Some people are idiots

The first thing I heard was the screech of tires followed by a series of not-quite-indentifiable and rather worrying noises. They sounded as though they might have been made by a car rolling; thud, crunch, crunch, thud. Then a car door slammed and there was silence. I wasn't sure what had happened. I toyed with the idea of going to investigate; but the night air was so cold and windy and my computer game was so enthralling. The silence was broken by a scream, high-pitched and pain-filled. It made my stomach turn and I quickly determined that I would leave my warm apartment and venture outside to have a look. I brought my cell phone with me in case it was needed, and grabbed my blanket off the back of the couch for good measure.

When I first walked outside I didn't see anything, and started to think that the scream I had heard was the result of an early Halloween party. But then I walked around the corner and saw the gathering of people, and heard one of them yelling information up to someone in their apartment who was obviously on the phone with a 911 operator. As I got closer I could see whom everyone was gathered around: a girl lying on the ground, 13 by the looks of it, and named Micah as someone later said. Everyone was talking and yelling out different things, trying to pretend like they weren't just gawkers but were somehow involved. The girl-named-Micah's younger brothers tried to keep people from touching her. I suspected they were also trying to keep from crying. I looked around and realized that the series of thuds and crunches that I'd heard earlier were made by a car that not only hit Micah but also caused considerable damage to 3 cars that were lined up on the side of the street. I wondered where the driver of the car was. I gathered from people around me that the responsible car had been stolen, driven too quickly, and then abandoned by its driver when the accident occurred. No one got a good look at the man; it was too dark.

While we were standing around waiting for the authorities to arrive, Micah's brothers used my cell phone to call their mother, but without success. I took the blanket off my shoulders and put it on top of Micah so she would have less chance of going into shock. I was glad I'd thought to grab it. After a few minutes it was suggested that even this wasn't enough to keep her warm, so I quickly handed over my jacket as well - the hood would at least cover her head - and shortly thereafter another, heavier, blanket was brought out from somebody's apartment. Micah stopped shivering.

The coppers arrived first, and everyone started volunteering information about what they had/hadn't seen and what had/hadn't happened since then. A little bit of yelling on the part of the officers was necessary to quiet everyone down. The whole story was quickly pieced together after that, and one of the policemen called for a perimeter search to try and catch the jerk who had stolen the car, hit the girl, and bailed. Shortly following the arrival of the police came the firetruck and ambulance; the EMS workers attended to the girl and yelled at everyone to go home. I was allowed to approach Micah - but only quickly - to grab my jacket and the two blankets; after returning the heavier blanket to the rightful owner, I chose to head back to my apartment.

I can still see the flashing lights outside my window, though the number of them is going down as the emergency vehicles and police cars leave one by one. At this point, there is nothing left for me to do but leave it up to the authorities and medical professionals to take care of the situation. I just hope the girl is okay.

And I hope they find the stupid git who did this.

Take 2

"Attention guests of REI, both members and non-members alike. We would like to inform you that the time is now 9:00 pm - and that means the store is closed. Please make your final selections and bring them to the front, where Tarythe would love to help you at one of the registers. Don't forget about our Attic Sale coming up this Sunday; doors open at 11.
The current temperature outside is 67, with a wind of about 3mph. You can expect some showers over the next couple of days, but it should clear up over the weekend. Temperatures will continue to drop until they reach a high of 57 on Friday, and then start climbing. Have a safe journey home this evening and a great night."

The weather report was an idea I had stolen from a previous manager at the Creamery, who not only gave us the weather but reminded us that even though the Creamery closed at midnight, Wal-Mart was open 24 hours a day and available as a local hang out. I had mentioned this to some REI coworkers of mine, who thought that I should report the weather during the closing announcement as my trademark. Most of the store appreciated the difference in routine. Geromy, the closing manager Tuesday evening, did not.

"Hey Tarythe, I loved the part about the Attic Sale, good job promoting that, but what part of the announcement do you think was not as appropriate?"

I looked down, embarrassed. "The weather," I replied.

"Exactly." Geromy's face was kind, but insistent. "The weather isn't really REI-specific. Let's keep the announcement to things that pertain to our store, alright?"

"Okay," I said. I tried to hide the tears that I could feel welling up behind my eyes, very much against my will. I hate it when people chastise me, particularly people whose respect I'm trying to earn (like my managers). Geromy started to walk away, but I called after him.

"So what if I talked about the cold weather we have coming up and used that to encourage people to buy our winter gear? Would that work?"

Geromy turned around and grinned, obviously pleased. "Now you're thinking," he responded with a wink. "Run with that."

Wednesday night came and I was once again closing, determined to improve my performance. As the hour approached, I wrote down what I was going to say to reduce the number of mistakes caused by my nerves. With paper in hand and heart pounding, I clicked in to the tannoy system.

"Good evening guests of REI, both members and non-members alike, we hope you've enjoyed shopping with us this evening. We would like to inform you that the time is now 8:45 pm, and the store will be closing in about15 minutes. Please take this time to make your final selections and bring them to the front of the store, where Tarythe would love to ring you up at one of the registers. The current outside temperature is about 64 degrees, but it will be cooling down by the weekend so make sure to stock up on our great winter gear, located at the front of the store. Don't forget that the North Face Cryostat 3-in-1 jacket is currently on sale for $194.99, available at the front of the store straight across from the registers. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to find someone wearing a green vest; any one of our very knowledgeable staff members would be more than happy to assist you. Thank you and have a great evening."

I had thought that Geromy had gone home for the evening, so I was suprised to see him out of the corner of my eye holding a water bottle and walking towards me. I asked him teasingly, "So was that better suited for REI's purposes?" He laughed and said that I had done a great job, and oh-by-the-way he thought I might like a brand-new Novara water bottle - no particular reason.
He had obviously heard that I lost my last one. I'm glad that he appreciated 'Professional Closing Announcement: Take 2'.

I'm also glad that my managers love to reward people.

1 point for me

I grew up recycling. All of my parents supported it, as far as I can remember; if they didn't actively encourage it, they certainly didn't have anything against it. My father and stepmother not only recycled things like paper, plastic, and glass, they went as far as to have a compost pile in the back yard. Inedible parts of vegetables and other food products were thrown into the compost container (my least favourite part of helping with dinner), and all eventually ended up as fertilizer. My mother would take me out to find cans in the desert to recycle; I could turn them in to the local recycling drop-off for money, depending on how much my stash weighed. So every once in a while my mother would drive me around in our little blue Volkswagen Rabbit at about 5 mph. I would open the door, sit as close to the edge as possible without my mother scolding me for being unsafe, and stare intenly at the ground as it passed, hoping for a glint of sun off of a soda can, or the ugly sight of a brown beer bottle littering the ground. I'm sure my mother spent much more on gas driving around than I earned with my recyclables, but she didn't worry with that. She did it for me; to teach me valuable lessons about doing our part to take care of the earth, and about the value of a dollar. It's not easy to teach those two lessons in one activity.

While I lived in Utah, I didn't recycle. I couldn't find a good spot in my apartment for an extra bin, nor did I want to argue with my roommates over the lost space or the extra effort they would have to spend remembering to throw their plastic bottles into the right bin instead of the left one. In addition, I had no car with which I could haul the paper, plastic, and glass to the nearest recycling center. So I did what everyone else in the area did and threw everything away, piling up trash bags on the outside of the huge dumpster provided by my apartment complex if necessary. Waste, waste, waste.

But since moving to Maryland - more specifically, since being hired by REI, a very environmentally-conscious company - I have remembered that I myself am environmentally conscious. Most of the time. I decided this morning to start recycling once again, and went to the store immediately (well, within 30 minutes) to buy a second plast trash can for recyclable items. I even inserted a cardboard divider into it to sort out the paper from the plastic containers and metal cans. Taped on the outside is a list of exactly what the local recycling center takes, in case I forget. Already my bin is half full of recyclables I found around the house or dug out of the trash can (I'm very thorough when it comes to things like this) and I can't wait to take my first trip to empty it.

It's things like this that make me feel good about myself, and life in general - the world is made a little bit better because of the pains I'm taking. Trees will be saved, air pollution will increase slightly less than it would have, and I'm sure that, indirectly due to my efforts to preserve the environment, starving children in Africa will be fed.

1 point for me.