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New Day Job
Mar. 11th, 2022 08:27 amSo yesterday was kinda sorta a dry run for my New Day Job. I went in thinking I was only going to be there to finish off some paperwork I didn't get to on Wednesday, but spent the remainder of the afternoon hours to get a full eight-hour shift, in which I did five of them at the register.
When was the last time I did register work...? Wow, that would have been HMV, twenty-two years ago. Damn.
ANYWAY. It all came back to me pretty quickly, only this time with better registers and decent floor coverage. I forgot a few things (such as charging for bags, which I did maybe half the time) and there was a random customer survey thing that I completely forgot about (oops), but all in all it worked out just fine. And yes, I love that I have a ten minute/eight block commute. Five minutes if I take the 1 California bus.
So how do I feel, being back in retail for the first time in years? Well, I said this to A yesterday, and also said it on Twitter:
This may be a retail job, and I might be exhausted and/or in pain at the end of the day, and my schedule might be wonky AF for a while, but I had absolutely ZERO STRESS. I would take this job over returning to the bank any day. I felt more connected to customers and coworkers in one day than I did with fourteen years putting out monetary and coding fires. Even during the busy moments (noted: everyone shops for stuff at the end of the work day, around 4-6pm) there was no incentive or expectation to be OHMYFUCKINGGODINEEDTOGETTHROUGHEVERYTHINGRIGHTTHISVERYFUCKINGSECONDORITSGOINGTOEXPLODE levels of stressed out. Just...take each person as they come and get through it. Be friendly and do a decent job. That's it.
Being friendly to a shop customer costs nothing, and you know what? That's all they ask for, just a normal human connection, however brief. With the bank, almost every single department or client I worked with had ZERO sense of humor, had to get things done two weeks ago, and always seemed to be on the edge of either breakdown or blowup. Working in business banking, in my experience, was all about Always Being Freaked The Fuck Out, usually self-caused due to last minute payments and lack of education on their own systems. ["I don't know, I just press a button and send it" was a frequent comment.] Banking is a toxic atmosphere, and it's because the expectations are so goddamn high. [This is why I'm super nice to tellers. That, and my mom used to be one and I've heard the occasional horror story.]
Working retail might be physically exhausting at times, sure, but emotionally it's SO much less demanding. And that's all I've wanted, really. The ability to get a paycheck and still have the spoons to get some words done at the end (or start) of the day. And yes, I did in fact get some words done, even though they were done on the couch while dealing with a sore back and aching feet. Heh.
Will I be there for years on end? Well, who knows. I'm there Until Further Notice. If I find something that's a better fit, fine. If I'm there for a couple of years, that's cool too. As long as I'm getting a paycheck, and as long as I can still write, that's all that matters.
When was the last time I did register work...? Wow, that would have been HMV, twenty-two years ago. Damn.
ANYWAY. It all came back to me pretty quickly, only this time with better registers and decent floor coverage. I forgot a few things (such as charging for bags, which I did maybe half the time) and there was a random customer survey thing that I completely forgot about (oops), but all in all it worked out just fine. And yes, I love that I have a ten minute/eight block commute. Five minutes if I take the 1 California bus.
So how do I feel, being back in retail for the first time in years? Well, I said this to A yesterday, and also said it on Twitter:
This may be a retail job, and I might be exhausted and/or in pain at the end of the day, and my schedule might be wonky AF for a while, but I had absolutely ZERO STRESS. I would take this job over returning to the bank any day. I felt more connected to customers and coworkers in one day than I did with fourteen years putting out monetary and coding fires. Even during the busy moments (noted: everyone shops for stuff at the end of the work day, around 4-6pm) there was no incentive or expectation to be OHMYFUCKINGGODINEEDTOGETTHROUGHEVERYTHINGRIGHTTHISVERYFUCKINGSECONDORITSGOINGTOEXPLODE levels of stressed out. Just...take each person as they come and get through it. Be friendly and do a decent job. That's it.
Being friendly to a shop customer costs nothing, and you know what? That's all they ask for, just a normal human connection, however brief. With the bank, almost every single department or client I worked with had ZERO sense of humor, had to get things done two weeks ago, and always seemed to be on the edge of either breakdown or blowup. Working in business banking, in my experience, was all about Always Being Freaked The Fuck Out, usually self-caused due to last minute payments and lack of education on their own systems. ["I don't know, I just press a button and send it" was a frequent comment.] Banking is a toxic atmosphere, and it's because the expectations are so goddamn high. [This is why I'm super nice to tellers. That, and my mom used to be one and I've heard the occasional horror story.]
Working retail might be physically exhausting at times, sure, but emotionally it's SO much less demanding. And that's all I've wanted, really. The ability to get a paycheck and still have the spoons to get some words done at the end (or start) of the day. And yes, I did in fact get some words done, even though they were done on the couch while dealing with a sore back and aching feet. Heh.
Will I be there for years on end? Well, who knows. I'm there Until Further Notice. If I find something that's a better fit, fine. If I'm there for a couple of years, that's cool too. As long as I'm getting a paycheck, and as long as I can still write, that's all that matters.
