Just when I thought it was going to be No Frills from here on in...
The Grocery Store Status Line.
I guess everyone has their own idea of what makes a status symbol. For some of us it’s cars and houses, for others it’s bling and loose women. For me, it’s the grocery store. When I have money, I shop at Fortinos. For those of you who live outside of Southern Ontario, Fortinos is basically the Cadillac of all grocery stores. At Fortinos, in every little section of the store, the employees wear different outfits. There’s the coffee house workers, the sushi chefs, the bakers, the seafood guys, you get the idea. Plus, they’re always located in really good areas with lots of nice cars in the parking lot. Adversely, when I don’t have money, I start slumming around the wrong side of the tracks at No Frills where they don’t unload the products off of the skids, nor do they clean up the pee in the aisles and you have you pay a $0.25 deposit to use a buggy. I guess the name of the joint is a dead giveaway, but come on…are pee-free aisles really a frill?
So, at the end of the month, Mark and I sit down at the kitchen table and look over the bills. Then we put them all into a hat and pull out the ones we’re going to pay at random. Sure, it sounds like fun, until someone has to go shop at No Frills because Mark pulled out the expensive bills. Anyway, after playing that game for two months, I decided that if I ever wanted to see the shiny, waxed floors of a Fortinos Grocery Store again, then it was time to get aggressive about this job-hunting business. So this morning, I phoned up all of the places to which I’ve submitted resumes recently. I find that this technique of ambush calling works quite well. If you catch the managers off guard, sometimes they’re so surprised by your initiative that they tell you they just so happen to have your resume right in front of them and that they were planning on calling you just before you called them. Lucky for me, that’s how it went down for me on my first call this morning. I phoned up West Town on Locke Street (which you may remember from earlier job-seeking posts) and managed to finally get an interview with Brandon.
When I got back from the interview, I made only one phone call.
“Hi Mark, it’s me. I got the job. Put on your fancy pants, we’re going to Fortinos”
The Taj Mahal
I guess everyone has their own idea of what makes a status symbol. For some of us it’s cars and houses, for others it’s bling and loose women. For me, it’s the grocery store. When I have money, I shop at Fortinos. For those of you who live outside of Southern Ontario, Fortinos is basically the Cadillac of all grocery stores. At Fortinos, in every little section of the store, the employees wear different outfits. There’s the coffee house workers, the sushi chefs, the bakers, the seafood guys, you get the idea. Plus, they’re always located in really good areas with lots of nice cars in the parking lot. Adversely, when I don’t have money, I start slumming around the wrong side of the tracks at No Frills where they don’t unload the products off of the skids, nor do they clean up the pee in the aisles and you have you pay a $0.25 deposit to use a buggy. I guess the name of the joint is a dead giveaway, but come on…are pee-free aisles really a frill?
So, at the end of the month, Mark and I sit down at the kitchen table and look over the bills. Then we put them all into a hat and pull out the ones we’re going to pay at random. Sure, it sounds like fun, until someone has to go shop at No Frills because Mark pulled out the expensive bills. Anyway, after playing that game for two months, I decided that if I ever wanted to see the shiny, waxed floors of a Fortinos Grocery Store again, then it was time to get aggressive about this job-hunting business. So this morning, I phoned up all of the places to which I’ve submitted resumes recently. I find that this technique of ambush calling works quite well. If you catch the managers off guard, sometimes they’re so surprised by your initiative that they tell you they just so happen to have your resume right in front of them and that they were planning on calling you just before you called them. Lucky for me, that’s how it went down for me on my first call this morning. I phoned up West Town on Locke Street (which you may remember from earlier job-seeking posts) and managed to finally get an interview with Brandon.
When I got back from the interview, I made only one phone call.
“Hi Mark, it’s me. I got the job. Put on your fancy pants, we’re going to Fortinos”
The Taj Mahal
posted by diadima at 11:58 PM
1 Comments:
i know what you mean about being able to shop at a place where you can leave your car unlocked, and having to pay attention to who is parking near you!
in general, i try to do my shopping at trader joe's; based out of so. cal, and doing great business since the whole labor relations between employees and management at the bigger chains.
also, we're lucky to have farmer's market every weekend and that's where i go to pick up my week's produce.
it's so weird to think there' a grocery chain called 'no frills' -- that's like the gas station chain out here called 'rotten robbies' -- you just hope the cashier is bright enough not to smoke while at work!
CONGRATULATIONS on the new job. will you have to get a new wardrobe? or will your circus act costumes be allowed? hope you're celebrating the new job beyond grocery shopping .. but, hey, whatever float your boat!
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