So over the past month, I’ve gotten two jobs, both retail: one at Wilsons Leather and one at Old Navy.
At WIlsons, we had to completely set up the store from scratch because it’s brand new. While I was not a fan of 10-hour days full of manual labor (props to people who do that for a living), I really honestly enjoyed the time because I got to bond with my coworkers. Unwrapping 908347694838 handbags and jackets together really causes friendships to blossom, let me tell you. It’s totally true that misery loves company. At one point, one of my coworkers, Susan, and I had to sensor all of the jackets. Needless to say, we were not thrilled, considering there were hundreds to do. But we decided to box ourselves in with racks of jackets and pretend that that little area was our “house” and the “emergency exits” consisted of crawling over the bottom of the racks and under the jackets. So while we hated sensoring all of the jackets, we tried to make the best of it. All of my coworkers are so relaxed and chill, like me, and that’s what I love; they don’t have sticks up their butts. They’ve made my time there amazing so far and I’m hoping it’ll continue as the mad Christmas rush starts soon enough.
Now, Old Navy. I just started the training for this job yesterday, but I already love it. The group interview was like nothing I had ever done before and it was so relaxing. I mean, I got to color. That’s right. I colored during an interview. Regardless of the fact that like more than half of my wardrobe is from Old Navy, the fact that I got to color during their interview just showed me how much I love that company and how perfect a fit I am for them. These past two days of training have only furthered that notion. I’ve met fun, hilarious people that are just as relaxed as I am. I was instantly comfortable with them and we joke as if we’re old friends. We probably spent about half an hour of training today off topic just talking about random things, and I seriously loved it. I am so so excited to work for this company.
I clearly love these retail jobs that I have, but by societal standards, me having a retail job is like a downgrade. I went to college for four years and majored in biology, and I work in retail? Yeah, people look down upon that. I mean, it’s not like retail was my first choice; I would’ve loved to get a science job, but they aren’t nearly as easy to get as one may think. There are a lot of science jobs, but there are wayyyy more people that want them than there are jobs, and I’m not exactly the most qualified candidate, I’ll admit. So it’s difficult for me to get a job, but people don’t understand that. For example, my mother. I may currently have two jobs and am applying to grad school, but she’s all “you know, you need to keep applying to science jobs blah blah blah.” Well, you know what? I don’t have a lot of time, and honestly, I LIKE retail. I like the people-to-people interaction. I do love science, but there’s a lot of alone time that I don’t always want. I like being around people while working (just not when I get home…). I’m really happy in retail, but she doesn’t understand that, or it’s like, “well you still need a job to further your career.” Well, you know, I’m just not that career-centered. I know it’s important, but I don’t want to make my life about my career. I’m not that person. And while I have this year off, I like exploring other careers. I’m not dead-set on what I want to do with my life., so let me have this year off to explore jobs and polish my grad school apps.
All in all, I’m actually really happy with where I am in life right now, and the older generations need to stop pressuring our generation to follow every societal norm. No. Not happening. Get back to your own life.
carolaysays 