So I have been recently employed into not a new line of work, but into a new business. Let me tell you, it feels like a completely different world compared to my work life at JoAnn's.
At JoAnn's, we were constantly understaffed, always busy, and always at odds with the district manager. We did not have a very strong leader, and for a group of employees called "team members," our lack of coaching hurt us greatly. We were always hanging on by a thread (pun not intended initially, then (once I realized my cleverness) VERY intended.) and it made for a very stressful work environment.
That being said, when my window of opportunity for escape open up, I jumped, quickly and without hesitation.
I've done this once before... At the end of the summer before my freshman year of college; I got a glimpse of the greener grass calling my name, and I jumped. I jumped right into the dramatic, even less-appealing world of Hobby Lobby. Being understaffed and undercoached was not nearly as bad as being coached by a manipulating, narcissistic bully. Luckily, JoAnn's took me right back once I realized the mistake I had made.
However, this next time, I knew that when I jumped, I couldn't come running back to JoAnn's for the third time. Unbeknownst to me, the grass would be greener in some ways and not in others. The green outweighs the brown, but the brown ultimately teaches me things.
Allow me by to elaborate. I work at a tiny baby clothes store in a wealthy part of Birmingham. By tiny, I mean like 18' by 18'. TINY. By wealthy, I mean people who, without blinking, will drop a hundred bucks for two pair of pajamas for their nine-month-old. WEALTHY.
My co-workers aren't really like those people; they're used to them though. Me, however, I'm the newbie. Here's where the rant comes in.
Let me please offer a piece of advice to all or any readers (I would say "kindly offer," but I'm not going to guarantee anything.) If you frequent a specific place so often that you know the employees by name, and a new employee offers to help you one day opposed to the ones you know... PLEASE, for the love of HUMANITY and people's SELF-ESTEEM, give them a chance.
I get it. You're comfortable. You spend a lot of money there. You want the kind of service you're used to. However. That person is trying to get comfortable too. The least you can do is show enough courtesy to step off the high-horse of "I-come-here-so-much-the-employees-know-my-name-and-I-only-want-to-receive-help-from-them."
Stop. Picture this. The screaming kid in the grocery store. "I WANT THE RED AND BLUE POPSICLES! NOT THE RED AND WHITE ONES! I WANT WHAT I WANT AND I WANT IT NOW!" Sound annoying? Well, yeah. It is.
Before now, I've never experienced the slap in the face it is for a customer to walk in, myself to offer help, and for the customer give me a quick glance, before demanding, "Yeah, Janet knows what I like. Where is she?" This. Is. So disheartening.
I, of all people, understand comfort zones. I like my comfort zones, and if I'm pushed out of one against my will, I turn into a self-conscious, shrinking, stuttering slub. But being uncomfortable is never an excuse for lack of courtesy.
So here is what the brown grass of this retail here has taught me: always give the newbie a chance. You never know, you might find a new favorite employee; you might learn something you have in common with this person; OR you might find yourself having to practice a little patience with someone. Either way, it isn't going to hurt you, and even if you don't get anything out of it, it's probably going to help that new employee's self-esteem in his or her job. Then he or she can begin to confidently help more and more people. Just because you spend a lot of money somewhere doesn't mean you get to be rude.
And that's all for today. Basically I don't even know if people read these posts, but I just like to get my rants out there sometimes, in case somebody stumbles across Woe Is Me. So stay tuned, because there is probably going to be more patches of brown grass within the next few weeks...
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