I am working for the same company Michael works for - Haddon House Distributors. They distribute groceries to Sav-A-Centers, carrying over 15,000 products. Today, I am driving to Ocean Springs to work. The past two days, I worked with Michael at two different stores. I love working with him. We are a very good team and make each other laugh. Yesterday, I brought us a picnic lunch of tuna salad sandwiches, chips, drinks, and little candy bars - which only I ate after a couple of hours of assimilating various groceries. It isn't very glamorous, but somebody has to do this kind of work. My big project yesterday was making a million bags of the many different kinds of pasta fit on the shelves. It isn't as easy as it sounds, and those bags break open if you manhandle them. The grocery managers don't want the products cluttering up their storage space in the back. I can see why Michael gets overwhelmed with it. It never stops. Orders come in, they must be assimilated, which is sometimes easy and most of the time, not. Products have to be rotated. Sometimes, the district sales manager orders more stuff than is needed in anticipation of holiday items being bought. So, space is the final frontier that needs to be created. Then, more orders are taken after distributing the ones on hand to their proper place, insuring they have clear markers on the shelf. All the while, the grocery store managers are a little hostile towards the merchandisers (me or the salesman) for any clutter they perceive in their storage areas.
Michael is commission only, so he makes his money off the orders. I am salaried so I can go home after 8 hours. He has been leaving for work hours before I do, and comes home hours after. The work I do will alleviate some of his stress. Maybe. I tried to be helpful and assimilate as much as possible without interrupting his flow. I had no idea such products exist as the ones I put away. Larry, our mutual boss, was hoping for younger salespeople and merchandisers, but he has us - getting older every day. Oy vey. It is a welcome change, though, from waiting tables. I go in when I want, wear what I want, and just do the work. I will be working with Michael two days out of the week and that's pretty cool.
This was great, Janine. Now I know exactly what you do. I hope your trip to Ocean Springs was uneventful. There was a huge pileup on I-12 yesterday, according to the morning paper. You might already know about that since Mandeville and Covington roadways were jammed by people seeking alternate routes.
See, if you had called me this morning, I could have given you yesterday's traffic report. Since you didn't, I have to put it on the blog for everyone to review. I can get along without our daily morning visit, but it will take some time.
The ride to and from Ocean Springs wasn't bad at all - an hour and 25 minutes. To make it more interesting, my gas meter read a hair above "E" as I held out for cheaper gas that I was sure was over the LA border into MS. It got to E-, no gas stations in sight, exit after exit (hurricane Katrina again) - so I stopped at the Mississippi welcome center to ask where the nearest gas station was and was told about 14 miles. So, I got back in my fume-driven car, fretting, and rode until the next exit, Diamondhead, where I paid $2.20 per gallon. That's what I get for passing up $2.07 in Mandeville right before getting on the I-12. The day before, I saw gas for 1.99 at a Racetrac. I just figured I could find that again.
We will always find time to talk, Mom. I don't want to go off into my Zen Grocery processing zone without first touching base with you.
Today I am working with Michael again. Tomorrow, I am going to Tchoupitoulas St. I hear that store is a zoo. That's cool. I like to see the animals.
Good for you Janine. I'm sure it's interesting and I'm glad you're enjoying working with Michael. Last fall I did some data entry for Dan and though I thought I'd have a problem working with him, I was pleasantly surprised to really enjoy working with/for him. I told him next time he has that type of work to let me know 'cause it was fun. Carol