Saturday 9

 Saturday 9: New Year's Day (2017)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

 
1) In the lyrics, Taylor Swift promises she'll not only be there for the party, but for the clean up afterward. As we say move on from the holiday season, could your home benefit from a thorough cleaning? My home could always benefit from a thorough cleaning. I'm an awful housekeeper.

 

2) This song describes a party where guests took Polaroid pictures. Have you ever owned a Polaroid camera? Do you have one now? My dad had a couple when I was a little girl. I don't believe I've ever owned one. In fact, if it wasn't for Taylor and the Lego set we sold at the store, I would have assumed Polaroid cameras were extinct.

 

3) Taylor sings that we should "hold on to memories." What special memory from 2025 memory will you hang onto? Meeting my little great niece, Violet. She's such a welcome addition to the family and has brought us such joy.

 

4) Taylor Swift grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania. Have you taken your tree, or other holiday decorations, down yet? If you didn't decorate at all, let us know that, too. My Christmas cards are down. I still have to take down the wreath on the front door and put my Santa kitty floor mat away. I'll do it before Monday, honest I will.

5) Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement but no wedding date has been shared. Do you anticipate attending any weddings in 2026? Nope.

6) Travis' team, the Kansas City Chiefs, is currently 6-10. Not exactly the record their fans hoped for. According to a 2024 Pew research study, 53% of Americans said football is their favorite sport. Have you watched much football this season? I don't care about football. But the Chicago Bears are doing better than expected and I'm happy for their fans.

 

7) In 2017, when "New Year's Day" was released, Wonder Woman was a hit at the box office. While Wonder Woman's superhero abilities vary depending on which TV show, movie or comic book you refer to, some of her powers remain consistent: a) immense strength, b) superhuman speed, c) the ability to almost instantly recover/heal from injury. Which would you like to possess – a, b, or c? I find C intriguing.

8) Have you made any New Year's resolutions for 2026? I have to get rid of the stuff I'm drowning in! So I've promised myself I'll donate goods every month. We'll see how I do.

 
9) What was the first thing to make you laugh in 2026? I stopped by the card shop on New Year's Day and one of the girls made me laugh with her love for all the cute pink and red plushies being promoted for Valentine's Day.

 

    

Umbrellas and Anthon Berger

This year for Christmas I got two umbrellas and two boxes of Anthon Berger chocolates. I was expecting the umbrella from my niece. We talked about how I'd begun carrying long, full-sized umbrellas because of my unfortunate proclivity for losing the folding ones. But I need a folding one for when I take public transportation and I had left my last one at the yoga studio. I also got a folding umbrella from my friend Kathleen. Add the one I bought myself on sale for Black Friday and I now have three. Let's see how long it takes me to lose all of them. 

Then there are the boozy chocolates. I'd never heard of Anthon Berger chocolate liqueurs and now I have two gift sets. They are kind of neat. Each foil-wrapped bottle is 2" in. high, made of dark chocolate, and filled with booze. I got one from Kathleen and another from my friend Mindy and her husband, Alan. I haven't tried any of them yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

It's funny. Mindy and Kathleen met once, more than a decade ago, at my mom's funeral. So I'm fascinated that they came up with the same gift for me, and something I previously didn't even know existed.

 

 

Oh, I don't know what I want!

I stopped by the card shop today. I'm not working, but I wanted to pick up next year's Christmas cards on sale and before they are packed away. I checked the New Year's Day schedule to make absolutely sure Caroline wasn't there. I didn't want to start 2026 with a dose of drama.

Well, I got some anyway. 

Kamilah and Zoey were working. Kamilah rang me up and was charming. Then I went into the back to see Zoey, who was taking her lunch. She was very happy to see me and did the sweetest thing ...

She got the other girls to join her in saving sale receipts for me. Our neighborhood business district has a holiday promotion every year: Collect $500 in receipts from participating stores and get a $50 coupon book. I am passionate about this program. Obsessed, if you will. There's a limit of three books/household and I wanted Christmas 2025 to be the first year when I earned all three. Zoey found my enthusiasm endearing and promised that, if a customer refused a receipt after it printed,* she would save it for me. She then went on to enlist two other salesclerks to join her and right before Christmas, she texted me a photo of her perfectly manicured fingers holding a thick stack of receipts. She was so proud, and I was touched. So when I saw her yesterday, I thanked her – for both the receipts and for her avid support of me during the mess with Caroline. When I got home, I discovered there were $306.71 in receipts! (She tallied them for me.)  There was also a handwritten note in which Zoey told me I am "one of the sweetest souls" she's ever met and she hopes she will be like me "when she grows up." How dear!

But then there was this: Zoey told me Caroline is no longer working at the store. Nothing has been formally announced, but our manager Helena has revised the published schedule through January 17 and Caroline's name no longer appears. Instead there are holes, shifts that have no supervisor on duty. I checked the scheduled and damn if Zoey isn't right. Next time I work – Friday, January 9 – I am no longer working with Caroline as had been originally scheduled.

I am conflicted about this. Zoey told me how awkward the last few weeks have been. Every sales associate was contacted by HR like I was on the 18th, and some of them were on the sales floor when their calls came. Helena was often there and aware when they had to go back to the office for privacy as they answered questions about how she's been running the store during Caroline's reign of terror. Gulp!

I didn't make any of this happen. I didn't even sign the 5-page complaint that HR was responding to. Also, only two bullets of the document pertained to me. But I am still sorry that any of it happened. 

I was going to quit at the end of this month. But now I don't know that I will. Maybe with Caroline gone, the vibe at the store will be restored and I'll enjoy the job again. For reasons too complex to go into here, I suspect the store will be closed by Corporate this summer anyway. I make an average of $375/month. It's an attractive notion to stick it out until after Memorial Day and earn more than $1,000. 

No matter what happens, I'll have that note from Zoey and her assurances that, when she told the other girls to save receipts for me, they said they'd do anything for The Gal.

I just wish there wasn't so much drama! 

 PS I didn't need the extra receipts to reach the $500 threshold. But I loved the gesture so much.

 

*This happens a lot. I don't know why a consumer would trust us with their sales receipt for a charge purchase. Even if I didn't want it, I'd take it home and shred it. 

Photo by Siora on Unsplash