If you work retail you know exactly what I’m talking about. If anything you may know more than I do considering this is my first month. Working retail isn’t as troublesome as it’s made out to be. Yes, it can be sometimes laborious as almost all jobs are. But don’t sell yourself short because you work retail. There's something new and exciting bound to happen everyday you walk into the shop. Whether you like it or not, as retail employees we all share some things in common. Here are four year we can probably relate to each other:

Your break room is tiny as hell.

If it’s not stacked to the ceiling with new product shipment boxes than its stacked with piles of winter coats.We compare our break room to our tiny apartment closet and we’re not sure which one is better. Unfortunately, they both suck. Your break room might even be messier than your closet, which makes things even worse. There’s probably leftover food, coffee cups and random articles of clothing that aren’t yours scattered throughout the break room.

Tiny and messy but we still make it our palace. It’s our little escape after spending hours talking our mouths off and helping costumers find the perfect items. No matter what, we’ll sit on the nasty floor, we’ll drink from whatever cup we can find and we’ll snack on food that’s been sitting out since the shop’s grand opening. It takes genuine love to accept the tiny break room and the people who you practically have to climb over to get around.

You’ll meet the most interesting customers.

From the moment the shop opens you’re inviting a whole new set of people to walk in to ask you questions, tell you their life story and then they'll buy the product you’ve been desperately trying to sell them. You try to build a rapper, in order to better get to know them and find them the perfect item. But sometimes you get more detail than you bargained for.

Sometimes you’ll find more things in common with this stranger than you could’ve imagined. You can stumble upon someone who wants to share with you how their day has been, someone who wants to tell you about their knowledge on frost bite and someone might even ask you for your number. Yes, these are the things that happen. Nothing in New York is ever normal and this includes retail.

Holidays are hectic.

Last minute gift shoppers can be the absolute worst. Not only is the shop over flowing with an abundance of holiday products but the holiday shoppers just add on to the overpopulation. From the moment your shift starts you have to be ready to talk your mouth off and sell, sell, sell.

The store is tighter than usual. There are people popping into the shop every damn second that you don’t even have a minute to breathe. The good thing about all the chaos is, there will be people who want to buy more. They'll have big baskets and bring in more money for the shop.

When the shop is closed you can bust out and party with your co-workers.

After a long shift all you want to hear is the door close and lock, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re done for the day. You have to clean the shop, restock, organize the products and put away random items that have floated around through the day. Your main goal is to make the shop look as if nothing has ever happened the day before.

Sometimes during the closing shift we don’t take our job are seriously as we should. We’re not dealing with costumers and we’re definitely not pressured to sell. Instead, we laugh our asses off and clean. Once the closing checklist has been taken care off, its time to go out and watch the sunrise.

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No, this isn’t a job at the office, but it's just as difficult as one. It keeps you on your feet, both figuratively and literally. As a college student, working in retail is probably one of the best things you can possibly do. Not only do you work with people around your age and in the same situation as you, but working retail does leave you with some valuable life lessons.

You’ll learn how to approach people, how to sell, how to leave your personal life outside of work and vice verse. You'll, of course, learn how to manage your money considering how low the pay is. Working retail has its and ups and downs. Everyone has a different experience, but one thing is for sure, there’s a sense of camaraderie when working in retail.

You aren’t just friends with the people who work in the same shop as you, you’re friends with people in the neighboring shops, in the shops across town and the shops across the world. No matter what, there’s bound to be something that all retail workers can relate to.