Well, I knew my good luck couldn't last forever.

    The Christmas music started at work today. And it started in force. Very, very loud, annoying force. First, the lady announced that she was going to put on Christmas music. I said I would really prefer that she didn't. Then she said that I hadn't heard this particular Christmas album yet, so I shouldn't judge.

    As if to imply that all Christmas music doesn't sound the same.

    And even if it didn't, this CD (which she played at least twice through today, and I'm cringing to think of hearing more tomorrow) contained the usual slew of anti-favorites. So, on goes the Christmas music. She puts on the boombox loud enough so it blares through the whole store. Her desk is far in the back section. My desk, as luck (mine, bad) would have it, is seven feet from her desk.

    I asked/went to turn it down, and she offendedly/defensively replied, "Oh no you don't, it's appropriate! And besides, they play loud music at the front so we hear it, so they can hear this."

    I don't care if they hear it. I don't want to hear it. But I had to listen to it on full blast, to the point where I was almost driven insane. Then when I went to take a 15-minute break to get away from this hellish cacaphony (we are allotted two such breaks daily), I couldn't find refuge. The break room in the back was far too close to the offending boombox, and it was too cold outside. I finally sought refuge in the opposite corner of the store from her desk, where jingle bells weren't tolling the death of my sanity.

    So, there I was sitting on the floor like an idiot because I wanted some quiet. I happened to overhear my spirited co-workers discussing their dislike for things such as me, my work in the back (they being in the front), and my failure to answer phones during my breaks. They dislike me somewhat less to my face, but all in all it was certainly one of those Mondays that makes people hate Mondays.

    Thankfully, I believe in constructive catharsis. I took a call from a woman who was looking for a travel guide to Cuba. I went to look and see if we had any-- we did not. I returned to the phone and said, "I"m sorry, we don't have the Cuba travel guide in. We do have a Costa Rica travel guide though, perhaps you'd be interested in going there?" I know it's the type of thing people cite as idiot customer service, but I desperately needed some levity in my day.

    And who knows what I'll say on the phone tomorrow if that infernal christmas music is blaring again?