lakes cleaners

i dont think i've ever fully expressed to anyone how much i love my job.

come august i will hit my two year mark of working at lakes dry cleaners!

yes, i know i complain about working a lot. ever since i moved home i've been working 40+ hours a week. and there are definitely bad days and whiney customers. but truth be told, i adore this place.

reasons why:

1. carol

i IDOLIZE my sweet manager. i wish i had a picture of her, she is the cutest thing ever. carol is one of the most amazing ladies i've ever met. she wakes up at 3:00 a.m., just so she can get to the shop by 4 and have a head start on cleaning... even though we don't open until 6! she is the definition of charity. while our prices may be a little high ;) carol is so giving. two weeks ago, a rival cleaners had some machines break down. without thinking, carol called them up and invited them to share our machines and pressers while theirs are being fixed. cool, huh? another thing about carol: she is a charmer. you think i'm a brown-noser? she is incredible. a customer will yell at me about something, i will try so hard to make them happy yet it rarely works. without fail, every time i ask carol to help me with customers, they leave the store smiling. i dont know how she does it... but i'm hoping it will rub off on me eventually.

2. the people

there is a special bond between middle-aged women and their dry cleaners. not sure why, but each and every one of them feels a need to sit and chat- which i love! they'll tell me of recent trips, family issues, anything! every article of clothing has a spot or a stain that tells a story. i, the privileged counter girl, am the recipient of all of these stories. some are hilarious! some are disgusting. but it is so fun to get to know all of the customers on a first name basis. they ask about BYU, i ask about their kids. its awesome. we've had customers bring us treats, make us CDs, give us sports tickets, discounts at their workplace... the list could go on and on. we make awesome tips from certain people because they love us so much haha. last week, my coworker dani and i split a $50! we've gotten so close with a few that we are facebook friends. i love people and i love talking to people! i guess this is the perfect job for me :) some customers stay and chat for over 10 minutes. some tell us jokes. its just fun.

3. the clothes

i get to be entertained by people's clothing. we've had just about everything imaginable brought into the cleaners. whether its a polar bear or taco costume, disgusting lingerie, or this weeks model the BANANA... we have a blast joking around with them!

i pull it off nicely, right? its fun trying on things (dont worry it doesnt happen a lot....) and seeing everyone's different tastes in clothing. i'm always awestruck when people bring in new clothes and i look at the price tags. definitely some big spenders coming to the lakes cleaners. most memorable is a hideous navy plaid blazer... price tag still on it: $2,300. BARF. pretty sure i could put that to better use than a stupid blazer. that's almost a semester of college. it makes me sick.

haha anyway, i love my job.

its been fun being home and seeing all of my regular customers again :) we missed each other.

makes me want to drop out of college and work here forever.

-ashley