2002-10-17|8:00 p.m.
There is this lady named Tina who works at my drugstore.
She is maybe 45 or 50; it is hard to tell because she looks as if she looks a little older than she is.
She wears no make-up.
Her hair is long and light brown and she very rarely wears it up.
She has little wrinkles around her eyes and lips probably from being outside a lot and laughing freely.
I think maybe she was a hippie when she was younger or maybe she still is if it is possible to still be one, but don�t set that in your head as the image of her.
She wears these weird pajama-looking pants to work all the time even though management has expressly written in the rules that they are not allowed.
The pants are a green plaid and look extremely comfortable.
She is one of my favorite people there.
So, it is no surprise to me that everyone at work dislikes her or that they say they hate her.
They dislike her because she makes their jobs harder, or so they feel.
She only cashiers.
Her lines often get long and she has to call others to check who normally work on the floor.
I never really mind, because I just occupy eight hours there, no matter what I am doing.
But, that is just how I look at it.
Her lines get long because she is the epitome of customer service.
Or rather, she is a genuinely thoughtful person who likes making people happy.
She always clips the coupons in the ad and hangs them at the check stand so that if someone needs them she can give them the discount.
She keeps this singing hamster we sell at the check stand by her so she can play it for crying children to make them happy.
Everyone that shops there regularly knows her and loves her.
She often has conversations with people that break from the required lines we have to recite like: How are you?
Did you find everything ok?
Thank you for shopping at Longs Drugstore.
And if she says these things, it is always with sincerity.
If someone messes up something she always says something to make it seem like it was nothing.
People think she is weird because she sits in the breakroom with the TV and lights off and just kicks back on her break.
Once when I was in the breakroom and the Westerfield case was on TV with everyone gazing at it, she said, �This is sick and sad. They should have never aired this case or any case. These people�s real lives have become our entertainment.�
That is the only time I have ever heard her say something that made people feel bad as they felt guilt rise in their chests.
Or, maybe they didn�t feel bad at all and only chalked it up to her �weirdness�.
She once told me she lived outside of Washinton D.C., in a forest, where she and her boyfriend at the time had a print shop and did orders for people at the capitol.
She told me that they once stayed up two days straight to finish an order.
I liked the story and the details she remembered.
I also understand why people are frustrated with her.
But, it makes me sad that they let it be why they dislike her.
She complicates their worlds only because she is a good person.
I feel guilty because sometimes I nod my head to the things they say.
And I never really defend her.
Maybe, because I am afraid that people will dislike me too.
This, I know, is a bad reason.
I once anonymously voted for her for �Employee of the Year.�
Her favorite thing to do, since she stopped smoking, is to eat Flaming Hot Cheetos and drink this creamy orange Sobe drink that she says tastes just like Half and Half ice cream bars.
I tried the combination once just because I like her.
It was nice.
I am sorry that I fail to do the right thing sometimes, Tina.