It’s finally summer, again -- the season of freedom for college students. Finally, we are free from the stress of exams, homework, essays and the daily stresses that come along with being a college student. For most of us, it is also the season of odd jobs. I’ve worked at camps and had an internship, but most memorable was my time is retail.
I worked retail strictly for the money, because with an unpaid internship, my bank account was quickly draining. I needed some money to keep myself afloat so I applied for a part-time retail job. My time there was far from boring. In my time in retail, I learned many things that I found to be true.
1. Whatever you're selling will grow on you.
Where I worked, we sold primarily bold, colorful, exuberant vinyl bags that came in all shapes and sizes, but were mostly for makeup. I don’t really understand makeup and hate colors, so why would I need a makeup bag? But after a couple of weeks, my addiction began. I started out with a makeup bag, then a coin purse, another makeup bag, a key chain wallet and lastly a clutch. Before I knew it, I owned half of the products in the store.
2. Employee discount.
No matter what you’re selling, the employee discount makes it worth buying. When things are half off, they become more appealing immediately and some self control is necessary in order to not to spend your whole pay check.
3. Customers asking for a discount.
As great as employee discounts are, the other side of the coin is random strangers asking for discounts for stupid reasons. No, I can't give you a discount for our Labor Day sale in July. No, I can't give you a discount on that shirt because we are out of your size. No, I can't let you use my employee discount because we've "become friends" in the past five minutes.
4. Being obsessed with the product is a good thing.
Once you own half the store, you can tell any customer exactly why that product is amazing and why they need it in their lives.
5. Closing then opening.
There is no pain like opening the store when you had to close it the night before, only having 12 hours away from the place.
6. Keys to the store.
Being given keys to the store, especially when there are multiple store locations, effectively doubles the size of your keychain. The more keys you have, the lower your chances are of guessing the right key on your first try.
7. Dallying customers.
There is a special place in hell for the customers who come in to the store two minutes before closing, walk around for 15 minutes and then don’t even buy anything.
8. Five minutes before clocking out is always the longest five minutes of the day.
Time seems to stand still during the last few minutes before your shift is over and you’re finally allowed to go home.
9. Cute shoes are out of the question.
Unless you are prepared for a shift full of pain, get used to wearing some ugly but practical shoes.
10. Standing all day.
Being on your feet for eight hours is a struggle even with ugly and uncomfortable shoes. After a while, everything hurts. You've probably become the master of strategic leaning or half-sitting to give your poor legs a break.
11. Hating the rush.
Getting totally overwhelmed when a mass of people walks into the store.
12. Hating the lull.
Being bored out of your mind the second the rush of people disperses.
13. Coping with boredom.
You have probably found many ways to deal with being bored when there are just no customers and cleaning is hands down the best way. Plus, after a while, you start to actually enjoy it.
14. Celebrity customers.
If you’re lucky, you might get a celebrity customer every once in a while. I got Taylor Swift, Lorde, Bella Thorne, and Gregg Sulkin, which was pretty exciting.
15. Flirting.
Chances are that some customer has flirted with you and it’s been super uncomfortable. It normally comes with the awkward wink.
16. Flirting continued.
Chances are, you've also gotten some really cute customers you flirted with a little bit!
17. Fake smile.
You’ve managed to lock down a convincing fake smile and chances are it makes your face sore by the end of the day.
18. Lying to customers.
Being mean to customers is never okay, so you have to frequently tell someone that they look good when they actually look terrible.
19. Your weekend isn't really the weekend.
Chances are you work Saturday and Sunday, so your "weekend" is a couple random weekdays. Tuesday nights are suddenly becoming the new Friday nights.
20. Understanding other retail workers.
After working retail, you will never look at shopping the same way and you'll really try to be the best customer possible.
If you're one of the brave souls working in retail this summer, good luck to you and my the odds be ever in your favor.
