spoken language and measured time

i started my second job already. i am now an official employee of barnes and noble - the cafe. this means that part of my week has been taken over by a whole new language. tall, grande, venti? frap? non fat? two shots? this is my first job ever in customer service. i had to think about greeting the customer, asking if i could take their order. i tried to avoid saying, "can i help you?" it sounded stupid, but inevitably i found myself saying it without even thinking about it.

mistakes i've made so far? dropping a bagel, putting a goey cinnamon role in a bag (it should go in a plastic take-out container), serving decaf instead of the good stuff, forgetting to clean the espresso machine after pulling a shot, selling chips that were out of date, forgetting to ask if the customer had a membership card (if you ring them up and forget a manager has to come put in a code)...there's a lot to think about. still, the job's not as difficult as i thought it was going to be. and so far, i haven't had any rude customers.

i've been at waco high this week making presentations in the classrooms. i've been reminded of how rude an audience can be. well, to be fair, there was really only one class where i stopped early. i think i said something about being able to tell they weren't interested, so i'd leave and go to the next class. they couldn't have cared less.

i''ve also been reminded, though, of how much i miss teaching. i find myself torn between deciding whether i should try and find work in a church after i graduate, which is what i really want to do most of the time, or go back to teaching, which is something i know i like to do. i think i feel that if i choose teaching i will be restricted to texas, since that's the state i'm certified in. i don't want to be restricted. in my ideal plan, i will be able to go wherever i want after graduation. i suppose i'm too realisted to believe that restrictions won't exist. perhaps that's why i'm still clinging to the whole teaching bit.

visit the cafe tonight. i'm working until close.