I never would have believed that I was going to work in a retail store before reaching the age of sixteen, but I actually got to. It was an amazing day. I was ecstatic, overjoyed, and euphoric. It was definitely not your average school day, since typically I’m stuck in school having to copy notes for the whole day. It was the morning of November 27, 2013, the most glacial day of the year. I stepped out of the car, grabbed my lunch bag, and locked the doors. As soon as I exited the car the sound of a bomb going off reverberated throughout the deserted parking lot.
I quickly looked around to see where the outrageous sound had come from, but saw nothing. My mother told me to get inside quickly, so I scurried through the wet snow to the front of the store. On my way across the parking lot I glanced up towards the sign above the entrance, and noticed a huge gap at the beginning of the work “Marks. ” The “M” must have been pried off the stucco wall and disappeared into the blowing snow. The moment I stepped into the store I was greeted by Linda, who would be training/working with me for the day.
She was very short, very helpful, and very sweet. For about 1 hour Linda showed me around the store, and explained to me the proper and the improper procedures and guidelines. At nine o’clock sharp the store was opened, and many customers rushed through the doors chatting amongst each other. When a customer brought their items to the cash, I would remove the security tags, by using a special tool (it took AWHILE to get the hang of). Meanwhile Linda would operate the cash register, because I was too young.
My first impression of the day was that there would be a lot of pressure for me to finish all my assigned tasks and duties. I was totally wrong, it seemed as if I didn’t have any work at all. All of the employees worked with one another, making everyone’s jobs a lot easier. During my lunch break I got to eat in front of a large flat screen TV, which looked brand spanking new. The lunchroom had a microwave, oven, dishwasher, fridge, freezer, toaster, and a coffee machine. The smell of the room was a combination of overcooked lasagna, and freshly baked oatmeal cookies.
My lunch was very displeasing, it felt extremely soggy, and tasted irregular, because it had been made the night before. After my lunch break, Gary took me to the back of the store, which was used as a receiving area and kept the extra merchandise. He explained their system behind the secret codes that is on all the products. I found the cleanliness of the workspace immaculate, and I was able to find everything that I needed to complete all of my tasks. Overall, I had an extraordinary experience, and it was a real eye opener for me.
I loved the fact that all the people I talked with replied to me with either a “thank-you,” a “your welcome,” or a “great job. ” I believe that if the school board hadn’t provided the grade nines with this opportunity, I wouldn’t know what to prepare for, or what to expect when I go to my first actual job. Another huge thing I realized was that, my mother (assistant manager) didn’t just sit on her butt all day. She has an enormous amount of problems, tasks, and complaints to all deal with every single day.
