My last day working retail and final thoughts

[TwixVoy]

Well yesterday was my last day working retail. It has been so long since I did anything else it feels very odd to be over.

It is funny how things work when everyone you work with knows you will be gone soon so it doesn't matter what they tell you. I had people come over to me telling me I was one of the only people in management they liked working for. I had people above me telling me they wish they were able to do the same thing.

I have to say that business had really picked up the past two weeks. Sales maturity over last year has suddenly come alive again, and it seems like from our stores point of view we are in pre-recession levels of business. If that will continue to keep up I can't say, but I suppose it's a good thing consumption is picking up again... right?

Of course part of this is easter. We had lots of people coming in for easter products. I must say that this crowd was very odd for some reason. In fact, the past week I have noticed that our shoppers attitudes have been very different than usual.

What do I mean by that? Well one thing that happens to you after you work retail for a while is your ability to pick up on peoples attitudes. We are scum in some of these peoples eyes so they really don't go to any great length to hide their real personality/feelings... no matter how negative they may be. After working with constant random people day in and day out you can sense the general mood of people.

This past week with all the extra people coming in I noticed a great many of them very rude, hostile, and generally unhappy looking. I mean outright not holding back rude to us. Way more so than usual. I was not the only one that noticed this. Many of my co-workers commented to me how they just dealt with someone who was very hostile to them for no apparent reason.

But people were buying a ton of product. I am talking $100 worth of seasonal easter merchandise per transaction. (baskets, fake grass, candy.... you know stuff you don't need beyond the day you use it) No one seemed to be holding back as they have been during the past year. So that was very different. Hell, we actually had to worry for a little bit that we were going to run out of easter product.

But I can not figure out why so many of these people were in bad moods. I mean, you would think doing holiday shopping and getting ready for your plans to take the day off and do whatever you would be in a good mood right?

Part of me wondered if these people were simply buying all this crap because the MSM told them things are getting better, so they felt like they should go out and resume the normal consumption life style even if they didn't truly have the cash to support doing this. But of course that is totally a possible theory on my part. They just did not seem to have the same attitude they had in previous years.... yet they were spending like crazy, and our sales numbers have been through the roof.

We did have one guy I had to deal with in electronics start to go nuts on one of our electronics people. He had our store issued credit card and it was being declined. He was extremely upset by this, and called the number on the back of the card with us standing there waiting to see if there was a resolution. He just yelled at the person on the phone about how it was rediculous they wouldn't approve the purchase and walked off. I believe he was trying to max out his card because it was a $120 camera and he kept wanting us to run his card for smaller ammounts to see if he could get a smaller amount to be approved.

I can say that working in a field that is entirely based on consumer spending was definitely an interesting experience. I think in a way it made me a better person.... I now have a great lack of respect for people who are shallow and treat others poorly.

I also learned a lot about leadership.

I respect many of the people I worked with. Many of them were single parents or people who were generally having a hard time getting by in life. They were all very good people at heart. I will miss working with them, but I see the direction the company is going. If things don't turn around economically the company will continue to find reasons to justify screwing these people over and I want no part of that.

I know people have told me that by leaving it will just allow the company to fill my position with someone who seeks to do just that. However it really doesn't matter. With the mega retail business store level management has absolutely ZERO ability to change anything. The system is set up so that store level mangement functions as an enforcer of the wishes of HQ. Nothing more and nothing less. I am always amazed to see how many angry customers come to me with a complaint about something the company does or some policy and thinks I (or anyone else at the store) has any ability to do anything about it. We literally have zero power to do anything to better ANYTHING and that is the most frustrating thing.

Do you know the one raise a year we hand out to people has to actually be approved by someone at HQ? We can say "15 cent raise" and they send a response back saying "10 cents no more". We have to go by that. Hell, they even control and monitor remotely how long we can run the freaking air conditioning for. I shit you not. Damn near everything is remotely monitored and controlled. In fact HQ even has a remote ability to control the camera system. They can actually (and do) watch us all over the store from an office at HQ. They actually have a name for this program but I can not remember it.

Overall I just wonder what direction the country will go.... and where these corporations will take us. It will be a very interesting next few years to watch.

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. why your last day in retail? Interesting post.

[stillcool]

2. I had one job in a retail chain store..

and I swear it felt like I was doing time in a jail. It was the most mind-numbing experience. I have never gotten so exhausted so quickly, and had time go by so slowly. Granted I was low on the totem pole so wasn't given any reason whatsoever to use any brain cells. I worked on black Friday in Florida. A day I will never forget. There were long lines at the check-out counter, and I remember this one lady totally pissed at having to wait asked me what I was going to do about it for the season, and I told her 'quit'. That was like 18 years ago. Just like yesterday.

[TwixVoy]

4. This past black friday was an experience

I had one person start SCREAMING in the middle of the mob of people "I want a manger" over and over again. I was right next to her and said "I am a manager." to which she said "I want one other than you".... and I said to her "Then obviously there is nothing I can do to help you" and walked off. One of my most priceless retail memories.

[stillcool]

9. I remember working a ridiculous

amount of hours that weekend. At the same time I was working at that job, I was working at a restaurant, and I'd go from one to the other. It was like night and day..the two environments, the way people behaved. Very weird.

[barbtries]

3. do you know where you go from here?

i have enjoyed reading your posts. best to you

[TwixVoy]

7. No unfortunately

normally I do not make sudden choices in life. I prefer consistency.

However I stayed out of debt and have a healthy amount of savings. I will be fine trust me.

Right now I am just going to reflect on everything... take some time to relax. Probably will look for another job sooner than later.... but I suppose this is where saving for so long comes in useful. I have time to think about things.

I did make some good friends at work who I have contact information for. I remember reading that after Circuit City went under some employees got together with coworkers and started their own business. Who knows maybe I'll get in touch with some people from work I know are ready to be free as well and we'll try something like that. I will tell you one thing - I met a LOT of people who had skills they probably never even realized they could put to good use and think far less of themselves than they should.

[Merlot]

5. Thanks for the interesting read

Iagree with tyou that some people feel obligated to spend for holiday goodies and they know deep down they really shouldn't. As for sales being back up, I think they will drop again. We're in for a rocky ride for the next year at least. This is a blip.

I try to make purchases through smaller independent stores or if that's not possible, I go online. Hate those big stores.

[Jane Austin]

10. We here at

dogstuff.com wish there were more people like you!

Both our actual retail store in Austin and our web business are down considerably from last year.

Thank you for supporting small businesses!

[Kip Humphrey]

6. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I've found the glimpses inside big box retailing enlightening

and will miss it. Good luck to you on your next career, whatever that is, and I hope you continue to share your journey.

[bighart]

8. Reminded me of my experience 6 years ago.

I worked retail for 20 years, from age 16, until I changed careers 6 years ago. Being in retail that long really made me cynical in many ways because you really do see the worst in people at times. I too was a manager and had many single parents and working poor under my supervision. If you really want to know what it means to struggle go to work as an hourly employee for a corporate retailer with no other income. Work hours are unstable and subject to change from week to week, the work is hard, you are mistreated by customers and other employees and in some cases your supervisors and the stress is high. I have much respect for many of those I worked with and supervised but am really glad I got out. Still to this day can't believe how much better things are. I remember the crap I had to deal with before when I am having a bad day at work and somehow my day seems to be easier to deal with.

[truedelphi]

11. I have so much appreciated all your posts and your

Insights from "inside the belly of the beast"

People do not understand what a Corporatist State is, nor why we should oppose Corporate State policies. So what if the country is being drained for the benfit of the banksters? After all, Obama's kids and wife are sweet, so it will all just work out somehow, seems to be the attitude.

I choose Obama over Senator Hillary Clinton in part because of her association with Sam Walton, and including the fact that her campaign lied through their teeth about the time line of her association with the timeline of the massive small town take overs when WalMart moved in, and the mom and pop businesses shut down. (She was close to WalMart all through the time the small business shut downs were cocurring due to WalMart actions)

In many cases, in little towns in Southern Illinois and places similar, once those small shops shut down, it became evident to WalMart Corporate, that there wasn't enough business for WalMart to even stay open there. SO WalMArt would pull out as well.

Yet Senator Clinton wrote her book - "It takes a Village" and no reporter ever questioned her on this. "If it takes a damn village, Senator Clinton, wehy thehell did you participate in destroying the Village!"

Now President Obama is selling us down the creek, and leaving us without a paddle. I notice people's anger when I am in the mega-cities. I first noticed this "angst" in the late fall of 2007, when I entered a SF Bay area Safeway - this huge multi-football field expanse of food, greeting cards, booze, etc. Of the 300 people in the store, only two seemed happy. Both were younger people with clearly different ethnicities. One a Japanese woman, one a guy from Guatamela. I got the feeling that every other person was too connected to the collapsing real estate market to be happy in Dec 2007.

In my rural neck of the woods, life goes on much as it always has.

[bluesmail]

12. It's not called a depression for the fun of it.

:(