Black Friday. A day known in the United States for mass consumerism consisting of door-buster deals, fanatical shoppers, elusive products, and general greed and rudeness. A true American tradition that ranks right up there with baseball and Grandma's Apple Pie.
This year I had the rather unfortunate opportunity to experience Black Friday not as a shopper but as an employee of a retail store. As a member of the management team AND the newest employee, I was given the responsibility of opening the store at 6:00 AM CST, which meant arriving at 5:30 to get the registers ready and do some paperwork. There were several women outside the store, waiting for me to put up the gate. As six drew near they started moving in closer, one even going so far as to knock on the window of the store to get my attention.
I ignored them and waited until 6:00 sharp to open the gate. There was no reason they needed to be in the store early and I knew if I didn't get the paperwork done before I opened it wouldn't get completed until much later in the day. I finished everything exactly at six and moved to open the gate.
I had the gate at shoulder height when I stopped to get a better grip so I could push it upward with the needed force to have it open completely when the women waiting in front of the store started ducking under the gate and around me to get in the store. Seriously, a sweater is not worth the haste... and patience is a virtue people.
I rung my first sale only a few minutes after six. It was two women who, I discovered, had been out since 11 pm the previous evening. I was their last stop before they headed home to fall down and not move. I understand wanting to get a deal. I understand trying to be a savvy shopper and taking advantage of sales. I don't understand staying out all night, standing in the freezing cold, competing with other people, and overall being an idiot.
I was alone in the store from 6-8 am. When the schedule was done it was felt that, based on last year, one person would be enough. That ended up being a poor assumption. I was incredibly busy and had lines of disgruntled women upset with me. I wasn't moving fast enough. I was taking too long to fold the clothes. There should be more than one person working ("Are you even aware it is BLACK FRIDAY?!"). I didn't need any information about them to take their money. They have a plan and a schedule and I am messing it up.
All told, in the two hours I worked alone, I think only 2 or 3 people said a civil word to me. When my help came in at eight I was ready to take a break. I only succeeded in trying to stay away from the cash registers for a few hours until the next help arrived and I could take an actual break and get out of the store.
It was an experience I hope to never repeat.
I have a few rules I would like to share with the world regarding Black Friday:
1. It is not worth it.
2.If you choose it is worth it, be nice.
3. You will have to stand in lines.
4. Your schedule will change.
5. You will not get everything you want.
6. Be courteous to the retail employees - they are simply trying to do their job and follow what is typically corporate-determined protocol for processing a transaction.
7. Being mean to the employees will not suddenly make the employees want to help you.
8. Look for ways you can help make things go smoother. Take items off the hangers. Fold items with the price tag clearly visible.
9. Don't get caught up in where you are going and where you have been - focus on where you are.
10. Ask yourself if your mother and grandmother would approve of the way you are acting.
11. It is not worth it.
I highly doubt I will ever go out on Black Friday after this experience. The nicest thing I can do for anyone working in retail on that particular day is stay home.
Love!
~g
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Paychecks and Bills
It's amazing how these things seem to go together. Like peanut butter and jelly. Cereal and milk. Naps and rainy days.
I received my first paycheck last Friday. Last Thursday I had my oil changed and my transmission fluid flushed and changed. While necessary maintenance, the oil and transmission fluid changes weren't exactly cheap. So it goes with car ownership.
The job is going well. It's nothing to difficult. I am having a blast getting to know one of my coworkers, Connie. We worked together closing this past Saturday, then went out with her roommate and had some fun away from the store! She's a total sweetie and I am so grateful that I am making new friends.
For the most part I have the job down. I am currently going through my CARE training (Christopher & Banks' selling policy) and have begun to create legacy documents of the things I am learning. I cannot believe that the opening and closing processes are not written down in the form of checklists. More than that, given all the paperwork looks the same, I cannot believe that the order of the paperwork piles is not listed anywhere. Stores like this must have a lot of turnover and I find it a bit ridiculous that the training of new employees is trusted to institutional memory. I have been taking notes throughout my training and have created some documents that will serve as reminders to me and training mechanisms for future employees. Of course, in my insane mind, creating lists and flowcharts is fun. I think it's that whole creative energy thing.
As of yesterday all Christopher and Banks and CJ Banks stores were to be decorated for the holidays. Connie and I did the decorating for our store on Saturday since my manager assigned the decorating to me and I didn't work Sunday or yesterday. It really wasn't difficult to decorate since corporate sent every store a 23-page decorating guide that explained what to put where and how to make it look (yes, the guide was illustrated). All of the decorations in the stores were sent from corporate so every store will look exactly the same. Head to your nearest C&B to see my work!
I am happy to be working and to feel as if I am being productive and doing something with my days, but I'm not really that pleased with my current circumstances. I had thought my discontent was due to the fact that I was not working, but now I have a job and the discontent is still there. I had some very specific ideas about where I would be personally and professionally at this stage in my life and my reality is nothing like my expectations. I do feel a bit happier and at peace since I started working, but I don't really feel that settled or like I am in the right place. I still have that holding-pattern feel rather than a grounded feel. I just wish I knew what I was waiting for.
The weather continues to be crazy. I'm going to be super sad if we don't have a white Christmas but I am starting to wonder if I am going to have to come to terms with a brown Christmas. I am a big fan of distinct seasons. Moreover, I think those seasons should happen at their proper times. Fall and winter aren't cooperating with my desires this year.
I have been horribly negligent of my 101 blog. I know I am long overdue of for updates and will make an effort to get to them soon. The lack of my own computer is definitely part of the reason I am not updating my blogs regularly but I am holding off on replacing my laptop until after the holiday season. I am not fully sure of what type of computer I want and I have noticed that most laptops have been marked up several hundred dollars since I looked at some options this past summer. Go capitalism!
That's about it. I really don't feel like I have much to report these days. I will, however, try to be a bit more consistent with updating my blogs, even if it is only to say there's nothing to say.
Love!
~g
I received my first paycheck last Friday. Last Thursday I had my oil changed and my transmission fluid flushed and changed. While necessary maintenance, the oil and transmission fluid changes weren't exactly cheap. So it goes with car ownership.
The job is going well. It's nothing to difficult. I am having a blast getting to know one of my coworkers, Connie. We worked together closing this past Saturday, then went out with her roommate and had some fun away from the store! She's a total sweetie and I am so grateful that I am making new friends.
For the most part I have the job down. I am currently going through my CARE training (Christopher & Banks' selling policy) and have begun to create legacy documents of the things I am learning. I cannot believe that the opening and closing processes are not written down in the form of checklists. More than that, given all the paperwork looks the same, I cannot believe that the order of the paperwork piles is not listed anywhere. Stores like this must have a lot of turnover and I find it a bit ridiculous that the training of new employees is trusted to institutional memory. I have been taking notes throughout my training and have created some documents that will serve as reminders to me and training mechanisms for future employees. Of course, in my insane mind, creating lists and flowcharts is fun. I think it's that whole creative energy thing.
As of yesterday all Christopher and Banks and CJ Banks stores were to be decorated for the holidays. Connie and I did the decorating for our store on Saturday since my manager assigned the decorating to me and I didn't work Sunday or yesterday. It really wasn't difficult to decorate since corporate sent every store a 23-page decorating guide that explained what to put where and how to make it look (yes, the guide was illustrated). All of the decorations in the stores were sent from corporate so every store will look exactly the same. Head to your nearest C&B to see my work!
I am happy to be working and to feel as if I am being productive and doing something with my days, but I'm not really that pleased with my current circumstances. I had thought my discontent was due to the fact that I was not working, but now I have a job and the discontent is still there. I had some very specific ideas about where I would be personally and professionally at this stage in my life and my reality is nothing like my expectations. I do feel a bit happier and at peace since I started working, but I don't really feel that settled or like I am in the right place. I still have that holding-pattern feel rather than a grounded feel. I just wish I knew what I was waiting for.
The weather continues to be crazy. I'm going to be super sad if we don't have a white Christmas but I am starting to wonder if I am going to have to come to terms with a brown Christmas. I am a big fan of distinct seasons. Moreover, I think those seasons should happen at their proper times. Fall and winter aren't cooperating with my desires this year.
I have been horribly negligent of my 101 blog. I know I am long overdue of for updates and will make an effort to get to them soon. The lack of my own computer is definitely part of the reason I am not updating my blogs regularly but I am holding off on replacing my laptop until after the holiday season. I am not fully sure of what type of computer I want and I have noticed that most laptops have been marked up several hundred dollars since I looked at some options this past summer. Go capitalism!
That's about it. I really don't feel like I have much to report these days. I will, however, try to be a bit more consistent with updating my blogs, even if it is only to say there's nothing to say.
Love!
~g
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Customer Care
The job is going well. The most difficult thing is the standing for a full shift, but I picked up some good shoes that will hopefully help with the foot and leg pain. Until I get used to it, though, I'll be popping the Ibuprofen with some regularity.
I figured out the register on my first day, returns and nonmerchandise items on my second. The only thing I still need to figure out is the order of the closing paperwork. There's about 20 different printouts and they all have to be in a specific order. I get the daily math stuff, although I'm a bit slow at it and double check myself a lot. Once I get the formulas and locations of the proper numbers memorized the math won't be a problem.
I have met most of the staff and think I will get along fine with all of them. Some of them will simply be coworkers, but there's at least one whom I think I will be friends with. Overall the job is nothing too difficult and I am doing well at it. Yayy for gainful employment!
It seems like I should have more to say about it, but I really don't. There's a whole bunch of specifics about the store and the job, but those are boring. Basically, it's everything that is handed down from the corporate office in an effort to make every store uniform. There's a certain way to hang and fold the clothes, to where the racks are placed in the store, to what clothes are grouped together (color stories), etc. At the store level we get color "how to" sheets for everything, and it's our job to make our store look like the pictures. We do have some creative discretion when it comes to layering and displays and such, but it all has to be from the same color story. On Sunday I learned, via color pictures, 23 different ways to tie a scarf. An hour later I had a lady who liked a scarf but didn't know how to wear it. I could help her!
I had yesterday and today off. Tomorrow I go back for a 6 day stretch that includes the largest promotion event the company offers. It should be a fun time.
In other news, our washer seems to be broken. We have a laundromat in town, but we also have two homes of close relatives between 2 and 7 miles from us, and they won't charge a dollar to wash and a dollar to dry per load. It will be at least a week before we can get a service call, so laundry is going to be fun for awhile.
November seems to be giving us the weather we should have had in October. Things are seriously messed up in the weather department. I'm not complaining overly much since it means I don't have to scrape my windows when I get off at 9 pm, but I will not be happy if December and Christmas are brown. That would just be wrong.
Since I don't have a computer I am now spending significantly less time online. I only get on the computer about twice a day now. I guess this change in my computer habits is good for me, but I am grateful that I something like a job to fill my hours now. I'll probably seriously start looking for a replacement to my laptop after the holidays. By then I should have some money in the bank and things won't be marked up for additional profit.
That's about all that's going on in my life. Pretty boring, but at least I'm being productive again.
Love!
~gk
I figured out the register on my first day, returns and nonmerchandise items on my second. The only thing I still need to figure out is the order of the closing paperwork. There's about 20 different printouts and they all have to be in a specific order. I get the daily math stuff, although I'm a bit slow at it and double check myself a lot. Once I get the formulas and locations of the proper numbers memorized the math won't be a problem.
I have met most of the staff and think I will get along fine with all of them. Some of them will simply be coworkers, but there's at least one whom I think I will be friends with. Overall the job is nothing too difficult and I am doing well at it. Yayy for gainful employment!
It seems like I should have more to say about it, but I really don't. There's a whole bunch of specifics about the store and the job, but those are boring. Basically, it's everything that is handed down from the corporate office in an effort to make every store uniform. There's a certain way to hang and fold the clothes, to where the racks are placed in the store, to what clothes are grouped together (color stories), etc. At the store level we get color "how to" sheets for everything, and it's our job to make our store look like the pictures. We do have some creative discretion when it comes to layering and displays and such, but it all has to be from the same color story. On Sunday I learned, via color pictures, 23 different ways to tie a scarf. An hour later I had a lady who liked a scarf but didn't know how to wear it. I could help her!
I had yesterday and today off. Tomorrow I go back for a 6 day stretch that includes the largest promotion event the company offers. It should be a fun time.
In other news, our washer seems to be broken. We have a laundromat in town, but we also have two homes of close relatives between 2 and 7 miles from us, and they won't charge a dollar to wash and a dollar to dry per load. It will be at least a week before we can get a service call, so laundry is going to be fun for awhile.
November seems to be giving us the weather we should have had in October. Things are seriously messed up in the weather department. I'm not complaining overly much since it means I don't have to scrape my windows when I get off at 9 pm, but I will not be happy if December and Christmas are brown. That would just be wrong.
Since I don't have a computer I am now spending significantly less time online. I only get on the computer about twice a day now. I guess this change in my computer habits is good for me, but I am grateful that I something like a job to fill my hours now. I'll probably seriously start looking for a replacement to my laptop after the holidays. By then I should have some money in the bank and things won't be marked up for additional profit.
That's about all that's going on in my life. Pretty boring, but at least I'm being productive again.
Love!
~gk
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