Down In the Underground

I have sort of a second job now. Well, maybe it's more of a fourth or fifth job! (I work hard for the money.) It's kind of a job within a job. So I work in a jewelry and watch store, and they have a service department that does repairs and stuff on watches and jewelry. It used to be closed on Saturdays, but now its open, and I've been asked to man the place one Saturday a month to give M a weekend off. Working Saturday is fine, and I would be at work anyway, but today is my first day over here in the service department, and I'm kind of nervous because I have never helped any customers with watch or jewelry repairs before. I think I know the basics, but... I'm still nervous. I had to learn how to enter and post the sales on the computer, and it seems pretty straightforward, but I haven't really been tested yet.

David the watchmaker is here with me--it's just us down here. But he is an older Russian guy, and not very talkative at all. We are connected to the main store, but I can't leave my post to go associate with them, because I have to be here if a customer comes in. And I can't do my regular job, because I'm not allowed to have watches and jewelry laying around down here for security reasons. So there's really not much to do except sit and wait for customers to come in. But it's Saturday in midtown, and the old hours are still on the door, so there are no people coming in. Which is fine with me. I've been facebooking and blogging with no shame at all.

I can people-watch, because I'm right near the subway, and have a big glass window. This is nice, because my regular desk is in a basement with no windows. Glamorous, I know. On the one hand I have half-million dollar watches coming through my hands, but on the other hand I have a basement desk that gets coated in blackish soot if I don't dust it every day. Hey, I'm just happy to have a job! The other perq down here is the i-pod player. I can listen to my own music!

Right across the way is a bodega with candy, magazines, and other random things. A neon sign in the window taunts me with the current amount of the New York Mega Millions lottery: $50 million. And the guy at the register in there is staring at me. Sometimes if I'm desperate I'll go buy candy from him, but it's a big rip-off. A dollar for a candy bar! I could spend that dollar on a lottery ticket and win the jackpot, but I never buy a ticket.

The door is broken, so it doesn't close all the way, and a cold winter breeze is coming in. Good thing I wore a wool sweater! Sigh... I think one of the salespeople from upstairs is going to bring me a piece of pizza later for lunch. That's what I have to look forward to. I think it's going to be a long day.