The Work That is Retail

One Writer’s Experience

Even die hard Amazon shoppers find themselves in a brick and mortar store from time to time. Whether it is a trip to a small business (a few remain in the era of the big box) or a major name retailer you are likely to interact with a salesperson or two. Most of us who have retail experience have learned how to politely and properly interact with salespeople. For those who haven’t done time in retail a good book to read is Malled My Unintentional Career in Retail by Caitlin Kelly.

Kelly’s book was published over a decade ago so some of the statistics she provides will be out of date. But it’s not just the data that makes Kelly’s book worth the read. Kelly provides a well thought and well written insight into what it is like to work in retail sales. Kelly’s “career in retail” can be easily understood by those who have never worked in retail. For those of us who have been in retail the book feels like a conversation with a coworker in the break room. Much of what she writes about retail may seem, for those of us who’ve been there, common knowledge, but Kelly approaches her topic with a sense of self awareness and at times humility. Anyone interested in learning about or relating with how a large portion of the workforce earn a living should give Kelly’s book a read.

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Thoughts on Personal Workspace

My current workspace is a cubicle (one of the most traditional of American workspaces). Employee cubicles at this job vary from the sparsley decorated to those that look like somehting from an overstocked second-hand shop. This wide variety of cubicle decor has me thinking about how people choose to decorate their workspace

One obvious reason for decorations is personal expression. All that bric-a-brac is visual representation of who the employee is. Another purpose could be to display status. I’ve seen many workspaces crowded with diplomas, certificates, and other random awards. There are also the candy bowl cubicles, trying to lure fellow employees over like some sort of a sad version of Hansel and Gretel. The most important reason for decorations is a sense of ownership. In a world where we give eight or more hours a day to an employer many feel they need a little place to call their own (even if we don’t have property rights). Whether it’s a few photos, a couple of knick knacks, an award, or a bowl of Sweet Tarts it’s an attempt to mark off a little place of the world as our own where the time isn’t ours.

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The In-Between Time

Nine o’clock on a warm Sunday morning attempting to regroup from a sixteen hour Saturday shift while coming to grips with a twelve hour shift tonight. Exhausted but too wired on caffeine to consider sleep for at least a couple hours. I call these the unoccupied hours the in-between time.

With a few bottles bottle of beer in hand, a familiar playlist on Spotify, and a cigar in my shirt pocket I take a seat at my little too rusted patio table. I pop a beer, turn up the volume, and light the cigar. This is the usual routine for the in-between time. Trying to get away from the thought of work while knowing work is less than ten hours away. The first beer empties a little too quickly as the cigar marks the time.

I look across the yard and notice the cars and trucks traveling down the road. Families wearing their pressed Sunday best on their way to one church or another. I pop another beer, return the waves of children riding in backseats, and I wonder what it would be like to have somwhere to go or something to think about on a Sunday that didn’t involve work?

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“Take a Fit”

Tellurians plodding half-heartedly to
Weekday carrels. There is no merriment 
For the voiceless mass.

Bosses excoriate a variety of
Mendacious media. Their intentional
Propaganda is as genuine as their workplace "family."

Our drudgery is ours.
Our anger is ours.
Our hours are theirs.

from Firsts and Lasts

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On Work

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

-Upton Sinclair-

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