King James and the shitter

Rich, the morning shitter, did it to me again the other day. I had just finished my breakfast and was about to use the bathroom---I was in fact coming down the stairs on my way to it---when that little weasel snuck out of his bedroom and beat me to it, proceeding to eat up ten minutes of my time shitting away and blowing his nose. I had been right on schedule and now I was going to be late. Again. All because this shitter can't wait five minutes for me to finish up my business. I suppose you're wondering why I don't just get ready earlier so I won' run into this problem. Well, first of all, I've had the same routine for months now and it's worked quite effectively, so why change it? And furthermore, Rich knows my schedule and knows that if he were to wait only a few minutes, he'd have all time he'd desire in there. So, when it happened again the other day, I spoke to him when he came out of the bathroom. I asked him if, in the future, he wouldn't mind waiting a few minutes before he goes in the bathroom to do his dirty work. He said it wasn't a problem. We'll see.

Just a few minutes ago, I was on my way to the bathroom from the kitchen when Bob TV came barreling down the stairs into the bathroom. It's ok, I've only had to wait twenty minutes for him to emerge. I should have kicked the door in, grabbed him by the shirt, and hurled him off the can and out of the bathroom, with his shit making zig-zagging trails behind him. Ah, but I didn't, because that would make me a bad guy, or something. Had enough shit talk? I most assuredly have. It seems I've been writing a lot about it, lately, and enough is enough. Let's move on to a topic less fecal.

I think I made some headway into understanding James, the mysterious warehouse manager, yesterday. It was nearing the end of the day, and even though business had slowed down at that point, I still had to make sure people were busy. I had sent Ryan, the college kid, into the warehouse with Bill so that he could eke from him as much information as possible about our tools. I wanted James to be a recipient of that tutorial, as well, but he informed me that Bill had showed him everything already. I was skeptical, so I pulled Bill aside and asked him if this was the case. He said it was, so I let it be.

It occurred to me that because I didn't understand James, I was assuming he was up to no good on some level. He had been fired earlier in the week, so my assumption wasn't baseless, but that didn't mean I still couldn't give him the benefit of the doubt in some instances. So while Bill was out back with Ryan, probably telling him more dirty jokes than anything else, I was by myself up front, manning the shop. Having Ryan, who does nothing but complain all day, out of my hair, was a beautiful thing. At one point, James came in and joined me, pulling up a chair at the opposite counter.

I immediately thought, Ok, I can't have this guy, who's supposed to be doing some work, just hang out lazily beside me. What he's doing is testing my mettle, seeing if I'll assert my authority. I have to say something, though I'd prefer not to. So I asked him if there was anything left to do and he replied that there wasn't. I told him he might as well go home, then. Part of me was disappointed that he was throwing in the towel in this manner, because I wanted him to succeed at this job, which doesn't include moping around consistently. When confronted with the option of leaving, he surprised me by saying, "Nah, I don't want to leave, I'm just exhausted. I'll get up in a minute and go back into the warehouse."

He went on to explain the reason he was so tired. It seems James is working three jobs and has a son to take care of. He also supports his older sister . He opened to me about his problems, how he sometimes goes days without sleeping, and how his son thinks he doesn't love him because he doesn't get to see him that much because of work. All of this made me feel lousy for pushing him to excel at work. To clarify, I don't regret trying to pull the best out of him, because, after all, he's getting paid for his services, but I do regret assuming he didn't give a shit. It all began to make sense, his dreamy countenance and his constant use of the cell phone. He's obviously running on little sleep and most of his phone calls had to do with family and work matters. As much as I sympathize with his plight---I'm not sure I could handle what he goes through---I still have a show to run. And that means everyone has to pull their weight, including James. If it turns out his burning the candle at both ends effects the company in a negative way, he'll have to be let go. I'd hate to see it happen, but it might. At the very least, I've learned a little more about James. His situation reminds me again how much I wish everyone could experience abundance without having to slave the bulk of their lives away.
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I have the next few days off and I don't have anything planned. I'm going to have to make some calls so that I don't languish in my house the entire time. Maybe I'll see what the NH folks are up to. I've been thinking also to reconnect with friends I haven't spoken to in ages. The list is longer than I'd prefer, but it's what happens when you get older, I'm learning.