Joey

I must say, I am so proud of Joey. Strangely enough, this is something I can't tell very many people. My family disapproves of him because he is of a different religion than they and I, and my close friends hardly know him and live thousands of miles away so can't get to know him.

A few months ago, in May or June, Joey was promoted to the next level up at the place he works. Now, he is on a trial basis to be promoted up yet again, to Assistant Store Manager. Two promotions in one year is fantastic, needless to say. And he fully deserves them both. His customer service skills go far beyond today's standard. I have witnessed his fellow employees pretend to be busy in order to avoid helping a customer--not blatantly rude, but certainly not helpful. On the other hand, Joey actually WILL be busy, and will stop what he is doing to help anyone he possibly can. He watches movies just to be able to recommend the good ones and discourage customers from renting the bad ones. Better yet, he tells them why he didn't like a particular film so that they can decide for themselves.

Funnily enough, I have had people I hardly know tell me I have a great boyfriend. I might tell them a story or anecdote involving Joey, not usually thinking about his dedication to me, and their response will be, "wow, he's quite the guy" or something to that effect. This makes it all the worse that my family so disapproves, because near strangers tell me how great he is. One time, we even had a homeless hobo come up to us and tell me that Joey loved me. He pointed to Joey and looked at me and said, "Look at him, he loves you. Did you know?" Some hobos really might be crazy but I think some really have it right.

So Joey's promotion early this summer means he got a small raise. If he gets this next one, it will mean another larger raise, full time hours, PLUS benefits such as insurance and retirement plan! (I get excited about saving for retirement.) There are two other people that are also being considered for the position but Joey has the best shot. Both others aren't really all that interested in it, and Joey really wants it. Unfortunately, it won't be decided till the first of next year. In any case, he has been doing an excellent job at supporting me and picking up as many shifts as he possibly can. He works so much sometimes that he is exhausted, but he still plugs along. He still makes time for me, and has become great at multitasking, something usually reserved for women. :) (C'mon, I only speak the truth.)

Joey has come a long way since I first met him, almost entirely of his own accord. One of the main things I appreciate about him is his willingness to do just about anything: to work hard, play hard, to change, to try new things, to compromise, to work with me (perhaps the hardest of the aforementioned things). I think a solid relationship must have willing partners because if one is not willing to change or compromise....nothing will happen and the relationship will fizzle out.