Saturday, March 27, 2010

Oregon to Cali- the end of it!

I was going to miss Washington a LOT, but it was time to move on, our next stop was Eugene, Oregon.
I have never in my life seen so many hippies in such a concentrated space. Everyone drove either a VW or a Volvo and these were the most laid back people. The only problem, they had no interest in magazines. I dare you to walk up to a commune made out of mud bricks and sell Newsweek. It ain't gonna happen!
So just as in Colorado, my sales took a major nosedive. The more trouble I had at work, the more I drank. The more I drank the worse my sales were. It was a vicious cycle. The abuse was getting worse and worse from the bosses. My drinking life had been manageable up till this point, but that was slipping away too. I was waking up in the morning with the shakes and had to have at least 4 shots just to function.
Tiny and I started making plans to leave together and started quietly socking back money. The company had to give us Greyhound tickets to get home, but past that we were on our own. We were getting cash orders and keeping the money. Since Tiny did the books it was easy to get away with.
We traveled as a group to California outside of Oakland/San Fran. My sales continued to suck and I was sick and miserable. Tiny and I were to leave the very next week.
Somehow the bosses got wind of this and announced they were gonna split the crew in half to "cover more ground" I stayed, and Tiny went to Lompoc. He had all our money, a pretty good chunk, and we decided the DAY we were reunited we would go.
Next stop for me was Fresno. Nasty little city, made worse by what happened. The bosses took advantage of the fact Tiny wasn't there to up the ante. They flat out refused to give me money, dropped me in terrifying hoods where NO ONE could sell, basically broke me down.
One day I just snapped and asked for my bus ticket back to Indiana. I was able to talk to Tiny first, and he was to follow me at the end of the week.
So I spent 3 days on a Greyhound bus detoxing from alcohol. I don't recommend it! I finally pulled up to Phillip's Drug and called V. I said, "Hey girl, ya wanna see me?" She told me of course! So I said, "Pick me up, I'm at Phillip's" I have been in Richmond ever since. We'll save how I readjusted and what happened with Tiny for next time.
As always, thanks for listening and God bless!

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