like Zach. He’s a nice guy. Seems to like me. We got along great during our meetings, I feel very much at ease with him around.

The day didn’t start off with ease. No, not at all. In fact I woke up and wanted to throw up. That’s how nervous I was. I showered, I shaved, I made coffee and had a bowl of cereal.

Last night I had my clothes all laid out, good to go. One less thing to worry about. Even though the forecast was some showers in the afternoon and the temperature headed for the 80 degree area, I wore the suit and tie.

Actually had the tie in my bag. I had to be at the shop at 9:30 and caught a bus around 8:15. Arriving at the bus terminal I headed down to the subway and caught the train uptown. I was about 20 minutes early and decided to head to the men’s room and put on my tie and also to change my t-shirt.

I had the dress shirt cleaned and pressed last week and when I tried to button the button on the tab collar half the button was missing and not making it easy to button. It could be done only after I muttered ‘fucking hell’ and stamping my right foot.

Perhaps if I stamped my left foot it wouldn’t have happened. In any event I was in the shop at 9:30 as planned. It was a slow start and for the first hour I was in the humidor, looking at all the different cigars. It seemed like I was in there longer than an hour but no, it was just about 60 minutes.

I was working with Don, another salesman and Zach. Harold also came in a little while later. They seem like good people and me being the low man on the totem pole I was in for a good ribbing.

They asked what kind of cigar I liked and I said La Flor Dominicana. That was the joke of the day. Not a good cigar in their eyes, like smoking cardboard they said. I spent a lot of time after that looking at and polishing various desk top humidors and other high end products.

Lunch came around 1:30 and at first I visited the market nearby but that was crazy crowded. I opted for Subway which was close and had a tuna sandwich which was like eating paste. I ate near the park and then wandered into the park, looking for a spot to sit down and relax.

Found a bench on with no one nearby and enjoyed a Avo cigar. Nice cigar, expensive too. I can see why they were mocking me at the store. I definitely have to get back into the swing of things, develop a routine again.

I worked until 7:00. It was supposed to be 7:30 but Zach said I could leave early since it was my first day. I left around 7:15 and walked down to the Path train. I dislike waiting on the lines for the bus. Walking is so much better than standing around.

I got home around 8:30, a zombie. I peeled off my suit and got another suit together for tomorrow. The plan for tomorrow is to carry the suit, shirt and tie into a garment bag and change when I get to the shop. That means I’ll have to get there earlier, but at least I will be comfortable and not too sweaty.

Yesterday's me.