Taking Inventory

That's a whole lot of bolts of fabric -- My Very Own Fabric Store is very huge!

I had realized a week earlier that the impending "Inventory" was something to be reckoned with. And as with all other things that require reckoning, I just let preparations unfurl around me (or un-unfurl, in the case of the draped fabrics). I asked no questions, trusting that someone would tell me what I needed to do and when I needed to do it. They did, but not a moment too soon...

Last Wednesday, D-Day for Inventory (I-Day?), I arrived at 6:00 a.m. on the dot to find a large cluster of unfamiliar people at the very center of MVOFS. (Unfamiliar and unfriendly people -- Not one of them responded to my friendly smile and warm "Hello!")

As I walked past them to clock in, I heard one of them say "Cheryl wants us all in the back," so after I had punched the timeclock, not yet seeing anyone I knew, I joined Cheryl's group at the back of the store, where I was immediately thrown into a quiet little panic attack! They were all holding little electronic scanning devices, as Cheryl explained that these devices would beep seven times and that meant something about a scale that would be placed at the end of each row...Oh My God! I was thinking. I must have missed a training session! Which one of these grumpy-looking people was going to be nice enough to explain everything to me -- and where was my scanner?!!

That's when my Assistant Manager appeared from the office, along with a couple of my fellow Sales Associates -- I was never happier to see a familiar face or two in my life! So I was told what to do and when to do it. And it was actually kind of fun. First I spent a few hours unwinding bolts of fabric and batting, measuring them, re-rolling and tagging them. (Not bad at all with no customers bugging you to cut some off for them and then let them pay you for it!)

Oh -- but here is where I must interject: If you come into MVOFS intending to buy some of the very expensive velvet fabric that hangs on a special rack from special hangers with sharp little spikes attached to them, you'd be better be pretty darned sure you want it before you ask us to take it off those hangers so you can see what a yard or two looks like! 'Nuff said.

Just around the time I was getting kind of bored with all that unrolling and measuring, I was given a Special Assignment. For reasons having mostly to do with my height, I suspect, I was appointed to follow one of those Inventory People around the Home Dec Department, lifting up each and every little knick-knack, taking pictures down from the walls, upending furniture -- whatever it took to expose each individual SKU number. Then I was to mark where we'd been with special yellow stickers. That made me feel very important, indeed. (And it turns out that this particular Inventory Person was actually quite friendly and nice after all. So you should never judge an individual by the group she hangs out with!)

On I-Day I worked 7-1/2 hours -- The closest I've come to a full day by far in the six months that I've been working in MVOFS. I still love working there, but I hope it will be at least another year before I-Day rolls 'round again. That was intense!