First day of work
Actually, the title is a lie--my first day of work at the thrift store was yesterday. Today I spent filing and moving old insurance files to a new cabinet in a chiropractor's office.
But yesterday was my first day at the thrift store. Since Alan wants blogfodder, I'll give what I've got.
For some background, I've spent the last two months searching, unsuccessfully, for a job. For a while I thought I was going to work at my favorite coffeeshop in Decatur--also walking/biking distance from Carl's house. That fell through, as did another coffeeshop job, several waitress applications, a job working in a building-health-inspection-and-culture-the-bacteria-or-fungus-that-grows-in-them lab (I can't recall what this is actually called), and, most recently, a job driving an animal cremator's truck (I would go pick up dead kitties and puppies from clinics. I was actually looking forward to this because... what stories I would have! But I digress).
Finally, I took an out-of-town guest to this thrift store right before he had to go to the airport, and this girl I worked with in an icecream store in senior year of highschool was working. I asked for an application, and she gave me one and told me to come back Monday to talk to the hiring manager.
Yesterday, I walked in at 3 PM, handed her my application, and told her I knew Stephanie. She didn't look at my application, just asked when I could start. "Today," I responded.
"Really? Want to?"
So I did.
It was also Half-Price Monday, which means UTTER AND EXTREME CHAOS. Seriously, people form a line fifteen to thirty minutes before the store opens, and run each other over with their shopping carts in order to get to whatever they had their eye on Sunday night. There are regulars that come every week, religiously. There are also regulars that come every day. I have yet to make their acquaintance; this is just what I've heard.
There isn't really training involved--all I do is pick up clothes where people drop them from their nerveless fingers, rearrange clothing that people stick in weird places, find the odd hiding places where people have stashed things (a toy dump truck stuffed with several ladies shirts under the dresses?), and generally keep the store clean and functioning. Not hard, especially since I know that store like the back of my hand. Do I buy too much clothing? Absolutely.
Well, now I'll get it for cheap-or-free.
Three things of note happened:
1. I made a better friend of Stephanie, and made a friend in this girl Courtney. We went out for food after work (at 11 o'clock).
2. As I was hanging up sweaters that had fallen from their hangers, I overheard a woman say to her friend, "It just seems like the store is falling apart this week!" After she said this, she threw a couple of sweaters on top of the rack. Hmm, I wonder WHY the store is falling apart?
3. I spied on two transwomen (m2f) while they were trying on shoes. They were very convincing; had I not had a fair amount of experience with trans people, I might not have guessed. It took me about ten minutes to feel assured that they were. They were both had just slightly off build, and both had Adam's apples, and strong features. Also, they had trouble finding shoes that fit. If anyone finds it odd that I spent so much time trying to figure it out, even though I'm sure they'd prefer that no one be able to tell, well... what can I say? I like figuring things out. Analytical scientist girl to the rescue!
So, that was my first day. Tomorrow I go in at 12 and try to stay until close. Huzzah for needing tons of money in Japan!
But yesterday was my first day at the thrift store. Since Alan wants blogfodder, I'll give what I've got.
For some background, I've spent the last two months searching, unsuccessfully, for a job. For a while I thought I was going to work at my favorite coffeeshop in Decatur--also walking/biking distance from Carl's house. That fell through, as did another coffeeshop job, several waitress applications, a job working in a building-health-inspection-and-culture-the-bacteria-or-fungus-that-grows-in-them lab (I can't recall what this is actually called), and, most recently, a job driving an animal cremator's truck (I would go pick up dead kitties and puppies from clinics. I was actually looking forward to this because... what stories I would have! But I digress).
Finally, I took an out-of-town guest to this thrift store right before he had to go to the airport, and this girl I worked with in an icecream store in senior year of highschool was working. I asked for an application, and she gave me one and told me to come back Monday to talk to the hiring manager.
Yesterday, I walked in at 3 PM, handed her my application, and told her I knew Stephanie. She didn't look at my application, just asked when I could start. "Today," I responded.
"Really? Want to?"
So I did.
It was also Half-Price Monday, which means UTTER AND EXTREME CHAOS. Seriously, people form a line fifteen to thirty minutes before the store opens, and run each other over with their shopping carts in order to get to whatever they had their eye on Sunday night. There are regulars that come every week, religiously. There are also regulars that come every day. I have yet to make their acquaintance; this is just what I've heard.
There isn't really training involved--all I do is pick up clothes where people drop them from their nerveless fingers, rearrange clothing that people stick in weird places, find the odd hiding places where people have stashed things (a toy dump truck stuffed with several ladies shirts under the dresses?), and generally keep the store clean and functioning. Not hard, especially since I know that store like the back of my hand. Do I buy too much clothing? Absolutely.
Well, now I'll get it for cheap-or-free.
Three things of note happened:
1. I made a better friend of Stephanie, and made a friend in this girl Courtney. We went out for food after work (at 11 o'clock).
2. As I was hanging up sweaters that had fallen from their hangers, I overheard a woman say to her friend, "It just seems like the store is falling apart this week!" After she said this, she threw a couple of sweaters on top of the rack. Hmm, I wonder WHY the store is falling apart?
3. I spied on two transwomen (m2f) while they were trying on shoes. They were very convincing; had I not had a fair amount of experience with trans people, I might not have guessed. It took me about ten minutes to feel assured that they were. They were both had just slightly off build, and both had Adam's apples, and strong features. Also, they had trouble finding shoes that fit. If anyone finds it odd that I spent so much time trying to figure it out, even though I'm sure they'd prefer that no one be able to tell, well... what can I say? I like figuring things out. Analytical scientist girl to the rescue!
So, that was my first day. Tomorrow I go in at 12 and try to stay until close. Huzzah for needing tons of money in Japan!
posted by Bridget Lough at
11:56 PM
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