It has been a crazy month with leaving and returning to Stella. I left thinking what I wanted was organization, which I felt Stella lacked, but it turns out feeling at home where I work (especially when so far from the only province I've ever called home) was more important. Flexibility and relationships are important. Everything is working out perfectly so that I can both enjoy the time while my mom is here visiting and actually come home for Christmas.
It's strange, too, how living without the majority of my 'things' for four months is not so hard. Mom had asked me what I wanted her to bring of mine when she visits. Initially, I thought I would have a hard time narrowing down the list, turns out the opposite was true: I could barely make one. I have managed for so long with what little I have and, for the most part, it's enough. My Buffy obsession needed to be satisfied though, and without that I would have gone mad with homesickness I'm sure.
Things I used to think I definitely did not want to part with, like my huge CD collection, I am okay without... at least now that I finally have access to the majority of it on my computer again. Movies and TV are just time wasters...granted, now I have cable, so time still gets wasted (and there's always the internet, too). However, there is less desire to 'collect' and that's probably because I'm actually doing something with myself other than being stuck in a city that I knew I wasn't meant to stay my whole life in. Much as I love Victoria, this is definitely what I needed to do.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Major Update, Part 2: Airport Beginnings
I went to the airport interview with mixed feelings and started my first day of Starbucks training with even bigger misgivings. Having been asked for feedback from Tammy the day before my leaving had caught me off guard. I had trouble figuring out how and where to start after feeling like the lines of communication had been closed down. After a lot of anguish the night before my last day, I decided on a letter only to end up having a very candid chat with Tammy after my final shift. We talked with ease about certain problems that had arisen for me, but we never touched upon the big issue. But it did make writing a letter easier, and make me wish even more that I wasn't leaving.
So, Monday morning I began my training expecting a very long day:10am to 6pm and then running to my French class which runs from 6pm until 9pm. The training itself was extremely boring, and I spent much of the day missing Stella Luna (despite its doors being closed as usual for a Monday). Starbucks wants to be North America's neighbourhood Italian coffee shop since they also believe they brought the latte to America; and, to me, it just all seemed so fake considering I'd just come from working at an authentic Italian neighbourhood cafe, complete with resident Roman. We also talked about Starbucks' ways of being and were given little cards describing these, two of which simply screamed to me Stella Luna: 'take care of yourself' and 'love what you do'. The longer I sat through all of this, the more I felt like I'd run away from home instead of quitting a job.
Tuesday was not much better, despite going down to Stella Luna between training sessions for the day (8:20am for airport Security Awareness Training and then 1pm to 9pm for Starbucks training). I had already made up my mind to ask to come back because when I left Tammy had told me I could always come back. But when I did come back, there were not one but two new people. One to replace me (which happened after I completed my last day) and one to replace Bridget who gave her notice around the time I actually left. I went back to Starbucks training, trying to suck it up and be engaged even though it was the last place I wanted to be. By this time, we'd already lost two of the four people meant to be in the full-time supervisory positions... and one of them surprisingly wasn't me.
A lot of what was said by the Starbucks manager (an HMS Host manager of several stores) made it all seem even more daunting. The Ottawa airport has been waiting for a Starbucks for four years and that it was going to be insanely busy in the first couple of weeks due to this built-up excitement. The store was barely staffed as it was and we were basically going to be asked to give up our lives to be there constantly in the meantime. Needless to say, really not my cup of tea. I was already feeling stressed and the store hadn't even opened. I like to care about where I work, but I also don't want it to be my entire life, not when it's Starbucks anyway.
I came home to an email from Tammy saying that if I was really so unhappy with Starbucks that I could take her part-time evening position she was still working to fill. I jumped at the chance, but tried to figure out what I was going to do to make up the difference to pay my bills fully (and to finish paying down my credit card debt).
Despite this new development, I still went to the training until I could work out the details with Tammy. She called during my third eight hour classroom only training shift asking me to come in the next day to train the girl who was my replacement and then begin my night shifts the following day. So, I had another day of training to endure and then, once again, running to French class before starting back at Stella at 8am the next morning. It was before my early morning Stella Luna shift that I emailed the HMS Host people to quit and ask where I should return the nametag, key card and security pass given to me.
So, Monday morning I began my training expecting a very long day:10am to 6pm and then running to my French class which runs from 6pm until 9pm. The training itself was extremely boring, and I spent much of the day missing Stella Luna (despite its doors being closed as usual for a Monday). Starbucks wants to be North America's neighbourhood Italian coffee shop since they also believe they brought the latte to America; and, to me, it just all seemed so fake considering I'd just come from working at an authentic Italian neighbourhood cafe, complete with resident Roman. We also talked about Starbucks' ways of being and were given little cards describing these, two of which simply screamed to me Stella Luna: 'take care of yourself' and 'love what you do'. The longer I sat through all of this, the more I felt like I'd run away from home instead of quitting a job.
Tuesday was not much better, despite going down to Stella Luna between training sessions for the day (8:20am for airport Security Awareness Training and then 1pm to 9pm for Starbucks training). I had already made up my mind to ask to come back because when I left Tammy had told me I could always come back. But when I did come back, there were not one but two new people. One to replace me (which happened after I completed my last day) and one to replace Bridget who gave her notice around the time I actually left. I went back to Starbucks training, trying to suck it up and be engaged even though it was the last place I wanted to be. By this time, we'd already lost two of the four people meant to be in the full-time supervisory positions... and one of them surprisingly wasn't me.
A lot of what was said by the Starbucks manager (an HMS Host manager of several stores) made it all seem even more daunting. The Ottawa airport has been waiting for a Starbucks for four years and that it was going to be insanely busy in the first couple of weeks due to this built-up excitement. The store was barely staffed as it was and we were basically going to be asked to give up our lives to be there constantly in the meantime. Needless to say, really not my cup of tea. I was already feeling stressed and the store hadn't even opened. I like to care about where I work, but I also don't want it to be my entire life, not when it's Starbucks anyway.
I came home to an email from Tammy saying that if I was really so unhappy with Starbucks that I could take her part-time evening position she was still working to fill. I jumped at the chance, but tried to figure out what I was going to do to make up the difference to pay my bills fully (and to finish paying down my credit card debt).
Despite this new development, I still went to the training until I could work out the details with Tammy. She called during my third eight hour classroom only training shift asking me to come in the next day to train the girl who was my replacement and then begin my night shifts the following day. So, I had another day of training to endure and then, once again, running to French class before starting back at Stella at 8am the next morning. It was before my early morning Stella Luna shift that I emailed the HMS Host people to quit and ask where I should return the nametag, key card and security pass given to me.
Major Update, Part 1: Leaving Stella
So, it's been a while. And I never did get around to Bluesfest, and to be honest, I don't think I ever will at this point.
There's been a lot going on these past few weeks, and a lot that's changed, so I figured it was worth an update as it really has been a bit mind-boggling.
As some of you know, I had a little incident at Stella Luna which made me fear for my job security and felt it was better to get out before I was made to get out. Things fell into place quickly. I felt ill and went home early, and also hoping to begin job searching and was inspired by something I saw on TV which I wouldn't have seen otherwise if I'd lasted through my whole shift. I've thought working for an airline or in an airport would be really cool for years and what I saw reminded me of that. I found somewhere that was hiring and applied. I got an email the next day asking me for an interview. Thinking this was exactly what I wanted and needed, I set up the interview and figured I'd see what happened. Well, by the time the interview actually happened... everything was going much better at Stella Luna again. I had mixed feelings going into it, and wrote down my availability as if I weren't leaving Stella. The HMS Host people who interviewed me (they're the company that runs all of the little shops in the airport) said that they would rather have me for full time. They wanted an answer quickly, and feeling like this had all happened so quick the way Stella Luna had that it meant I was supposed to be there. So, impulsively I accepted and started filling out the paperwork (airports and unions require lots of forms it seems).
I went to the Stella Luna staff meeting that afternoon, not knowing how I was going to tell Tammy I was leaving. Despite everything that happened, I still liked her and I also just flat out hate giving my notice and quitting. It came out much easier than expected and thus began the two-week countdown to my departure.
There's been a lot going on these past few weeks, and a lot that's changed, so I figured it was worth an update as it really has been a bit mind-boggling.
As some of you know, I had a little incident at Stella Luna which made me fear for my job security and felt it was better to get out before I was made to get out. Things fell into place quickly. I felt ill and went home early, and also hoping to begin job searching and was inspired by something I saw on TV which I wouldn't have seen otherwise if I'd lasted through my whole shift. I've thought working for an airline or in an airport would be really cool for years and what I saw reminded me of that. I found somewhere that was hiring and applied. I got an email the next day asking me for an interview. Thinking this was exactly what I wanted and needed, I set up the interview and figured I'd see what happened. Well, by the time the interview actually happened... everything was going much better at Stella Luna again. I had mixed feelings going into it, and wrote down my availability as if I weren't leaving Stella. The HMS Host people who interviewed me (they're the company that runs all of the little shops in the airport) said that they would rather have me for full time. They wanted an answer quickly, and feeling like this had all happened so quick the way Stella Luna had that it meant I was supposed to be there. So, impulsively I accepted and started filling out the paperwork (airports and unions require lots of forms it seems).
I went to the Stella Luna staff meeting that afternoon, not knowing how I was going to tell Tammy I was leaving. Despite everything that happened, I still liked her and I also just flat out hate giving my notice and quitting. It came out much easier than expected and thus began the two-week countdown to my departure.
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