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Friday, May 29, 2009

HOM: Changing

Working in a store was a new experience for me, I was used to Blue Collar and all of a sudden Jerry was converting me to White Collar. The first change was diet - I added forty pounds over the next year, but took thirty of it back off. I was used to eating a lot and got away with it because I'd burned off a LOT of calories pushing a wheelbarrow or dragging logs around, but all of a sudden I was sitting on my butt & reading more than I was doing anything else. Not good. Appearance was the next item. All of a sudden I was shaving daily, a practice I'd avoided while in the sweatshops. Sweat & razor burn made for a lot of discomfort and no one had cared how I looked during the week. The old cotton shirt & J. C. Penney jeans & comfy work boots I lived in were gone, replaced by dressier items like slacks and sports shirts & dress shoes. My hands changed -- all of a sudden I had to use real sandpaper. Before that, the palms of my hands were rough enough to abrade paint or polish stones. Lyn & Bec both appreciated that change. All of a sudden Lyn wanted back rubs and Bec would hold my hand without complaining that it felt like a brick. I started learning to relate to people a whole lot better. The old adage of having to sell yourself before you could sell a product didn't fully apply in the used book trade, but being personable was an asset I needed to acquire. Poor Jerry. I know that he often regretted taking me in on more than one occasion. I was NOT an apt student. TBC (Me) (Blacktail Books)

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