Target Acquired

Yep. I got another job. And it's Target. I'm super excited about it. I love love LOVE Target. I could live and die there. It's my happy place. I was trained last week, and Monday was my first day working by myself. I was in charge of maintaining the men's, shoes, and lingerie section. And the shoes and lingerie are so stinkin messy. Holy guacamole. It was a lot more work than I thought it would be. I would try and arrange the bras nicely (which is hard-they don't hang very nicely), and then some lady would walk behind and mess them up. I was about ready to bring out my boxing gloves. haha. And who shops for bras at 9:30 at night?! I just made up a story in my head about how she's going to a very important event in the morning and needs the perfect bra. The story I made up probably saved her a beating from a fed up employee...... okay.. that sounded violent.

Actually I make up a lot of stories when situations come up in life. Like if someone cuts me off when I'm driving, I always say the wife must be in labor or something really life threatening must be happening. Or if someone is rude and they're my server at a restaurant, I think their dog must have died or something. Making up stories helps me excuse them. Kinda weird. haha.

So I now work at a small and a large retail store. It's interesting comparing the two.

Large Retail Stores

• They depend on you being friendly and available to the customers. 
• You're assigned a certain area to keep clean and stocked. 
• You wear their uniform. (red shirt and khakis for Target). 
• You blend in with your fellow employees. It's not very personal. 
• Every customer that walks in is welcomed and left to do their own thing unless they ask for help.

Small Retail Stores

• They depend on you to be engaging and convince the customer to make a purchase. 
• You need to be an expert in all areas of the store.
• You can pretty much wear anything as long as it looks nice and matches the style of the clothes in the store. 
• You stand out as an employee because there are only a couple of you working at one time. 
• Every customer is welcomed and then questioned and then watched and then questioned again and then bothered to the point that they feel uncomfortable. 

Okay, so it's not really that bad. But I feel like at the smaller retail store I have to bother customers and try and persuade them to buy things outrageous. The customer comes in looking for a t-shirt and I have to make sure I try and throw in a pair of pants and a layering piece. 

I definitely appreciate the jobs I have. They're very different and both have pros and cons. I've found out that I'm more of a large retail store kind of person. I like blending in and leaving customers alone if they don't need help. 

Sometimes I think about how I have a degree and I'm working a lowly job. Oh well. It's bringing home some bacon. I probably won't get a teaching job this fall, but I'll probably try for next year. But what I have now is working for us and it's a job. So we're blessed.