Meet Your Grocers

Leslie Pool, Manager/Owner

There is certainly no question that I am the man in charge. As the leader and numero uno of this operation, there is little need for me to flaunt my power. Andy Griffith carried no gun and neither do I. Actually I have carried a gun on occasion but that certainly shouldn't cloud my metaphor. I hate guns. I shot my Aunt Sondra in the foot once while skeet shooting. My Uncle Roger was a black-helicopter-watching-militia-nut. He gave me his shotgun, which, unbeknownst to me, he had illegally turned into an automatic weapon. Who would want a machine gun shotgun? My uncle, apparently. Anyway, it was a hair trigger and I shot off two of my Aunt's toes. She sends me a picture of her foot every Christmas, which I think is extremely passive/aggressive. Anyway, I did carry a gun in the store, although I didn't know it. I found this cool belt buckle in a second hand store that went great with my manager outfit. Little did I know, a derringer was hidden in the buckle a la 'Wild, Wild, West'. Before you say "Cool!" listen to this: it went off while I was going to the bathroom, shooting a hole through the wall and, as luck would have it, into the freezer compressor. Anyway, I'm the manager and I'm in charge. Don't cross me. Please.

Check out Leslie's MySpace Profile! or visit the Official Greens & Grains blog

Ingrid Wakowski, Customer Service

I like to help customers find what they are looking for in the store, no matter what aisle it's in. Aisle 2. Aisle 4. It's like a magical little world inside each aisle. Everything has its place and there are no surprises. Unless Carl screws up the inventory. I guess he does that a lot.

I like to cross stitch and I have a unicorn collection. I also work at the Ohio Renaissance Festival in Harveysburg. I think my previous life was in the renaissance. Nobody would ever recognize me at the Ren fest though. I work in a tavern as a beer wench.

If the Greens & Grains were a medieval village I'm like the town crier. Because I announce all the specials. "Hear Ye! Hear Ye!" A special on grapes!" I wish I could say stuff like that. Leslie said never again.

Check out Ingrid's MySpace Profile!

Yolanda Nelson, Produce

So I am in charge of the produce department. You could say I'm a manager of sorts. Yeah... I manage the produce department. There are only two rules I live by when it comes to my produce, it's a bit of a mantra that I say over and over in my brain as I walk the produce isles. I call it the K. I. M. and K. I. R. -- "Keepin' It Moist" and for the fruits and veggies that shouldn't be moist (all the root vegetables mostly) it's the "Keepin' It Real" mantra. KIMKIR. It sounds kinda Asian, Korean actually. My cousin dated a Korean once, once. She brought over some Kim chi. I liked it. As the produce manager, let's just call me the Producer; I'm also in charge of inventory, orders, and invoices. I usually get help from Ingrid for the phone order stuff. She can be more diplomatic. A very creative part of my job as the Produce Department Producer (I'm the P. D. P. I. M. P.) is I have full control over the stacking and total arrangement of my product. Carl usually does all the grunt work. He helps me bring all the boxes and crates in; I do the building. I mostly enjoy working with the pyramid motif (they didn't call me La Sphinxa growing up for nothing) and I'm a sucker for color coordination. I like to keep things neat, moist, and real.

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Todd Sykes, Meat Department

I'm the butcher. I'm in charge of all the meat in the store. Most of the meat at Greens & Grains comes from my very own farm. I kill the animals myself. I do this hygienically and safely, respecting the animals as much as I can before I dismember them. If you need meat, come to see me at Greens & Grains. I'll be happy to give you some tips on how to cook your meat, what to think about while you're selecting a cut, as well as offer some daily specials I've created just for you. If I can't help you in the meat department, maybe you're looking for some other kind of meat we don't carry in the store. If this is you and you're female, I'll gladly discuss any needs/fantasies you have out in the parking lot behind the dumpster in the back of my '72 Chevelle with the orange Malibu body. LIft the hood if you don't believe me. If I'm on break, I'm probably doing squats in the back. Leave me a note at the counter or tell Ingrid. When I'm done, I'll get the note or talk to Ingrid and she'll reluctantly give me the number and I'll contact you. If you are unable to do either because you're not in the store, then stop over to Terry's Body Shop, just off route 60. Tell Terry what you're looking for, and he'll give me the message. He's my older brother. I always stop by there after work to drink a couple of beers and talk about stock cars. He's usually pretty good about remembering who stopped by. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Rules.

Check out Todd's MySpace Profile!

Carl Dawson, Stockboy

The best way to describe my job is to list some of the many things I've learned over the past 18 years.

The floor polisher is NOT a toy. Treat it with respect. Also, do not tell customers that you are going to "get your shine on", or that you want to "buff one out".

Check parking lot for carts every 45 minutes.

The box crusher is NOT a toy. Seriously.

Wait until Todd has shrink-wrapped the meat before pricing it.

Don't put anything in the box crusher that you want to stay the same. Like an egg salad sandwich.

If the store gets a delivery of Shrimp and dry goods at the same time in August, do the Shrimp first, dry goods second.

Don't put anything in the box crusher that is valuable to you. Like your wallet.

Some people find some things funny and others don't. Health Inspectors don't seem to think anything is funny.

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Richard Mednick, Cashier

My name is Richard Mednick and I am the head (and only) cashier at Greens and Grains. I have been in this position for many years and enjoy my work immensely. I work in close partnership with Buckwald Washington, Greens and Grains' prizewinning bagger. Ours is a closely knit team. As a highly trained and experienced competitive figure skater, I understand the importance of precision and speed. As the last G&G employee you'll encounter on your shopping experience, I strive to make sure customers feel exactly as if they have been partnered with me in a beautiful pairs figure skating performance. I promise to send your eggs and bread down the conveyor belt with the exact same care as if I had just tossed you into the air for a throw triple salchow. Our exchange of money and coupons will be as carefully executed as side by side sit spins. You'll leave Greens and Grains not only having taken advantage of our amazing daily specials, but feel as if you've just won a gold medal for service!!!

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Buchwald Washington, Bagger

So, my job? What do I do? Well, in a nutshell, I'm a bagger. I'm responsible for carefully and neatly placing the customer's groceries and items that they've purchased, in a small, brown paper receptacle, ensuring that everything will be in its place when they get home...well at least until they're out of the store. After that, you're on your own! I come in every morning, usually dead tired from the night before because I was in class or up all night studying. It's really hard being in school and having a full time job, but... a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. As soon as I get in, I clock in and go straight to my locker to put my books and things away, and then I'll get some coffee and make myself a Spanish omelette. I ask Yolanda to blow a kiss over the skillet to add some of that 'Latin fire' to my meal. After I eat, I go downstairs, where I find Richard already there opening up the register, he always gets there before I do! He's so early, that sometimes I think he spends the night at the store. I'll always catch him doing something really out there, like stretching, warming up, twirling the customer food divider like it was a baton, practicing typing in the bar codes, just something that normal people don't do on a regular basis. It always freaks me out. We then finish opening the rest of the checkout lane by making sure I have enough bags for the day, and that he has enough Vaseline to keep his fingers moist to get a better hold on the money, money can be very slippery, especially when brand new, it tends to stick together a lot. I also make sure that he has his ointment for his wrist for his Carpe Tunnel Syndrome thing, sorry if I misspelled it, doctors ARE usually known for bad handwriting and being ok spellers, looks like I'm on the right track. We don't need his hand cramping up in the middle of a sale, it's bad for business, plus, whenever he's in pain, he starts to make this noise in agony that is completely unbearable. Oddly enough, he makes the same exact noise that Nancy Kerrigan made when she was clubbed in the knees by Jeff Gillooly, and I simply cannot tolerate it! Strange? Whenever there's downtime, I'll typically pull out one of my textbooks, and catch up on some studying and some homework just to kill the time. After a full day of bagging, I'm usually beat; we close down the line, clock out and go home.

"Some people succeed because they are destined to; others succeed because they are determined to, me........I'm both".

Check out Buck's MySpace Profile!