Shattered Glass

We arrived at the store today to find two windows broken in. Glass was everywhere. A normal day at work turned into chaos the minute we walked in. Unhappy phone calls were made, police reports filed and wooden panels put up to keep out the rain that was continuously pounding as the hours ticked by.

I stayed in my own little world all day long. Being the only girl working in a pawn shop usually has its benefits. Today, it was a bit trickier than usual. My natural instinct is to make sure everyone and everything is okay. Well, that was the last thing anyone needed today. I set to work on a project that took me through the majority of the hours that quickly passed by.

Towards the middle of the store there is a large shelf completely crammed with DVD's. There are two other smaller shelves to the right of it and about 4 large cardboard boxes in the back room entirely stocked with DVD's. My self-appointed task for the day was to give some method of organization to the strewn cases. I cannot even begin to tell you how many plastic cases my fingers held throughout the day. I shifted, squeezed, and stacked hundreds of movies -- all in the attempt to make it easier to pick one out.

I had a perfect view of the window for the first half of the crazy day. Amidst my organizing, I watched my uncle pace around on the phone, wandering every few minutes over to the scene of the incident. I saw police officers come and go and add to the BB I found on the floor when we came in. I witnessed window repair men taking measurements then driving away, returning with large wooden slabs to cover up the gaping hole that used to be the window. I stared as they knocked the remaining glass from the wooden frames and tried to tune out the blare of the shop vac as they made quick work of the shattered glass covered floors.

It was a perfect morning to keep myself busy. My project allowed me to process, but stay silent -- despite the numerous times I was asked to answer "what happened?" For once, there was a problem I didn't have to -- and shouldn't try to -- fix.

It was a solemn day at Pawn Starz, but got brighter as the day went on. Much like the weather, our spirits lifted beyond the morning, reminding us that there is always an end to the storm.