Welcome to the 2010 Holiday Season! The past four days have been long and tiring for me. I have been stopped every few fee at every few seconds. I was asked to perform miracles in getting more product onto the shelves faster and being blamed for executive decisions which make no sense (such as moving product from one area to another area and not ordering enough of butter, despite that I did not even order butter).
To those of you who have to wear name tags for a living, I salute you big time! Not that I never saluted you before (or looked down upon your job), I just never realized how difficult those of you who work in retail have it. If anyone out there thinks that retail and the service industry is an easy job and that if you work in retail, you must be brainless, you could not be more incorrect. One must have nerves of steel, patience of a saint, and the inner-strength (and some serious Zen) in not to cross the line in committing assault. You have to step out of the box and think fast before you open your mouth and place yourself in the hot seat. You are face to face with the enemy—the person who is pressing your buttons in that you want to tell that person to fuck off, but can’t. There is absolutely no place to duck and hide because there is nowhere to duck and hide. No phone to hang up on an abrasive idiot and no computer to fire off an e-mail to cover your ass. Today was the day from hell for me because I had so many of my buttons pressed. My patience was tried and tested and I failed.
First off, today marked a very sad anniversary for me. Three years ago today, I lost my dad unexpectedly. Seeing elderly men shopping for Thanksgiving sort of tugged at my heart and what can I say? I really miss my father. It took me years to enjoy Thanksgiving again. My grandmother died a week before Thanksgiving, and my childhood friend died from a seizer two weeks before Thanksgiving when I was 15. Thanksgiving really blows for me. This year especially in combination with my situation in having to put up with a job which was something that I did not really gear my life and goals towards for was a bit difficult for me to properly manage my emotions. But I do have to admit: I was a bit naïve in thinking the store that I work in does not attract ridiculously nasty people as customers. However call me silly, I was proven wrong--I finally came in contact with that customer from hell this afternoon.
When I was asked to dig in this woman’s purse for loose change because that person did not want to mess up her manicure, ridiculous as it sounds, it was little too much for me to bear. I found her request a bit condescending to say the least. And she didn’t even say “please” either! “Would you mind getting my money; I don’t want to mess my manicure.” “WTF?!” I thought; is this lady serious? But serious she was, and pissed off I was at the request, I however stupidly complied. Being the shit actress that I was today, this woman took offense in not having service with a smile. She went on to proclaim there was something wrong with me in stating that my job was not hard to do in that getting money and counting money was not “brain surgery.” Well, let’s say I kind of lost it after that. Provided that I am indeed down in the dumps regarding my current work situation, that comment really rubbed me the wrong way. I told the bee-ahh-tch to “shut up” and yup…I was reported. My perfect work record of over a month was tarnished. Top it off, I was short nearly $5.00 short in my register. Damn it! Clock out time could not have come sooner for me today.
But in all fairness, I was in a pretty shitty mood to begin with. Missing my dad, having little to no money, worrying about paying Peter, but having to satisfy Paul, and having absolutely no money to prepare a proper Thanksgiving dinner for my family, really grated my nerves today, and I do feel badly that did lose my cool. I don’t like taking my frustrations out on people. Many times I have been on the receiving end in working with attorneys for many years as a paralegal. I have been subjected to verbal abuse when things were not perfect to sometimes quite unrealistic expectations. However being told that counting money was not “brain surgery” stung quite a bit. People really need to realize that other people have feelings despite that they’re on a time clock and getting paid (somewhat).
People who wear name tags for a living sometimes have these types of jobs not out of choice, nor hold these positions because they flunked out of high school either. If anything, this economy is responsible in having some of the most educated people turn to any job they could grab and hold onto. And so what if a person wears a name tag and may not have a piece of paper from some first or second tier college? That person still works hard for his/her money and deserves to be treated with respect (especially if that person is nice and polite). I never could understand why people tend to look down upon some professions. In the US, retail and customer service industry is the bottom of the barrel and I really do not get that. The work is low paying and you have to deal with all sorts of personalities, think fast, and satisfy people as quickly as possible. It’s a very demanding job that is looked down upon by a lot of people. But face the facts: you do need people to work in stores to get you food and stuff.
I am trying really hard to remain positive during an economy which has turned a lot of people's lives to shit. Today marked with my dad's passing, rude people, and the reminder of what my life used to be (that I was able to shop today), it was hard to smile. Hopefully with some much needed sleep, tomorrow's shift will be more bearable. At least I have Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving off. Perhaps tomorrow will not be so crazed with so many starting to prepare for dinner on Thursday. At least I hope so. Tomorrow is another day, isn't?
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