A renewed faith...

I have come away from this ass-kicking, long, hard week of work with a renewed faith... I can once again believe that good things come to those who wait. And work hard. And take shit from their boss for nine straight months....

Yesterday as I was checking the job postings throughout the California region for Borders stores, I noticed a posting for a new store in Arcadia, CA. For those of you not familiar with the Southern California landscape, Arcadia is about 5 miles east of Pasadena, which is about 15 miles east of Hollywood. A good half hour drive from my humble home, but this excited me! Arcadia promises to house the newest incarnation of the "Store of the Future" design that has made my current store on Sunset and Vine unique - as when it opened, it was one of only four stores in the company.

There have been rumors that when this new store became ready to open, my direct manager (and one of the best bosses I have ever had) would apply to be the General Manager. This poses some interesting options for me, as his position, the next logical chapter of my career at Borders, would be available both in Hollywood, and in Arcadia.

Tonight as my boss (David) and I were getting ready to close up shop for the night, we started talking about our current General Manager, and all the problems we and others have with the way he is running things. David said that he thought he'd be moving on soon (being very ambiguous about where he would go) and I said, "You know, you should get your own store, and I should work for you."

"You are more than welcome anytime," he said to me.

So I have renewed faith, that if you put your time in, work your ass off, and get your cafe to #2 in sales for all of Southern California (that's 39 stores in all!!), someday someone will notice and it will pay off.

Hopefully. :)