Second jobs and scavenger hunts.

I started a second job today. The new apartment has been quite the drain on my finances, so I figured a part-time job on the side wouldn't hurt. Plus, it'll keep me busy and I can meet new people.

So far, the "new people" thing is great. This new job is really diverse. And by "diverse", I mean "I'm not the only minority in the building".

At this part-time job, I'll be working in the cafe of a bookstore. Today was my orientation - I did the requisite paperwork and sat through a couple of videos about the company. One was full of employee testimonials about how great it is to work there. Seriously, there was a full two minute montage of employees saying, "...it's about the people..." And when they said it, there was always this short dramatic pause between "about" and "the people."

You know what I'm talkin' about. I know you can picture it. There's a person on the screen and they say, "Working here is great, it's really about..." and then they stop to look away from the camera for a moment (meanwhile, you're on the edge of your seat like, "What? What's it about? The books? The music? The incredibly overpriced DVDs?"), and when they finally turn back towards the camera there's always this thoughtful smile on their face as they give that confident nod and say, "...the people."

The second video I had to watch was about sexual harassment. Did you just read that as "huh-RASS-ment" or "HAIR-ess-ment"? I'm sure both are correct, but one totally makes you sound like a pompous douche. I'm not saying which. Anyway, as soon as the video starts, there's the president of the company with a very dour look on his face. No more screwing around, people. The first thing he said was that the company had a "ZERO-tolerance policy on sexual harassment."

Wow. There's a shocker. I'd like to know what company has a 50%-tolerance policy on sexual harassment. Where's the company where the guys can grab half an ass-cheek and have it be okay?

After the videos we got sent on a "scavenger hunt." ("We" being me and the other trainees.) We were each given a list of about 50 categories (stuff like Linguistics, Tarot Cards, Death & Dying, Parenthood, etc.) and had to go find what shelves they were on. It wasn't supposed to be taken too seriously, they just wanted us to wander the floor and get familiar with the different book departments.

Stupidly, I took a clipboard with me. So there I was walking the floor with a clipboard and a pen - next thing you know I had customers coming up to me looking for "Investors Digest Weekly" and "Studio-In-A-Box". Luckily, leading these customers on a wild goose chase helped me find a few of those book categories from my list.

After lunch, I finally did some time behind the cafe counter. The cafe manager wasn't working today so I just stood back there and sampled different coffees (the green tea latte is excellent - it's oriental AND supercaffeinated!). Every now and then I would help a customer, but after knocking down a bunch of labels in the dessert display, my co-workers figured it would be better if I just wiped down some counters and stocked the cups.