Who was helping you today?

One of my personal pet peeves is when people come to the cash wrap and say that no one was helping them, especially when I’ve seen at least one person approach the customer and ask try to help them.  Most people who work on the sales floor work on some sort of commission.  And on top of that, when we have people coming to the cash wrap saying that they have not been helped, everyone looks bad.

Now, I’ve talked to some friends who have been offenders, and there seems to be some confusion surrounding the proper customer at the cash wrap protocol.  So, here are some rules to go by:

•  If you have tried anything on, someone helped you.  In order to get into the dressing room, someone had to unlock it for you.  And chances are, you’re not buying everything you tried on, so someone has to put all that clothing away.
• If someone gets a size for you, you’ve been helped.
• On the same note, if someone asks you if they can get a size for you, you were more than likely rummaging through a neatly folded pile that they will now need to refold.  Ergo, they are helping you.
• If someone offers to help you and you decline, that person was ready, willing, and able to help you, and you should give him or her credit for it.
• If you don’t remember who was helping you or you didn’t catch their name, tell the person at the register what they looked like, what they were wearing, or where in the store they were located.  That way, at least someone will get credit for it.
• If people were honestly ignoring you and no one welcomed you to the store or offered to help you, tell the person behind the cash wrap.  As much as we want to get credit for our good customer service, we want to know if we aren’t doing a good job. 

Capisce? 

The Food Stamp Debate

So, I’ve been playing phone tag with my food stamp caseworker for about a month now.  This is mostly my fault because I won’t answer the phone if I don’t recognize the number and I’m not really sure that I am ready to swallow my pride and actually get food stamps.  To be fair, my caseworker didn’t call during either of my interview appointments, so there’s that.

I’m not really sure why, but I find it completely soul-crushing that I’m even considering going on public assistance. Yes, I only make about $15,500 year, and that’s if I’m lucky with getting hours, but there’s a little voice at the back of my head that keeps telling me that I’m not the type of person who should be on food stamps.  And this isn’t a “there are people who need the them more than you” type of feeling; this is a “if you get food stamps, you’re a loser and not trying hard enough” feeling.  I know this is at least partially ridiculous, but let’s be honest, it’s what most people would think.  I mean, I come from a nice, middle-class family, went to a prestigious university and just graduated from law school.  I have absolutely no business being on food stamps.  Yet, I am currently surviving mostly on 10 for $10 Greek yogurts and hard-boiled eggs (a girl has to watch her figure, after all).  I work my butt off and I can barely cover my bills, never mind afford food.  What’s worse is that my student loans are still in deferment, once those become due, I will be royally fucked.  So, I guess on Monday the game of phone tag will continue and another little piece of my soul will die.  

An Introduction

The purpose of this blog is two-fold: one, working retail I see a lot of crazy/funny shit, and I feel I need to tell everyone; two, if I don’t find something to do with my time that requires an iota of cognitive thought, I am going to lose my freaking mind. 

Who am I? I am one of the thousands of overeducated, underemployed twenty-somethings.  I have an engineering degree and a JD and I spend my days folding t-shirts at J.Crew.  Now, I want to be clear.  There’s really nothing wrong with working at J.Crew.  They’re a great company to work for, I love their clothes, and I work with some really awesome people.  I also work 40-hour weeks and can barely pay my bills.  I know this describes about half of the country… the half that are lucky enough to have a job, and I really am thankful that I have some money coming in.  I just wish that someone had told me 10 years ago that I would get two degrees and be doing exactly the same thing as I was my senior year of high-school.