I HAVE JAERB SECURITY!

(If you don't understand the play on 'Job,' go check out HomestarRunner and his buddy Coach Z. )

God bless my store manager, but I think he has a lot on his plate. Last I heard, he was going to send some of us to the Barnes & Noble in the Promenade to get our feet wet before we transferred.

Well, that never happened. But, lucky me, I got on his butt about it. He finally told me it wouldn't hurt if I went and introduced myself to the store manager at the B&N Promenade.

So I did that. This past Thursday night, I called that store and asked if their SM was there. I was told he wasn't, but that he'd be in for the morning Friday.

Perfect. I don't have classes Friday (though in a couple weeks that won't matter anyway! Whoo!), and I worked at four, so that would give me plenty of time to sleep, take a shower, and head on over to the Promenade Barnes & Noble.

This is great; you're gonna love this. So I get to the customer servie desk, which is more-or-less in the middle of this store (most Barnes & Nobles are two storeys [ies?]. This one is only one storey, but stretched out.) It's about -- oh, one in the afternoon, yeah. Plenty of time to chat it up with the store manager.

The one person at the desk is helping someone else. I wait. As I'm waiting, another of my retailer cousins starts to help a female duo looking for books "like Eragon, but s/he's already read the Dragonriders of PERN series by McCaffrey."

I. HEART. McCaffrey. I'm rereading her works right now, as her son appears to have taken the reins. I can't help but take the lead.

I walk over to the three ladies and politely interpose myself. I lift up a finger and say quietly, "Ah, apologies for intruding, but I couldn't help but hear you talking about the Dragonriders of PERN series. If you're looking for books along those lines, try the Dragonlance series by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickmann."

All three ladies thank me profusely, and my cousin retailer leads the other two customers to the SCIFI/FANTASY section of her store. I wait a few minutes more at the customer service desk, but the person who was there originally appears to have gone on her break . . . While people were waiting. Herm . . .

Oh well, whatev'. I figure, give the lady a shot, so I follow her over to the SCIFI/FANTASY section and introduce myself.

"I was wondering if you could also help me?"

"Oh absolutely. What can I help you with?"

"Well, I called last night to try and talk to [name of store manager withheld because I'm paranoid like that] because I'm hoping to transfer over here from the B. Dalton down the street; as you probably know, that store is closing."

"Let me go get him for you."

My fellow cousin retailer leads me back to the customer service desk and gets [sM/BN/P] on the phone. "Hey [sM/BN/P], there's a Carole [i've already introduced myself here once ] here who'd liked to speak to you." She gets off the phone, smiles at me and says, "He'll be here momentarily, he's the only SM right now."

Ahh, I know how that feels. I smile as well, adding a nod too. "I understand completely. I've got nothing but time."

And that was my pleasant experience with one of my fellow retailer cousins.

Then came [sM/BN/P]. We shook hands, and he noted that he had seen me here in the store before.

I nod. "Yes, my customer loyalty is totally assured," I joke. We share a little laugh.

"So what do you do at the B. Dalton? Are you a cashier, or--?"

"I do everything: cashiering, customer service, shelving, recieving . . . I haven't done much returning but--"

"What have your reviews been like?"

I pause. I have th tendency to go overboard on the information, so I ask for clarification. "Do you want me to go through what they say?"

"No, just generally what's been going on in them."

"Well, I've recieved a raise every time; perhaps the only thing I need to work on is getting tasks done in a timely manner, but that's really only because there's so much that has to be done at a store like B. Dalton, whereas with a Barnes & Noble you have specific people doing these specific tasks."

[sM/BN/P] nods. And then his pager/phone-thing rings. "Moderator (Manager-On-Duty) to the CashWrap, Moderator to the CashWrap."

He grins sheepishly and points towards the front of the store. I smile knowingly abd take a step back, implicitly disengaging from our conversation and allowing him to go take care of his managerial duties.

While he's at the front, I take a moment to breathe. This isn't really an interview, as far as I know, but I'm about as nervous as I was when I went on my first job interview for the B. Dalton store. I have no idea if I'll have a formal interview for transfer or what; we'll see.

Anyway, he comes back, but before we cna start talking again, his store needs him again! So he says, "I'll talk to [your store manager] and get his thoughts on you; how does that sound?"

"Sounds perfect; thanks so much for your time."

"My pleasure, Carole."

We shake hands. Before I leave the store I talk to a friend of mine who originally worked at the B. Dalton in the Northridge Fashion Center; however, instead of following his buddies to Topanga, he took a little pay increase and extra responsibility as Bargain Lead for the Barnes & Noble in the Promenade. We catch up, I find out what his partner wants for Christmas (Nightmare on Elm Street; can you believe it?), and cross our fingers that maybe we'll be working buddies.

So that was all Friday the Eighth. And, now, not that I'm superstitious or anything, but Saturday I was in Kids in my store shelving stuff, and I came across a series of Magic Eight-Balls with an Eragon theme. Just for the heck of it, I picked one up and asked it, "Am I going to get transfered to the Barnes & Noble in the Promenade?"

"It is certain."