Memorial Day.

I'm not even a half an hour in to my shift and already I've had about a dozen calls asking "Are you open today?" This is going to be a long day. Thankfully, I get holiday pay.

-Lima Bean

Compliment.

"You're looking wonderful, my dear," he said. Why, thank you.

-Lima Bean

Orange.

A man shopping at the bookstore today was wearing all orange. He had on a bright orange hat, bright orange corduroy jacket and pants, orange sock and orange shoes. It doesn’t stop there: His hair and beard were dyed neon green, yellow, pink and orange in a way that was reminiscent of a tub of sherbet ice cream.

I wonder.

-Lima Bean

Black eye vs. Boredom

"You look bored," the old man said. I admitted that I was.

"I’m 74, and I have a saying: I’d rather be punched than bored. And it’s been a long time since I’ve been punched."

Hmm. Black eye or boredom?

Question of the Day: "Could you tell me how to get downstairs, Madam?"

-Lima Bean

Solitude.

"You look lonely," she said to me, sympathetically. "You need a partner to talk to."

It's true, you know. It can get lonely at the concierge desk. At least when you’re a cashier or working at the book-information counter, you’ve got somebody else standing there with you to keep you company. At the concierge desk, I've got nobody.

It's like I'm sitting in Time Out for 4-5 hours at a time, on display so everyone will see the bad girl being punished. The only thing is, I can't remember what I did wrong.

Observation: These past few weekends, I've been getting more and more calls requesting the Clinique counter.

-Lima Bean

Working hard or hardly working?

"You sure are working hard sitting there," he said to me, jokingly. "I'll see about getting you a raise."

-Lima Bean