"Just hired at the Nature Company/looking back at 8/3/97"

Folks you wouldn't believe what happened in the morning BEFORE I even got to my first day of work!  But for this entry, I will stick to the events surrounding dangerous Baltimore life and retail hell.

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8/3/97

As soon as I show up at Nature Company, Jen , a new employee and myself get "crammed" into this tiny back room with the training video just a coupla inches from our faces! 

I feel a panic attack coming on and my chest is tightening.  We're back there alone for 20 minutes or so.  We are then led to a back room where we see but are not introduced to:  Ross,  the manager from Brooklyn. 

Ross gets this phone call from GOD KNOWS WHO and he says:

MY LIFE IS AT RISK EVERY DAY I'M HERE BUT I CAN'T LEAVE BECAUSE I'VE ONLY BEEN HERE 3 MONTHS!"

When Ross realized I heard him he dramatically covered his mouth!  I  asked him about the overheard conversation.  He said:

"There is so much theft at this store that I have to go to court two to three times a week where I am constantly putting people in jail!"  He went on to say that he always goes for maximum sentencing!  As a result the thieves turn around and make death threats to him.

How ironic!  Here I am at the Nature Company which is supposed to be supporting all of this good stuff and have good values!

I asked questions about whether we are at risk of being robbed at gunpoint by taking this job.  He replied:

"NONE OF US HAVE BEEN ROBBED AT GUNPOINT AT THIS LOCATION YET BUT IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME!"

He went on to say: "We need to be prepared to die at any moment!

(Working these god damned $5.00 hour retail jobs isn't much different then being in the killing fields!)

He asked Jen to keep our lunch break limited to 30 minutes total.  We cut our lunches short to go back and he's wasn't even there at the supply room like he said he'd be.  We waited 20 minutes.  One of the employees called him to tell him we were waiting.  (Thinking about safety it felt creepy to us that we were left alone in an isolated hallway/storage area. 

We found 2 crates to sit on otherwise we would have been left standing.  He came back but says he doesn't have the right key, and he's locked out.  he said:

"ILL BE RIGHT BACK"

But HE NEVER RETURNED!

I was so uncomfortable that I went looking for him and found him.  He took us to a refrigerated warehouse but we had no jackets and were not warned. He did more training but told us that we are not permitted to sit.  This is OUTRAGEOUS!

This is just like a POLICE STATE.  If you need to go to the bathroom, they frisk you and check your backpacks on the way in and the way out!  Pitiful, this level of fascism and distrust.  And all I earned today is 27.50.

This job is going to be extremely stressful I wonder how I'll manage the stress.