Fired for Doodling
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
Yup, from my first job. Wait ~ that’s not right ~ it was my second job. My first summer job was behind the concession stand at a movie theater shoveling popcorn and pushing Ju-Jubees. The best part was I got to see all the movies as many times as I wanted for free! But I digress…
My second job was full-time at Pic ‘n Save which was a small department store that was a cross between Walgreen’s and the then non-existent Wal-Mart. I ran the cosmetics department. That is to say, I unpacked boxes, priced items and stocked shelves all while ringing up things like shampoo & nail clippers.
I often closed and before anyone could leave, the store manager had to inspect your department and make sure everything was ship-shape, no bottles out of line on the shelves…that kind of thing. One night Mr. Manager was taking a very long time to come along and release me. So, all boxes having been unpacked and since the store was closed and there were no customers, I waited ~ and I doodled on a pad next to the register.
The next day ~ my day off ~ I get a call from Mr. Store manager asking me to come in to talk. He brandished the doodles that I had so carelessly left behind and told me if I had time to draw, I had time to work and that I was fired. I still remember his outrage at having found those doodles. Of course trying to explain that I’d only doodled because I was waiting for him did absolutely no good. Would it be mean of me to hope he is a stock boy at Walgreen’s or a greeter at Wal-Mart now?
