When I arrived here on that Wednesday night I had a note on my door saying that my boss would be expecting to see me at 10 AM the next morning. I was greeted by Chris from England, Vera from Germany, Frode from Denmark and Larry from USA. After a brief overview of the different things that we do in our department I got a small tour of the areas we work in. I was free at lunch time to do whatever I wanted, but decided to go ahead and start working that afternoon. I started learning where things were kept and organizing the different storage areas.
When I arrived here on that Wednesday night I had a note on my door saying that my boss would be expecting to see me at 10 AM the next morning. I was greeted by Chris from England, Vera from Germany, Frode from Denmark and Larry from USA. After a brief overview of the different things that we do in our department I got a small tour of the areas we work in. I was free at lunch time to do whatever I wanted, but decided to go ahead and start working that afternoon. I started learning where things were kept and organizing the different storage areas.
About ninety percent of our merchandise either comes from Texas or Rotterdam, Netherlands. All of the contents are ordered months in advance and packed into containers to be shipped across the ocean on large containers ships. Once they arrive to our port the Port Authority moves them to the dock where we are and we unload them to our ship. From that point the large crane on our ship picks the pallets up and lowers them into the loading bay on deck three of the ship. After they are brought into the ship and checked according to our order sheet we then take them to one of the three different Sales storerooms. We do have a couple shelves in the ship shop designated for local crafts just because Some people are afraid or just not interested in the bargaining/bartering process of the craft market.
This past week we received both of our containers for the month. To expedite the processing of the containers we kept the ship shop, snack bar and coffee bar closed for a day an a half. With our team working skills the store was fully stocked and we were able to open the shop Tuesday evening for the normal Tuesday night shift. When we are closed for that length of time it is very noticeable for all of the crew and they anticipate the new goods that are available to them. As you can see in the pictures there was a small crowd getting ready for our 5:30 opening time. Having the chance to work this shift was exciting, Vera from Germany was originally scheduled to work it, but because she gave a blood donation for a surgery on board that day I volunteered to take her position that night. After an hour and a half and over $1,500 in sales the whirlwind of customers was over. The fresh stock of Nutella, bubble gum and many of the Macaroni & Cheese boxes were gone. Helping many customers that night reminded me how much we appreciate our supporters, not just for our crew fees, but for the little things like coffee and chocolate that boost our energy to serve here on the ship. Thank you for your support, weather it be financially or through prayer.
