LCBO DAYS

I'm nearing the end of my holiday strech with the LCBO and as a whole, it's been a great job. Working in a small town where every person there was either from Port Stanley or St. Thomas, went to school with my mom, or knows a relative of mine was nice. I felt like I fit in right away. There were only a handful of bad customers (thankfully I only had to deal with one and he just seemed like a grouch so I didn't take it personally) and some of them could get VERY vocal but that's any customer service job. I loved the Christmas Eve shift and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's New Year's Eve shift. I love it when it's so busy that you aren't watching the clock. I've noticed the change in customers from Christmas (adults) to New Year's (teens) and it's very obvious. It has been exhausting working 7 days a week but I am looking forward to that big paycheck!

When I started working at the LCBO I knew that I would run into ALOT of people I knew from high school, sports, etc. At first I was really anxious, like I was attending my high school reunion every day - and in total I saw hundreds of people I once went to school with. It wasn't because I didn't want to see people or that I had bad experiences I just got flustered when they'd walk in the door - not that they didn't get flustered too, I had a guy I dated in high school SWITCH out of my line when he saw me! I wanted to say "hi!"

But after the first few flusters, I thought about why I was anxious, and decided that I wanted to talk to these people. I wanted to know what they were doing, if they were married, and where they worked/lived now. I would just smile, take a deep breathe, and say hello like we were old friends.

A few dozen reunions later, I was searching my line hoping to see a familiar face. How could I have been so blind - this is what I was missing during my 20 months on Saba. This is what I craved - Recognition! Smiles! Hellos! I wanted so desperately to walk into Big Rock and not have them ask me if I was new to the island (after shopping there over 100 times), why would I even consider treating someone I knew like that? I'm better than that, and not just because I know how it feels.

Now wherever I go in St. Thomas I search out people I know to say hi, I don't turn and go down a different aisle because knowing and acknowledging your neighbour is one of the greatest things about life in small towns.