Valentine's Rush

As a child, you grow up with a certain view and idea about holidays.  For example: holidays are when every one stops working and there is no school.  Holidays are a time to relax and sleep all day and enjoy food and family.  Holidays are days when you get presents for no reason at all, or chocolate.  Everybody is happy on holidays.

And then you grow up; graduate high school maybe even college, and the world descends en mass.  You need to get a job to pay off those loans and pay your rent, and the truth about holidays is revealed.  Holidays are for children and those that work for the government.  For everyone else, a holiday is the exact opposite.  Instead of relaxation, it's rush hour!!

As many of you have surmised, I am mainly writing with Starbucks and Safeway in mind.  I had a terrible Valentine's morning, purely because it was Valentine's morning.  People got up at un-Godly hours to buy a special coffee for their sweetheart, and all day long it continued, as customers came in with someone special, (or themselves), in mind.  There was pretty much never a time when someone was not in line, and I'm pretty sure many of the customers conspired to come in at the same time, just to annoy me...  And to top off this stress level, the district manager was there on Valentine's Day, assessing us. Ah me, Life! Right?

But the nice thing about holidays, everyone is cheerful.  They don't need to be at work, no one is in a hurry, and they are perfectly willing to chat with each other as they wait. It is quite surprising how thankful and happy customers are when I hand them a steaming vanilla latte with a smile and a wish for a good day.  Their gracious attitudes took some of the stress off mine this Friday, and I was able, (after the bout of lightheaded-ness), to really appreciate my job and see it's merits in my life and the lives of those I affect everyday.  I am growing to understand the chance this job has given me to really be a light in the lives of others, to shine forth the light of my Creator, and make people wonder, what makes me so different? Why am I so happy in a job so stressful?

And so that is my current goal, to be cheerful and thankful for this job I have been blessed with.  To be different enough that people stop and wonder why.

Oh and P.S.

I did actually have a wonderful Valentine's Day with Nathan this weekend.  We went to dinner on Thursday night, to beat the rush and because I had to work the next day.  We had a good time, stuffed ourselves, and spent too much money. (OK, not really, we had a gift card :) )

On the actually Valentine's day Nathan surprised me with roses (he dislikes spending money on things that die in 4 days, hence my surprise) and we watched unromantic comedies all day and ate our leftovers from dinner the night before.  It truly was a great time, Nathan is my best friend and I love to spend time just hanging out and enjoying each others' company.

Valentine's cards I sent out to loved ones near and far, but mostly far.

We had a very cheerful waitress who must have been a bit of a romantic.

Roses from Nathan

This one lost its stem...

Cards from friends, the envelope had so much writing on it that the post master sent it back to my friend Jen, and I had to pick it up in person! ;)