Thursday, July 10, 2008

My Twin

I never knew it before, but I have a twin. Okay, so we were born in different states 12-15 years apart to different sets of parents, we have no siblings or relatives or blood type or DNA in common, but I’m telling you, we’re twins. Soulmates. Sistahs from anotha motha, as my daughter would say.

Not long after I started working as a checker at Hy Vee, my twin came to work part time. Her name is Janene. When Dolly introduced us to each other, I said, “It’s nice to meet you. People call me Janene all the time.”

She said, “Yeah, people are always calling me Janell.”

Then simultaneously we both said, “Or Jeanette.”

And the fun just continues every day. Janene works from 5-10 PM and I’m 3-11 so we started to call ourselves “The Ladies of the Evening” but Janene likes “Girls of the Night” better. Dolly and the other supervisors call us “The Twins.” They consistently call me Janene and they call her Janell, though once in a while, they actually call us by our given names. But we’ve each learned to answer to both names. One night, we switched nametags and I started calling her Janell and she started calling me Janene and it was a long time before the Supervisor on duty even noticed. To his credit, we were pretty busy that evening and he probably didn’t get a chance to think about it until things slowed down a little in the later hours. Another evening, we did a three-way nametag switch with one of the Courtesy Clerks – a teenaged boy named Alex. The switch came to light when the Supervisor asked Janene, “Where’s Janell?” I was actually standing at the register right behind him.

And she answered, “Janell is out bringing in carts.” (This is something only the Courtesy Clerks do and I would never have been sent out to the parking lot to forage for carts.)

He looked at her nametag, which said “Alex” and then it dawned on him what we had done. He rolled his eyes and walked away shaking his head.

Our little nametag switching game is keeping them on their toes, though. I’ve noticed they get our names right more often than not nowadays.



PS; I received good news from the independant computer repairman and I am hopeful that my 'puter will be home, soon.

(PPS Ralph; I put up a new post over at Nellie's)

11 comments:

Jim said...

Hi Jeanette a.k.a. know as a 'lady of the night' and/or Janell.
It surely was nice to meet you and R**Y in person. We just got home from Colorado this afternoon (Thursday) and I'm doing a little catching up.

Be sure to check my blog for my Blogstock '08 report I made last Sunday night. You are in the lineup. Rachel has a picture of you and me also. The links are on my post, but NOT EVERYONE HAS A BLOGSTOCK '08 REPORT.
I'm checking those now so I can send the links to my sister. She has dial-up and it takes a long time for her to do blog reading.
..
..

Jim said...

http://jimmiehov.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-about-driving-900-miles-to-meet.html
..

Anonymous said...

Very cute story, I got a good chuckle out of it. Did Alex go along willingly or was he encouraged?


Janell, what is blogstock? Sounds like fun. Sounds like you met a lot of people, can I get a book report on that?

Live Well, Laugh Often and Love Much said...

Nothing like haveing a bit of fun at the work place!...LOL

Great to meet you at Blocgstock'08.

Mary Connealy said...

Or maybe Creatures of the Night?

cdroses said...

lol @ Mary
Time sure flies when you're having fun...just as well to have some fun at work!
As a former front-end Manager, you two would have had me walking away shaking my head! lol

Ralph said...

Good story. I'm sure that will keep them on their toes.
Thanks for the post at nellie's.
Ralph

Jamie Dawn said...

It's funny that you say you have a twin. I thought you and Ralph were Siamese twins - my post may clear this statement up for you.
:-)
It's neat that you & Janene, or is it Jeanette or Geena??
Well, it's neat that you two are livening things up around the store. All work and no play can make for a boring day... or evening for the ladies of the night.

Blogstock '08 is behind us and it sure was fun!
I really enjoyed meeting you!!
I hope to see you again some day in person.
Until then, we shall have to communicate through blogging like we did when we first met.
:-)
I am sending get well wishes to your computer.

nora leona said...

Fingers crossed for good news about the computer!
I work with a woman named Marcella and people are always mixing up our names.
It was lovely to meet you!

Rachel said...

Hi Janell! I'll just have to keep calling you that so I don't get confused! Sounds like you enjoy your work and try to liven things up. That always makes it more fun!
I'm glad you don't have to forage for carts after dark!

Janell said...

Hey, Jim! Welcome home. I so enjoyed meeting you and Mrs. Jim. You are as much of a gentleman as your dad.

Joe; Alex is a good sport. He went along willingly.
Blogstock was a gathering of Blogospherians who converged at Cliff's place near Tekamah, NE. It was like Woodstock without the pharmaceuticals and promiscuity. Yes, I do have a book report on it, but you'll have to come here to see it - it's an actual book!
In the meantime, go to jimmiehov.blogspot for a good report, links to other Blogospherians and some excellent pictures. I'll be posting my own report in a couple of days.

Dez; thanks for the visit, both here and at Tekamah. I can't bear to think what that float would have looked like without your contributions.

Mary - "Creatures" might fit us better than ladies or girls. I'll run that past Janene.

Cindy - when you count your blessings, count the fact that you never had to manage me and my twin!

Ralph; I hope you like Spam.

JD; Yes, the personal meeting was truly a blessing. I hope we can do it again someday, but like you said, this blogging thing is a close second.

Nora; Getting mixed up with Marcella? I'm missing the similarities on that, but who knows what people are thinking?

Rachel; I'm glad I don't have to forage for carts at any time of day - that's hard work!