it's been quite a while...

...for me as a Publix associate: over sixteen years. I have learned how to be really good at smiling, greeting everyone who comes within ten feet (10 ft x 10 sec. rule), and offering to help every customer I encounter. In all this time, I have had some  really good department managers, and some not so good to work for. Some really hard working guys and some who were slackers from the first day. And now I have a new one. That I really like. He is hard working, old enough to not be feeling like he has to prove anything .I'm convinced part of what makes a good man, and a good manager is not so much 'experience', but that ability to not get worked up over stuff that seems to come with age. So maybe it is experience, but it's the way guys who have a lot of it under their belts react, and seem to have the ability to remain calm, instead of getting all worked up about small stuff.

This newest manager, transferred from another store here in town is:  Always smiling, always speaking to everyone he passes, always interacting with customers and fellow employees... which is a  big change from the guy he replaced.  Remarkably agreeable, easy to get a long with, just a nice guy. I've only been working with him for two weeks and I'm really impressed with his attitude and work ethic. Mostly because I have seen him scrubbing floors and walls - something that has not been done in years  - completely overlooked ignored, neglected by previous managers who just did not want to take the time to maintain sanitation.

I had not been going to church on Sunday mornings for about six months before this new guy came along. The previous dept.  manager, who is the guy who would decide what the work schedule would be, how many hours part-time people would get, when part timers would work, (for reasons unbeknownst to me) had me working early hours on Sunday so I could not attend church. I didn't ask 'why?', since he was so unapproachable. But quietly simmering. Totally annoyed that I had to be a work at 7 or 8 or 9 or 10 - all of which meant I could not go to a 9:00 service. Something I've been doing for years, while agreeably working Sundays.

But I asked this new guy about coming in at 11:00, so I could get to church for the early service, then leave and drive about a mile to get to work. He said "I'm going to church on Sunday morning with my family, so I don't have any problem with you going". Hallelujah.

I've been maybe three times to my church on a Sunday morning, sitting in my spot, since back in the early summer, so it is really a big deal that I was there today. And hope that this will continue, so I can be there on a regular basis in the future, as I firmly believe we all need more Jesus in our lives.