Emmie's Entries

A Rusty Podium

Thursday; December 08, 2022; 09:42:22pm
Song Playing: "Homeward Bound/Home" - Glee Cast Version.

"It's bad." "It really has become a shit show." "The place really needs to be updated." "Just in general it's not doing well." "Things really have gone downhill."

These statements are true. The coffee kiosk at retail chain 336 has definitely gone downhill since most of its old team members left. Myself included. Every time I hear news about it I'm reminded of this fact. A member of my current team at kiosk 2151 took a shift at 336 yesterday, and saw first hand what I had left behind. Again she is right. It has gone downhill. The numbers aren't exactly forgiving. I've experienced it myself as a customer when I shop there, as it's the closest one to my house. Despite both of us seeing first hand just how objectively bad things have gotten there we both have a significantly different image of it in our minds.

Lindsey picked up the shift not knowing I used to work there. Our current boss also transferred to 2151 from there, and I essentially followed him when I couldn't find work as a receptionist. When people here talk about 336 they talk about it like a horror story. They speak about it the way people who didn't watch the Olympic Winter Games a certain year would speak about seeing what the venue looks like 20-50 years later. If you look at the Olympic stadium in Sarajevo, you'll see a bobsled track turned war-time trench. Someone who didn't watch or compete in the games wouldn't see anything but a warning, or a lesson in why you shouldn't invest in such things.

Someone who watched, and especially someone competed in the games on the other hand, would see the decay as more of a sad epilogue to a glorious story. The baseball field in Athens built for the 2004 Olympic Summer Games was once a place where lifelong dreams came true. Years of hard work and sacrifice paying off as athletes competed for personal and national glory. Someone who didn't watch or compete in those games visiting this field in its current condition may see it as a reason not to host anymore Olympic games in the future. Although one of the athletes or passionate spectators could probably tell you exactly where the diamond was even under a couple feet of weeds and debris.

Much like an athlete or deeply invested spectator returning to the baseball field in Athens, Greece there's a pang of sadness when I see the way 336 has deteriorated. This sadness accompanies a mental scrapbook of all of our home runs and medal ceremonies. When I think about our kiosk my mind doesn't immediately think of what it's decayed into now. I don't think of the weeds or the empty seats. I think of when it held the cauldron, and when the torch was ablaze! I think of my team running out on the field ready to give it all for the gold!

I think of my team. John was our fearless leader who set a bar so high for us a gymnast would struggle to reach it. Month after month we reached it. Kevin was our second in command, and the glue who kept our team together. He kept the bar high for us, but he also kept John from raising it so high we'd pull a bicep or deltoid from reaching for it. He was like an older brother to us. No matter how long you'd known him he was down to be your friend, and he was a creative genius on bar. Natalie was fast, but never too fast to care. She was a hard worker, gave good advice, and she helped me get a diagnosis my psychiatrist was genuinely surprised I hadn't gotten sooner.

Giselle was a fast learner and a hard worker. She was detail oriented, but never focused on the negative details of a person. She always had a consistent and uplifting shoulder to lean or cry on, and could always make us laugh. Valeria was very friendly no matter how tired she felt, and wouldn't let anyone give us attitude or bs unless we really deserved it. Her adorable contagious laugh could create world peace if given the chance. We had our differences, but at the end of the day she's my teammate, and my love for her as a person and friend outweighs any grudges. I miss coloring with her.