Another Regal story...

I wish I could have taken the practice exam, really, but I had to attend a mandatory employee meeting.

This weekend a man and his daughter came up to my counter and ordered four drinks and popcorn. Not only were the drinks all different sizes, but they were all different sodas. Every time I get an order I repeat it back to the customer just to double check. Of course, I mixed up two of the drinks, and this man gave me a look like I didn't deserve to live on Earth. I didn't deserve to breathe, and since I couldn't get an order right, I was most likely going to fail at life.

Regal customers make assumptions when they approach me. Possibly because I look college age, "This girl probably dropped out of school and is never going to get anywhere in life." I'm not saying that every customer assumes this-- but this man was sure one of them.

At this point, after the glare he shot at me, I didn't even want to look at him. I filled the order and ignored him until he complained that there was butter on the side of the popcorn bag. Well, there is butter on the side of the bag because you ordered butter. But I didn't say anything and wiped it off. Then I rang up his order, and when I was through, I smiled at him and said thank you.

I knew exactly what I was doing, exactly which smile to flash him. And his face blew up. He asked for my name, and later, as I had predicted, he complained to my manager. Nothing came of it.

I've never felt as low about me job as then. That because I was taking someone's order, they could walk all over me (the irony is that I am probably more intelligent than 95 percent of the people who walk through there). The hardship is that my dad is out of the job, and I need to somehow afford UGA. And now I've realized why I have senioritis-- because despite everything I feel in my gut about this man, that part of me thinks he was right. And that's the part of me I need to work on. The more I sit through school, the more my grades drop, the more I can't stand thinking about my future, the more this man embodies every personal struggle I am going through as this year comes to a close.

So this is where I am sending my personal apologies. Sorry physics for failing your tests and for wanting to cancel the exam scores, sorry lit for neglecting you though I love reading and writing, sorry directed study for procrastinating, sorry French for never doing homework, and sorry Econ for drawing butts all over your worksheets.

Now it's time for Prom weekend. The Folk Ravers are bringing their accordion!