Today was my dad's birthday, so I was home.
I met up with Dylan, a friend of my brother's since he works at the cake shop adjacent to my workplace. He decorated the cake I was going to be giving my dad. We always chat about how he's doing or what my brother is up to. I recall that when I was younger, he had called the house once. In a rush to give the phone to my brother, I fell up the stairs and ended up fracturing my big toe.
Random, but that's what it is.
I don't remember what I was talking about with my auntie, but I suspect it had to do with work. It then reminded me about one of the first customers I had ever had.
He was complaining to me about how his warranty wouldn't be extended beyond the first year, even though he was getting a replacement device.
"Why not? Apple is right there, aren't you guys better than Apple?"
"I didn't say that, I'm just saying we're not extending your warranty."
"I bet they'd do it over there."
"Nope, you're welcome to walk and ask them, but they won't extend it there either."
I recall that the customer fumed over it and walked away while we continued talking to his wife. I think I've learned that as much as I don't want to deal with confrontation, I also enjoy it.
Today I actually talked to the waiter I always get at Tonkatsu Tamafuji.
He dropped into the store looking for a keyboard, so I asked if he worked at Tamafuji. He said, yes, but he didn't remember me. Of course not, I said, you turnover tons of tables every day.
Turns out he was looking for something we didn't sell, but he did share that he's only one of two full time workers at Tamafuji. During the day, he goes to school at KCC, so he enjoys his Tuesdays off.
It would be the last time I'd be seeing him for a while, especially considering I didn't know when my next trip would be.
Today I met the parking attendant.
This was the 5th time this month I'd be eating tonkatsu. It was a short interaction, but the parking attendant remembered me and asked if I worked in the building. I said no, but he waived my parking fee for me anyway.
Good looking out! :)
Today I met my lower school principal!
When I say lower school, I meant elementary school. I haven't seen her in years, so I asked if she remembered me. She asked me for my name.... And then exclaimed, "Oh how's your mom?!"
She remembers how much my mom helped out the school during my elementary years. This is also during the time when she was building her career, and we were relatively new immigrants to the country. She and mom spoke to each other in Tagalog and built their connection that way.
We talked about our families and how they're doing, and she invited me back to school sometime. I'm inclined to take her invite, since I've not been in a while.
Today I met some prepubescent boys.
We host League of Legends tournaments at work, which is fine... But as with prepubescent boys, they also sometimes haven't learned about the magic of deodorant. That's less ok.
During the event, we have rules about conduct... Like not swearing. Easy enough. Except some kids did and I had to "mom" them once I heard them swear.
"Hey, you guys heard what he just said about conduct right?"
"Yes."
"And you don't want to get disqualified right?"
"No."
"I mean, it's not just you who gets disqualified but your friends will be too, right?"
"Yes."
"Don't do it again, I would hate for that to happen to you."
"Ok."
They looked genuinely remorseful, so I couldn't help but be amused. I guess I'm old enough to be "mom"-ing people.
It's been like a solid month since I've kept up with this so wish me luck.
I met the clinicians who volunteer with me at the Special Olympics every year. It was our "thank you" dinner for volunteering at the event. It's always fun to see these people because they feel so passionately about helping out the special needs population in Hawaii.
I heard from one of them that Hawaii legally legalized selling hearing aids over the counter, so that was kind of cool. I also heard that one of them would be transitioning out, maybe to retire. It's crazy because the program has been around for about 7 years, and it's still running pretty strong. Most of the people had been participating for the whole time, and the dedication is definitely admirable.
Today I met some nice young workers from Restaurant Ireh.
The first few times I went to the restaurant, a pair of older Korean women helped. This time, it was a younger pair of boys, I assumed that they were maybe their sons. They were probably the most polite kids I've ever met running a restaurant by themselves.
They filled our waters, and were super polite even as we spilled sauce all over the table and asked for extra napkins.
I mean, granted they messed up my kimchi takeout order, but that's more my fault than theirs. I need someone else to order my food all the time.
My market manager came to visit today.
Last time he came to visit, we were speaking at the front of the store. I had given him a lei, which is customary for visitors... And a few minutes after, an older woman approached him and asked, "I'm your birthday present!"
She gave him a hug and I looked at him. I mean, he's a good looking guy, so I'm sure it happens often. Though, even I've not seen something so brazen.
"So what's going on for your day?"
I tried to interject with activities going on in the store, and the woman looked at me with a blank stare for what felt like 10 minutes. She then ignored me and asked him, "What do you have planned for later?"
"Not much, just hanging out with the team here."
I tried to rescue him, really I did, but he was on his own. He was very polite and didn't take any of her advances before she smiled at him saying, "I'll just be sitting over here."
My manager and I ended up picking up our conversation where we left it... But damn that was something else.
Today I met a cashier at Foodland.
I had just gone to the post office, where I had seen a woman ripping out pages of her notebook and putting it into an envelope. The woman was extremely nice, going as far to use terms of endearment like "honey" and "love."
I don't commonly hear terms of endearment like that, so it was a little weird for me. It reminds me of my Animal Crossing game, where the villagers had tag lines exactly like that... And would ask you to change it if they didn't think it was cool anymore.
I went to tonkatsu again today, so I didn't really meet anyone new.
This is, no joke, the fifth time I've probably gone this month. My friends went ahead of time to make sure we got seated. At this point, the garage guy recognized me and asked if I worked in the building... I said no.
Yeah. That often.
Today I met a volunteer.
I'd learn that a week later, since this guy was pretty cranky. He spent a large chunk of time complaining about his computer, but he did have good questions regarding its functionality.
He shared with me that Vineyard used to only be a 2 lane road. When it got expanded, the parking lot in front of the Buck Toy Club. He didn't say much, but he said that a lot of the plantation owners used to send money back to China through this club. I found a nice history about it here.
He didn't really talk about it much mostly because he wanted to complain and ask me questions I didn't know the answers to.
Today I met a volunteer.
She's first one of my customers, and I had helped her with one of her computers previously. She volunteers at Dress for Success at the YWCA downtown, where they collect business wear that can be sold to women who don't yet own professional attire.
This woman is really nice, and had battled cancer in her past. We had talked once about reading Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking. It came up because we both felt we were generally introverted people.
Overall, very nice lady, and I enjoy seeing her when I do.
Today I met the cooks at Dat Cajun Guy!
It's a food truck on the North Shore that is probably the only place that sells good Cajun food on the island. This isn't the first time I've been here, but the guys are generally very friendly. I don't have much to say other than don't over order food, we often forget that there are half plates.
Dat Cajun Guy's full plates of gumbolaya, BBQ shrimp, and fried oysters.
Today I met a cashier at a burger place.
She told me I reminded her of her daughter, and asked if I was a dancer. I told her no, but sometimes I wished I could dance. I thanked her for her compliment, and went on my way.
It's always nice to hear kind things from other people, thought sometimes it is awkward to accept a rather generous compliment.
This week, I was definitely sick and didn't talk to anyone much at work today. This day was relatively hazy otherwise.
I went to Jack in the Box for fries today, and this is where I should probably mention that I have no luck ordering food. I can repeat the order, have them confirm it, and pay for it, and I'll still receive the wrong food.
I did that at Jack in the Box today, and the lady didn't include the buttermilk, which I wanted since I ordered it. The second woman apologized for the first one missing it, but it was just dumb. I was really irritable because this happens to me everywhere.
Maybe I talk too fast, but also maybe don't be so rude taking my order.
I don't remember what I did today, or who I met. I know a lot of this week revolved around me being sick, and I haven't been keeping up, which was dumb of me.
So instead, I'm going to talk about how I met a guy at work when I was sick once. I was disgusting that day, absolutely disgusting. My eyes were watery, I was endlessly sniffing and blowing my nose constantly.
I approached a customer this day, and asked if he needed anything. He said no, but I asked him about his tattoo. It was a sefirot/sephiroth, which I recognized from randomly reading on Wikipedia one day. We hit it off, and I learned he was from LA and occasionally performed with Christina Perri.
Then, I sneezed all over his black shirt. I was immediately apologetic, and rushed to get him tissue. After he wiped it off, he asked me for my number, to which I replied, "Are you serious?"
Today... I didn't meet anyone.
I mean, I went to Whole Foods and got my sandwich made by the most uninspired group of employees ever but that was about it.
Today... I didn't really meet anyone new.
I went to get some food at Poke Box, which is pretty standard. It reminded me of this one time that I had gone, and this girl threw a little tantrum at the woman making her food.
"NO! TOO MUCH SAUCE."
No joke, there it was a shrill scream with a foot stop. Mind you, this girl was probably around 21 years old... With her boyfriend. How embarrassing.
Today I met an artist's father.
I took a picture of his daughter's art on a studio, since it looked amazing! I told him it was really good, after assuming that the computer with him was what he used to draw. He corrected me quickly and told me it was actually his daughter's computer, and they were looking to fix it.
He shared with me that she loves drawing as her hobby, in addition to robotics. It's so amazing to see what more kids can do with all the technology at their hands. I watched her draw for a little on another computer, and you could see the enthusiasm for it. Good for her, it's energizing to watch people so excited about what they do.