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So I have 5 days before I have to go to Oklahoma to learn how to work at Wal-Mart. I'll be working all but one of those nights. I don’t know if I can learn that; I’ve been with the company for almost 10 years and been in management for 8 of those years. Who knows, maybe I’ve been doing it wrong all along. I’m looking forward to going. I’ll travel on Sundays, school Monday through Thursday, travel back home on Fridays, then start all over on Sundays. I’ll have a hotel/motel room while I’m there. The only drawback is I’ll probably have a room mate. I don’t look forward to living with someone I’ve never meet five nights a week. I just hope it’s someone who isn’t 18 years old and never been away from home before. They tend to get a little wild. And I hope it’s not some religious freak…not that I am not religious but I’m not a freak and keep my religion to myself. I spent one very long week at a meeting with someone who worked very hard to convert me from my religion to theirs. We were both Christians but she felt her belief was right and I was going to hell if she didn’t save me. I finally asked for my own room and ended up paying for it myself for two nights. I checked with the store I’ll be at here in my hometown and was told that there were two positions open. I’ll either have the grocery/consumables or I’ll end up on overnights again. I’ve worked overnight for almost 2 years now and was hoping to work days but whatever. I dread the move to this store. It’s not as friendly and doesn’t feel so much like family. Maybe I can make it better. Or maybe I can swim upstream in a swift current. Everything depends on the General Store Manager and that’s not something one person can change. I have always been taught customer service is number one in being successful in retail, and number two is customer service. There is so much emphasis put on compliance now days that the customer has gotten lost in the scheme of things. This number must match what the company wants it to match; scheduling must match what the company wants instead of what the store needs to take care of the customer flow; the number of sales clerks must match what the company thinks the store needs instead of what the store needs to take care of the customers…it never ends. Managers aren’t merchants any more; they are number crunchers and administrators. I wonder what Sam Walton would think of it all. Anyway, I’m looking forward to going to school and having a few nights of quiet ever week. I just dread the room mate thing.