The saying "Jumping The Shark" comes to mind because it's one that Stu and I often use to describe something that's just crossed over from being "bent" to being "broken". I believe the original saying had to do with the sitcom "Happy Days" when there was some sort of silly stunt that Fonzie did related to a boat and water skis and a shark.
"Happy Days" was supposed to be about the 1950's, but I'm sure that anyone who actually grew up during that era, assuming they had time to be watching TV then as opposed to raising children, would spot a few things very wrong. I had a similar situation myself watching "The Wonder Years" which was supposed to be set in the 1970's and actually aired when I SHOULD have been busy raising children.
What is it with things that are trying to be something they are not and never have been? How about the ostentatious sign pictured above? Is this appropriate for an abandoned shopping mall that was once "The Great Northwest; the biggest and the best?" I am quoting, from memory, a radio jingle from sometime in my youth, but God only knows what year. I could actually sing it for you, but not in a blog.
Anyone who spent any time there during the 1990's was probably alarmed by the presence of obvious gangs with their trademark red or blue colored clothing and do-rags (I don't even know how to spell that, I'll admit, that's how naive I sometimes am).
Now, it's this big abandoned once-great shopping mall trying to be something else. The only thing that appears to have changed there since August is this huge sign. Someone is trying to get rich off of it, and they figured why not start with the sign. Good luck with that, my friends. You have zero control over the surrounding demographic, of which, ironically, I am currently a part. This behemoth is just minutes from my beautiful new home.
I don't understand this, and I'm not going to try. I just need to remember who and what I am in the here and now. At this exact moment, I am getting a decent paycheck but no benefits from a good friend who is a small business owner in dire need of getting her assistant position defined properly and documented.
But until I can gain control and help her in the long term, I need to be quiet and not unintentionally get in her way. I need to show up and answer her telephone and greet her customers from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and try not to get sucked into the madness myself.
You see, she is a strong lady who has always run her own small business. At the moment, she is struggling to keep her mind and family intact, thanks in part to some large companies who are literally in the business of screwing her over.
I get it, and that's what makes me valuable to her as a friend more than an hourly employee 35 hours a week. We'll see how long this friendship and work relationship lasts. For right now, we're both OK with it being temporary.
But the one thing I will try very hard NOT do is "Jump The Shark" and desire to have her life or business. I need to be OK with the here and now. Because, let's face it - this very life is temporary. And I am already beyond blessed in so very many ways that my boss/friend is not.
And that's how I became Rose the Temp from 9-4 M-F. I'll greet you pleasantly, I'll talk to you on the phone, I'll take your payments. I won't engage with you because I simply can't. I'm playing my role and nothing more, and therefore doing it well.
