The Superficial

When it comes to shopping, I am a browser. A window shopper. I like the experience of looking at pretty things. I don't have to buy them to have fun shopping. There is a store near me that I especially enjoy. The merchandise is unusual and ever changing. The sales people are available yet unobtrusive. The store smells good, like fresh air and flowers, the lighting is soft and the temperature is always nice and cool, even on a hot day. It just makes me happy to go into that shop and look around.

I work in retail myself, in a store in a very affluent area. We are told to ask each customer as they arrive at our cash register, "Did you find everything you were looking for today?" Many times they reply something like, "Well, I didn't need anything, but look at all I'm buying." Some are almost apologetic at buying all that stuff. I figure their consumption fuels our economy and gives me a job and if they aren't taking food out of their kids' mouths to buy that stuff, what's the harm?

Maybe what they are feeling is the superficiality of it. Now I like beautiful things in my home and flowers on the table and lovely clothes and sparkly jewelry just as much as the next girl, but all that stuff is just the window dressing of what is hopefully already a meaningful life. We could have all the things that money could buy. But if the stuff is all we have, then I would have to agree with the words to this song: that life's a bore.

Susan

"Ain't Got You" written by Alicia Keyes

Self-Awareness

I am so cheerful at work that my colleagues kid me about it. One of my co-workers told me one day, "You put a smile on people's faces. I hope you know that." What a nice thing to say. Customers for the most part love me, probably because they see that I am genuine. I really do care if they found everything they were looking for. I really do think our store rewards card is rewarding. I really do hope they have a nice day. I really do think it matters if their pillows match the swatch of fabric or the paint chip they brought in. I really do hope they come back and see us.

 I know a lot of people who work in customer service who have a real disdain or even a dislike for customers, a contempt thinly veiled by all the right words and phrases. No doubt about it, it can be challenging working with the public, but really I have a job because we have customers, so why should I hate on them? It came as a surprise to everyone (word travels fast around my workplace) last week when a customer complained to my manager that I was rude. He asked for specifics, and she had none, she just repeated, "She was (long pause as if she was searching for her brain for something) just (shorter pause) rude." He described her to me, and I vaguely remembered someone who fit her description, a customer unhappy about our store's return policy that did not work in her favor. Of course, it's possible that I can be rude, but not very likely.

There were no repercussions for me. I wasn't reprimanded for it and the manager explained he was only telling me because he was required to. My co-workers were supportive, because they all like me and knew it was probably the customer and not me who was the problem.  But after it happened, I found myself feeling edgy and not as cheerful as I usually am. I had to work at adjusting my attitude, because it was early in my shift, and what was happening was this. Someone had accused me of being rude, when I wasn't. But just hearing that caused me to be in danger of actually being rude and perhaps taking it out on all the other innocent customers I would be waiting on for the rest of the day. I was able to regroup pretty quickly, and soon I was back to my usual happy self.

It was a good reminder to me of how important it is to be self-aware, and of not allowing the little negative things to ruin an otherwise perfectly good day.

Susan