You're Hot Girl

"You're hot girl...you're hot."
"You're hot girl...you're hot."
(music interlude)
"You're hot hot hot."

These are the lyrics that are stuck in my head after my second day working for the fashion sale at the ASP Showgrounds in Auckland. In addition to the horribly repetitive (and incredibly dumming) music trapped in my head, my feet and legs ache from an 8 hour day standing on a cement and concrete warehouse floor. I'm also $30 poorer because my new and very temporary boss -- Leon -- forced me to buy a skin tight, brand t-shirt because my well-fitted (aka loose) plain tank top and sweater was not "fashionable."

My job consists of helping customers in the dressing rooms, hunting down different sizes (small or extra small) and colors, and arranging racks of clothes that require an engineer to understand the fabric contraptions.

The sale, sponsored by a company out of Melbourn, is appropriate for those disinterested in clothing that will make it through multiple seasons for both quality and style reasons.

Leon, however, takes the business of fashion very seriously. He told me today to "F****** sell the stuff" when he sent me out in the rain and cold to push flyers at people taking their children to the "Jack and the Bean Stock" play in the neighboring pavillion.

He also likes to refer to all the brands he sells as "hot" or "very hot."

"This brand is very hot. All the celebrities including Misha Barton are wearing it."

"I'm sure you know this one [insert my confused and desperate smile]. This is hot in the states."

But I like to refer to Leon as frigid for not caring whether I freeze out in the cold in my tank top and sandles, which aren't weather appropriate in the 15 degree celcius (spelling?) (low 50s F) but meet his "fashionable" criteria. Usually he is in an overcast mood and seems to have a luke-warm personality -- of course he rarely acknowledges my existance long enough for me to make an accurate judgement of his character...

The upside of the situation is that the sale only lasts 10 days and then Katie and I will be more financially secure as we travel the rest of New Zealand, plus we are treating ourselves to two free days of no work in the Bay of Islands. Not a bad trade off really.