Cheap Change #3

So in a long overdue blog, I want to announce my official (and foreseeable) retirement from JCPenney's.

I started working there back in October 2008, thinking it was going like most of my other jobs: work hard for about a year, then quit because I had a better job lined up.  Well, as you can obviously tell, this wasn't going to fall into the "like most of my other jobs" category.  From October 2008 through August 2009, I worked there until I started my student teaching.  Because of the "great promise" that math teachers will "surely be hired immediately after student teaching" plan did work the way I was told, I stuck around until BCC hired me three weeks ago.

By far and large, this was the most difficult annoying job I ever had: it paid minimum wage, it dulled the mind, and it was in retail.  On the best days - which were few and far between - you felt you accomplished something and the mangers treated you like a human being.   Most days were filled with monotony - without encouraging or rewarding creativity - and you were treated like you never knew what you were doing.  Perhaps this feeling was exhausted in full because I had a mechanical engineering degree when I started and then obtained a Masters in Teaching as I was there, while many of my co-workers and supervisors held no degrees at all.

I won't say though that the job was all bad though.  Throughout the two years I worked there, I met a few cool people (my co-workers) who were open to having real conversations and dialog about the tough stuff in (each other's) life.  Although, admittedly, it sometimes happened during company time instead of break time, but you had to do something to pass the time.  I learned what it's like to have (another) crap job so now I can better respect the worker who has nothing but that dead-end job.  And I always found value in spending time and talking with struggling students, unemployed teachers, single-mothers, and grandparents that really run JCPenney's store 0130.

Why titled Cheap Change?  For some reason, lazy employees loved leaving spare change and empty returnable bottles among their other possessions that needed to be thrown away.  So at the request of the management I enlisted myself in the "clean-up efforts" and collected  $3.05 in pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters, and another $0.80 in 5-cent returnable bottles.  It's a dirty job, but someone not named Mike Rowe has to do it.

Also, when we headed up to the Great New York State Fair, we found a $20 bill on the ground with no one around in sight to claim it.  For those that don't know, Andrea and I adopt a boy in Burkina Faso through Compassion named Adama, and he will be receiving a generous birthday gift this year. If you don't sponsor a child through Compassion, we strongly recommend that you do so.  It's only $38 - a buck and some pennies a day - and it provides the child with nutritious foods, healthcare and basic education.  And if that is too much of a cost or commitment, also check out the many different events they do throughout the year; the biggest one - Operation Christmas Child - is coming up.

Cheap Change #3: $23.85
Cheap Change Total: $54.06