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immediately nicknamed me, "the Chico's chiquita" 😄

I thought I was going in yesterday just to sign a few papers and get my direct deposit set up. Instead, I was there for three hours, reading tutorials, taking quizzes online (including one that not only had I not yet been told the answers to, I wasn't even yet read in on what different terms and acronyms meant, meaning sometimes I didn't understand the question, let alone the answers) and being shown how the cash register works...kind of. The store manager (who from now on will just be SM) is a lovely woman but neither training nor communication seem to be her strong suit (for example, I'm not certain if I'm getting paid for yesterday's three hours at the store). There was a definite mix of good and bad yesterday. The good: everyone working there seems very nice, I *do* like the store and the merchandise, it doesn't feel like too difficult a job to do and it looks like I might be getting more hours than the quoted "2-3 days a week" (5 hours each day). Plus I will be gaining customer service/customer support skills; it's surprising to me how many jobs listed on Indeed require those. The bad: they don't have anything close to a set schedule. When I decided to be open to a part time job, I was expecting to have the same days and hours every week and only having different hours if someone was on vacation; when Dad worked at his last job, he worked Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8:00 AM-4:00, only changing days if someone had to be off for some reason. Yesterday I was told oh no, I could work any day, either shift. I've long not understood having the same people and not having them work the same hours each week; bff encountered this almost her entire career in nursing, although for part of it, she worked weekends consistently. I guess that's just the nature of retail (and maybe restaurant and hospitals)? Also, I'm still the tiniest bit annoyed by the dress code. I had it wrong; I thought you could wear anything Chico's at any time but no, if you're wearing Chico's clothes, it must be something that's for sale in the store at that time (which makes sense, I admit). Otherwise, you can wear neutrals--I laughed when I was told "animal print" was considered a neutral. This would not be a problem for most women as many of us have a wardrobe full of black pants and white tops, but the only dressy neutral I own at the moment is a single pair of black pants...and they might be a bit too dressy for a retail job. I asked how strict they are about what you wear...yeah, they're pretty strict. I was also a bit taken aback when SM, upon affirming my availability, immediately started changing the schedule. She'd just told me you'd know the schedule two weeks in advance, and if someone needed to change days/times, they should work it out with another co-worker, and she also told me she'd never change my schedule without informing me first. Yet there she was, taking "S" off the schedule and putting me on instead. SM said S had told her she had company coming in, and "I figure S would want the time off"...S was working yesterday, so why didn't SM check with S first to see if the changes were *definitely* wanted? My last gripe: apparently every day when I come in, and every day when I leave, they want me (and anyone else who works for the place) to stand under the camera and have my purse or any other bags on me searched. Again, I get it...you have to be vigilant about shoplifting. But it seems a bit extreme, searching people every day when you have no suspicion/cause to.

I'm working again Friday and then, I believe, three days next week. I will get confirmation about my schedule the next time I'm in. I *promise* I'm keeping an open mind, and of course I will work to the best of my ability no matter what days I'm there.