Civic Duties

So this week Jane, our purchasing manager, has jury duty. That is an important part of being a citizen of our fine country. Serving on a jury and listening to the people making their case in front of you, and then deciding on the matter honestly and justly is an awesome responsibility. Really, Jane is probably a great juror. She's one of those folks who listens to what is said and then thinks about the matter at hand in just the right way. If I were at trial, I would want her to be part of my jury.

However, geeze, having Jane gone for essentially two weeks is ROUGH. Really. She is the main person who orders all the goodies we sell. She knows the inventory system better than I do and she knows the prices of almost everything we sell. In theory, I can do her job but the reality is that so much of what she does is an 'expert system' (which means its all in her head!) that it can be really hard for someone else like me to pop in and handle it for a few days. She just remembers when to do what she does. We all do a lot of that around here, actually. There are many things that I handle, or Galen or Nathalie, or Tracey or Lois or anyone that just aren't written down or organized in any kind of a coherent fashion. They just manage to happen because the one person who is supposed to take care of it just does. It is nice on one level but then when this occurs-when one of use is snatched away for a very important civic duty the rest of us (well, me!) have to try to remember how the thread the price gun. That is no laughing matter, my friend.

Yeah, I know that is no way to run a business. I do. Please don't send me links to the MBA program at State. They wouldn't take me anyway. Plus until Jane gets back I am busy trying to remember how to print out a purchase order. It's gonna be a long week.