J'ai Lu, Mai 2009

I'm just getting past the wave of stress that was end-of-semester and finals, and am finally hitting the books. I really have nothing to excuse my lack of motivation this month, except I simply found other ways to fill my time. Ah, well.

Peace Like A River (Enger) – A novel about a boy’s childhood under atypical circumstances. It took me awhile to sit down and get through it, but the end was incredible and beautiful in a way I never expected, which really brought it home for me. Definitely recommended summer fiction. (8)

The Four Loves (Lewis) – Lewis discussed four aspects of human love—Affection, Friendship, Eros, and Charity. I feel like he presented a lot of insights and reminded me how I do not love people well, how people deserve to be loved, and what love really looks like. I especially loved his chapter on Friendship, and also the chapter on Charity. If you love people or are loved by anyone (your mother counts), you should check this out at least once. I feel as though I will want to reference it as circumstances change throughout my life, and I seek to learn to love people in new and different ways. (7)

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And other thoughts...

I have worked at ChickfilA for five years now, on and off. I remember like yesterday my fourteen-year-old self interviewing and being hired, and starting my first few days. I remember learning how to be an employee, how to balance fun and productivity in the workplace. It's crazy how time flies.

The Chick-fil-A I have consistently worked at is located in the food court of Woodland Hills Mall in Tulsa. So naturally, after so many years being in the mall on a regular basis, I, of course, have been an avid observer of "mall people."

All I can say is, mall people are strange. I don't just mean the trench-coated, black lipstick-wearing, dog collar mall people who literally seem to spend 24 hours a day inside the mall trading Pokemon cards and talking Anime. I mean just about every single patron of the mall seems to transform the moment they step through those swinging glass doors. They stop being your neighbor, your teacher, your fellow church member. They forget who they are, that they are human, that other humans exist, and that you, in your red & black uniform behind the counter and register, are human as well. No rules apply.

What I mean by this is that I have never in my life been treated like more of a sub-human being than when I work at Chick-fil-A. With their agendas and their children on leashes, shoppers set their shopping bags on the counter and treat the person taking their order as if they are talking to a robot. Orders are barked, smiles are replaced by scowls, mistakes are unforgiven, extras and exceptions are demanded. It is nuts.

But the worst part of it is, you are helpless to counter any of this ruthless behavior. If you scowl and use as few words as possible to respond to them, you not only provoke them to more anger, but you are given a "talking to" by your boss who wants to make sure you are preserving the company image, or some (probably absolutely true and neccessary) nonsense. If you smile and act on your best behavior, you feel like an idiot and like even more of a suck-up.

Essentially, I get daily practice to turn the other cheek. So I suppose it's not a complete loss...

Has anyone else witnessed this phenomenon? Maybe in your line of work of some other experience? I'd love to know I'm not making this up.