Thursday, October 22, 2009

Just a Reminder Only 9 Days To Halloween

Hi again,

Just a reminder that Halloween is only 9 days away and there is only a little bit of time left to get those costumes and party decorations. So get ready by shopping online and get same day shipping from one of, if not the best sight to get your children's costumes and costumes for adults. What did you decide you wanted to be this year? You want to be a witch or a gypsy queen. How about those Michael Jackson costumes for your kids? Or even Star Wars are still in this year. There are devils and angels and princes and princesses (such as Prince Charming, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and all the other Disney characters).

There are a variety of people and characters to be at buycostumes.com. Let's all have the fun we know we can have on one of the most celebrated days of the year.

Happy Halloween to all.

Monday, September 28, 2009

31 Days to Halloween. Who or What Are You Going to Be?

Hi and thanks for joining me in the Fitting Room today.

One of the most fun days of the year , Halloween, will be here soon. Are you ready? Need Halloween costumes? Costumes for kids or how about adult costumes? If you are not ready, you can get ready by going to one of the most popular places to get your costumes and party supplies online - buycostumes.com

In fact, all the holidays are coming up on us. They always seem to sneak up on us and then hit us with a big bang. Some people start preparing for the next holidays as soon as the old ones are over with. And then there are those of us who procrastinate and end up cramming in all our shopping and decorating and doing whatever else needs to be done at the very last moment.

This year instead of waiting until the last minute why not do something about the holidays coming up now starting with one of best and most fun one, Halloween. This day has become almost if not the most anticipated day of the year for kids and adults alike. Every year more of us seem to want to get into the spirit of Halloween than the previous year. Being able to dress up and change into someone or something other than who we are and that we fantasize about, well who wouldn't love to have that chance? It can be very exciting and fun. I know a couple of characters I would love to be for even a day.

What characters are popular this year? Well the mainstay of the wicked witch or the beautiful princess like Cinderella are always popular for the girls. Vampires and ghouls are always great for the guys. Wolverine and transformers are definitely in.

Getting great costumes and all those party supplies for Halloween from dusk til dawn is easy online at buycostumes.com. I am going to stick with the being the classic witch. One time when I was a witch I decided to dye my hair black. Now, being that my hair has been a light reddish brown most of my life I did not think it would be a big deal, but I ended up with all different colors in my hair. What a mess. I decided to stick to wigs from then on.

Would love to hear stories of Halloween from the very funny to the extremely scary. If you have any please tell us about them. Hope to hear some tales of Halloween.

I will be getting back with more about the holidays too.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

I Need To Make A Change (sound familiar?)

Well they say absence makes the heart grow fonder. But I fear when it comes to blogs absence makes people forget about you. I suppose that is the reason consistency with posts is very important if one wants people to keep coming back.

If we are absent at a regular job too often the outcome is usually termination. So I am thinking I should be thinking of writing posts and paying attention to any blog as I would a job. So as of today I am committed to making a blog writing schedule just as I have a job schedule. Of course, the schedule I do for blog posting will have to be on a much more regular basis than my job schedule is .

Anyway, I know I have said this before, but once again I will say I am going to be more consistent and write posts on a much more regular basis.

Now about this job I have right now, I cannot say how unpleasant it is most days. Just like worked on Labor Day. At first I was happy to be able to get the time and a half, but then come to find out I have been scheduled for only 3 -3/4 hours. So even with time and a half I am still not making a full day's pay. But then my manager comes to me and says she probably will need me to stay until the store closes which would give me another 5-1/2 hours. Okay, I was feeling a bit better when once again she comes and tells me that someone else is going to stay instead because I am available during the days more. She is worried that I might end up working too many hours during the week if she needs me on another day. How is that for confusing? The way this lady thinks is very strange sometimes.

I should have told her that I needed the time and a half much, much more than this kid who lives with her parents and uses the money for clothing does. But you would think any grown adult would have enough common sense to know this.

Like I said before, I guess you can tell that I am not really happy at this job, or at least at this store. Honestly, I do not know if it would be any better at the store where my old bosses are, except that I know I had a lot more good things to say about the managers and I really do not believe I complained as much. In fact, my mother says I used to be, or at least I seemed to be, much happier and I smiles a heck of a lot more.


I know I need to find something better in my life. I do not have that much more of it and I would really like to love the life I lead. I love it when I can help people. I love to make people smile and laugh. I am good at that. So far I have only been able to do these things in very small ways, but everyone of them was so enjoyable and so very elating. To be able to do it in much larger ways would be so gratifying. I would really love to help kids. Homeless kids. Hungry kids. Kids whose lives at home are so bad that to be without a home seems better.

Right now I am so confused about my life how do I help someone else? I have to set things right with me and my home and then I can go on from there.

I must again reaffirm the fact that I have the most wonderful daughter in the world and she has and still does keep me going when everything else around me seems to be unraveling. So before my life unravels anymore I need to find a way to put it back together better then ever.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Employee of the Quarter

Thanks for stopping by.

Do you get to vote for an Employee of the Month or Quarter or of the Year at your job? Well, we have Employee of the Quarter where I work. The Managers pick four associates that they feel are worthy of being Employee of the Quarter and then their peers vote for one of the four. And I am one of the four being voted on from the last quarter. It seems as if we have to wait for another whole quarter to find out who has won

I do think that it is a great incentive as the person who is voted Employee of the Quarter besides finding out how your peers feel about you, the winner gets a $50.00 gift card to one of the four businesses which our company is comprised of. Actually the employees are presented with many different incentives during the year.

I personally feel one of the greatest incentives the managers and administration can give the employees is to tell and show them how much they are appreciated; give them a pat on the back for a job well done; thank them for just coming in and doing their job. All of these can add up to uplifting the morale of the workplace.

Of course, most places have their pros and cons, especially if one is working for someone else. I believe our company is one of the few businesses where the management is taught that letting the associates know they are appreciated and thanking them for the work we do at least a couple times a day, especially before we leave for the day is very important. It does help us to feel we are appreciated. And of course it is always really nice to get a compliment on a job well done.

Well, I am up for Employee of the Quarter for last quarter. I was voted Employee of the Quarter the first quarter I worked at this company which definitely made me feel very special. I remember that we had to wait so long to find out who won that I had come to the conclusion that they had totally forgotten about announcing it. But, to my happy surprise, they finally did let us know the winner, which happily happened to be me. So now it seems as if we have been waiting again forever. I am not sure of the time frame they have for letting us know who won, but it seems like we wait a whole other quarter to find out. Last time I was told I won by a landslide which made me feel really great especially since our peers are the ones who decide. It is always very exhilarating to know that your co-workers feel good about the way you do your job, that they respect you and hopefully like you also.

Definitely there is a lesson to be learned in the way we treat people, especially those we work with when we are even nominated for Employee of the Quarter, let alone if we win that nomination. I always treat my co-workers the way I would like them to treat me. I have found by doing this the workplace can have a much better atmosphere and is much more conducive to making work a much happier and easier place to be.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Where Do All The Purses Go?

Where Do All The Purses Go? It is a fact that one of the main items that are stolen in retail stores are the purses.

First I have to tell you about all the that I have come in all the time who bring shoes and purses that they plan on buying. The purses have to be left out with me, but shoes can be taken in to try on with the clothes. Of course, many people just pick up some shoes that are like the ones that would be worn with the clothes they are trying on. Many times they just want to see how the dress or pants look with that type of shoe and/or purse before they make a decision on the clothes they want to buy.

I can understand wanting to know how a dress looks with a certain heel height or jeans look with a certain style of shoe. But when they bring in a pair of thongs (the ones worn on the feet) with a swimsuit I start wondering about how far does a sense of style go?

Then there are the women who bring in 5 to 10 different purses (and carrying them all instead of getting a cart), throw them on the floor and proceed to check out how they look in the mirror. Is the purse too big or too small? Does it hang too far down or does it look too short? Does it make them look too short or too heavy? I never realized other women went to such lengths to make sure they got the right purse. Of course with purses and handbags costing what they do today I suppose there should be more care in which one we buy. Many purses cost more than one complete outfit does. And now a purse is bought many times to complete an outfit, not just to wear as an everyday accessory.

And why am I letting you know how important purses can be to the shopper? In our stores purses have become one of the main items for theft. It has become such a costly item as far as loss to the store that now we censor almost all of them. And for the more expensive ones we now have a new censor that looks like a bike lock, definitely making the theft of a purse much more difficult and much more uninviting to the thief. Wallets and belts are also two of the main items most stolen on a regular basis. We censor all wallets and all belts no matter what the price.

I do not know what the numbers are but I do know that with the economy the way it is today the stores have become much more aware of doing anything they can to prevent loss in the stores. A lot of money is spent just on devices bought and people employed to prevent theft or catch the thief in the act. But still so much does end up getting stolen anyway.

Stealing is the reason we are so aggressive in the fitting room as that is one of the main theft areas. Checking clothes on the way in and making sure the same amount of items come out. Many people tell me they have only 8 items which is the max they can take at one time. But then when actually counted it could be 10, 12 or even more. Many places just take peoples word for the count but we actually have to have the clothes hung and count them ourselves. I know it can be an inconvenience, but it is also an inconvenience to the person working there also. When we get busy and there are people coming in and out it takes a lot of our time to count and check each item every person has. Many times people just walk right out because they do not want to wait which I can understand. I just wish that they understood that this is part of my job. I am not doing it to be mean or make it harder on them.

I just would like all the shoppers to know all these things we do to try and prevent theft is actually to help them out. If we can keep theft down then we can keep prices down. But the more stuff that is stolen, the higher the prices will go. No one wants to raise prices if it can be helped but the loss has to be made up somewhere.

So in conclusion, please be aware that all these things we do are not to inconvenience anyone or makes things harder for the shoppers. They are done to make it easier and keep prices as low as possible. Sometimes when people get upset about having to take the time to do this, I just show them that it really does not take that much longer. Sometimes I will try to joke about it and tell them that we will make this as painless as possible or try to lighten up the moment and most of the time it does work.

So thanks for taking the time to read In The Fitting Room With A.J. today.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

What's Wrong With Overtime?

What's wrong with overtime? This is a question many people do not even have to ask. Personally whenever I could get some overtime I jumped at it. But where I work now I guess overtime is frightening for management to even think about. let me tell you about Friday.

I was scheduled to work on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. But then two of the associates I work with asked if I wanted to work for them. One on Monday and the other on Friday. I said yes as I always do (because I have such a great social life, right?). So Friday morning I received a call which at first I thought was going to be to ask me to come in earlier, but then when I listened to the message it was to tell me to come in later at 6 p.m. instead of 5 otherwise I would be going into overtime. I did not even realize I had worked that many hours.

Well, this is where it gets to be kind of humorous. When I got in my manager came and told me that I had to sign out by 10:00 p.m. and no later. Usually when we are scheduled to close it means we are going to be there 30 minutes to an hour and 1/2 later than the time the store closes which is 9:30 p.m. So no matter how long everyone else was going to be there I had to be finished by 10:00. Then later, the manager comes over and tells me that she wants me to clock out at 9:55. Okay, so that is what I planned on doing. But it got to be about 9:45 and she says as long as I clock out by 9:59 I would be okay. So that is the third time I have been told a different time to clock out. Then at 9:55 I hear over the intercom, A.J. you have 4 minutes. I mean come on, talk about being nervous about getting me out on time and making sure there is not even a minute of overtime on my time sheet. How nervous can someone get about something like that?

The end of that story is that I actually did not end up clocking out until 10:01 p.m. So I do not what they plan on doing about that one minute. As far as I am concerned they can just adjust the time and take off a minute or two. I just hope it does not turn into a big fiasco because of one minute or two.

They do not think twice about giving us overtime on holidays, but one minute over 40 hours on a regular work week and it seems to make them turn into nervous Nellie's or maniac Managers? Personally I would love to not even have to think about whether I need that money. I would love to find a way to work at home and make enough money so I never had to even think about overtime at all.

AS for working at home, I keep trying to find a way a niche or product that would be good enough to be an affiliate for. I have read all the different ways of researching niches and tried many of them but I still am not sure of how to find a really good one. With all the reports and books I am still searching. I really do believe that finding that niche and product(s) is the hardest part of getting started as an affiliate. Maybe I should just start with anything just to get my feet wet with affiliate marketing. So after I finish this post I am going to do some research and hopefully today will be the day that light bulb goes on inside my head and I find what I am looking for.

Friday, July 17, 2009

What Do You Do When Overwhelmed?

Goodmorning and thanks for stopping by. This post is not going to be so much about The Fitting Room but about why I have been neglecting writing posts in this blog and therefor I feel that I am also neglecting anyone who reads them.

Right now and for the past month I have let everything happening in my life overwhelm me. I know that this is not a good thing but I felt like I was handling all the "stuff" that was going on when in actuality I am not. What I have been doing is shoving everything to the side and acting as if there is nothing wrong instead of taking care of all the things that need taking care of head on. I have to do something about these problems instead of acting as if there are none.What I have to do is "Take Action".

What has been going on that has overwhelmed me so much? Well, to start with, and probably the main thing is our house. You may notice I used the word house instead of home. It is hard to call it home when we are unsure of whether we are going to be able stay here, and if not how long before we have to be out. At this point I am not even sure we want to stay here, but moving is a very expensive and timely option. If we do want to stay here, then we have to negotiate with the mortgage company and hopefully come up with a viable plan to be able to afford to keep it.

I have to also think about my mother who is living with my daughter and I. Having to move at any age is hard enough, but she is in her 80's and having to move again would be much harder on her. And as I mentioned before, moving is very costly when it comes to both time and money.

I really do not want to go into all the other overwhelming aspects of my life. AT least right now I am not involved with anyone so I have no relationship issues, unless not having one at all can be considered an issue. But right now, not being involved is probably a good thing.

I was thinking that I could actually coallate the way things are going in my life to how I handle problems at work. At times it gets quiet and there are very few customers. I can get a bit of a breather and do stuff I do not get a chance to do when it gets busy. Then all of a sudden a charge of customers come in all at the same time and yes, sometimes I do get overwhelmed because after shopping for a couple hours the customer comes in and wants to be in and out of the fitting room as quickly as possible. As I have said before most of my customers are polite and respectful but still in a hurry to get in and out when tryuing on the clothes. Then all the clothes get piled up for lack of time to put them on the correct racks. The fitting room is a mess.
The customers are coming and going so fast it is hard to keep up with them. And yes, sometimes I do get overwhelmed. When this happens I have to stop what I am doing for a minute, take a few deep breaths and kind of readjust myself. I can then see what must be done and then I can prioritize and continue on. This is probably what I should do when I get overwhelmed with the the situations I have to deal with at home.

But the main thing I do believe is once I figure out what I have to do I actually have to take action and do it. I am a procrastinator. I put things off til the last minute. It is very hard for me to ask for help. And I am scared that I am going to make the wrong decision or do the wrong thing. I do not even know where to go to ask for help. I am really doing my best to get past all my barriers but it has been rough. No wonder I feel overwhelmed.

Well, I called for mortgage counseling. I really need to put my best foot forward and get I will get through this.

Any suggestions are welcome.

I am going to get back on track with my blog this coming week.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

My Tale of Woe for the Week (and it is not about The Fitting Room)

Today I am just going to explain why I have not written anything for about a week. It is totally off the subject of this blog but still has to definitely do with me.

The last couple weeks have been real doozies (like that word?) for my family and I. Approximately one week ago I was doing my long overdue lawn mowing. I had gotten a few strips done when i heard this not so nice sound. One of those sounds when you know something is wrong. Of course my lawn had stopped and when I moved it there was a piece of a belt on the ground. So I am going to have to get a new belt for the motor and more than likely will need some heavy duty maintenance on the lawnmower such as cleaning, an oil change, sharpening the blades and whatever other kind of maintenance is done on mowers.

But that was just the beginning of our problems for the week. The next day or so there was so much rain the basement flooded again. This time we were deluged with masses amount of dirt along with the rain. The last few times it has just been mainly water so the clean up was not really bad. This time it is a total disaster. Many of you are probably thinking why don't I just get something done so that this does not keep happening. Believe me, I wish it were that easy. But it happens to be a very expensive project and right now our money is very thin.

It is said that things come in threes. Well, the third thing to happen is when I went to take a shower and the shower doors fell off. The top rim was loose and came off partially and the doors were right behind in coming off. I am hoping that this is the last of it. I would not wish the kind of week we had on anybody.

Everything is fixable but it all costs money and time. I might be able to do the shower doors. And I can clean up the mess in the basement, but to make it actually totally livable is going to cost quite a bit of money. I could try to do some of the fixing on my own but it really does need a professional job. And last is the lawn mower which I can get fixed but is also going to take some money (as does almost everything).

We have an extra bedroom on the first floor which my daughter did a fantastic job of cleaning up. You can't even tell it is the same room. And we are slowly moving all her stuff up that did not get ruined. Thankfully knowing that when it rains hard enough we know things might get wet and most everything was already off the floor and moved up far enough so as not to get wet. Unfortunately a few things fell and got ruined. But all in all, it was not too bad as far as her stuff not getting ruined. The actual floor is a whole different story. The flooring has to be all taken up in the room she actually slept and lived in.

Well, that is my story for the week and my excuse for not doing my blog lately. I have off part of the day and I am going to spend it cleaning some more so it might be a few more days till I get back to the subject at hand, but at least I wanted to say something about what is going on.

Hope your week was better than mine. And I definitely am counting on these next days being much better for everyone. Right now I am going to take it a day at a time otherwise I feel I might get overwhelmed and fall apart which is something I really do not want to happen.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my tale of woe. I would appreciate any comments that would bring me some uplifting or help or good advice on how to handle my demise.

Be back soon.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Customers and Co-workers

Okay so here I am again still having a problem trying to just write without getting hung up on spelling and grammar and saying (or writing) the right thing. I am going to try to get over that once and for all. So if I have a couple misspelled words or I do not say the right thing the right way I hope that you will not judge me on that.

I started out by writing about our interaction with the customers. I guess all I can say to put a closing on that is most of the time most of the customers are patient and kind and are usually in a good mood when they are shopping. We laugh and crack jokes with them. We talk about some serious issues. And once in awhile we do get in a tiff. Hey, but we are all human, right?

Next to the customers, I believe how we get along with our co-workers is just as important. At least when it comes to the way we feel about our working environment how we feel about the people we work with can also be a job maker or breaker.

Most of the people I work with are really great and I get along with most everyone. But I admit that I have always been one of those people that are easy to get along with. I try and see the good in everyone and always try to treat my co-workers like I would like them to treat me (the same as I do with the customers).

Sometimes I act a bit goofy but it helps lighten the load and I do get people to laugh and put a smile on their faces. It is something I enjoy tremendously, being able to make people smile and laugh.It is important to have a good attitude and say something nice so others feel good. Wouldn't you rather have someone say something nice to you or get a compliment than have something mean thrown at you.

I really do believe that the retail business can be so demanding to the point where it can either bring out the very best or the very worst in people. I also believe it is true that the jobs that pay the least can almost always be the most stressful. I spent years working in an office and now my job is much more demanding physically and I get paid a lot less. Both types of jobs have their pros and cons, but the people I work with at this job are much nicer and happier than the people that I worked in an office with.

All I can say is that it really does pay to treat people with kindness and respect no matter if they are co-workers or store customers. Whether those people are happier or not, I definitely feel much better about myself when I treat others the right way.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Concentrating On The Postive

I seem to be having a hard time writing these posts. I keep rewriting them trying to find the best way to express myself and say what I want to say the right way. I know I should just go ahead and write and not worry so much about them being right. Right? (Sorry about the word right/write being so repetitive.)

One thing I have decided to do is concentrate on the the good things people do for each other. It seems we have a natural tendency to complain and criticize more than compliment and see the good side of others. So that is why I have decided to spend two weeks instead of one on each of the different subjects of How People Treat Each Other. So I am staying on How the Customers and Employees Treat Each Other this week too. (I also believe I have finally fixed AdSense on this blog which in itself has been very time consuming.)

Back to what this blog is supposed to be about. I was thinking about how I had thanked one of our customers for hanging the clothes back so neatly. The tops and sweaters were buttoned back up and zippers zipped on pants and capris and etc. It saves us a whole lot of time when we do not have to do those extra little things. I really do try and show my appreciation for even the smallest courtesies that the customers take the time to do. Along with showing my appreciation I always try to give customers a compliment with a smile as much as I can. It really does help make the whole atmosphere much better and brighter. I can turn a disgruntled and moody customer into one that is smiling and laughing. For some reason I am really good at that. I enjoy making people's day a little bit brighter which in turn helps to make my day that much better than it would have been or better than it already is. Of course there are also those times when I am in a bad mood and just a kind word, a nice smile or some small considerate act will turn my whole day around. I really am grateful when that happens. I do not like myself very much on days when I feel and act like a disgruntled victim. (Just that description sounds terrible).

It really is true what is said that 'We use up a lot more energy being angry and upset than we do when we smile and are happy'. I know I feel really tired and drained mentally and physically when I have had bad encounters with people and the day seems very long. And there are those days when if feels as if everything has gone wrong. But when it has been a good day and I have been laughing and joking with the customers I leave work with a smile on my face and a surge of energy ready to tackle some of the projects I have left to do at home. I can then look back at the day and feel good about it because I know it has been a full and fruitful day. A day in which I have accomplished some of the things I set out to do and a day that I have helped to make a little bit better and brighter for myself and others.

I would love to hear other ways to make this world a brighter and better place to live. How do you put a smile on someone's face? What do people do that can make you feel happy?

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Treat Others As You Would Like To Be Treated

So here I am writing my first post on How We Get Along With Each Other in A Shopping Environment. I have been writing and rewriting this post and that is why it has taken me an extra two days to actually publish it. Plus I am having problems with my adsense ads on this blog. I cannot get them to show up correctly.

First I would like to say that most of the customers are pretty decent and some are really great. I have people who are regulars and come in at least once a week if not more. Of course there are those who seem to be there almost every day. I believe that some of the customers
come just because they have made friends with the associates (that is what the employees are called now in most stores, I believe, unless they are management). Many of the customers remember us from the old store which makes us feel good because it means we hopefully made a good impression on them in the first place. It also means that many customers now come to this store because of the associates.

Sometimes I wonder if many of these people are lonely and it is a way to get out of the house and be around familiar faces. We really do get to know some of our customers quite well. Also, we find out a lot about them because they will come with others in the family or friends and we see how they are around those they are closest with.

I hate to say it but sometimes how the day starts sets the pattern for the day. If I get a customer who is really happy and really nice my day can go really well. But start a day off with one of those women who treats everyone as if they are their personal maids or those who just are plain rude and nasty to just about everyone that they come in contact with, my day goes downhill really quick. But usually it only takes a few really nice customers to get me back in a good mood.

I have customers who come in to the Fitting Room and if I ask them to hang their clothes on the rack so I can count them I will get a response like 'I can count'. Then I have to tell them I still need to count them also. Then there are those who say 'I have eight items' (eight being the max that they can take it at one time) and I tell them I still have to count the items and when I do there are ten or twelve items instead of eight. And they will act dumbfounded, as if they counted eight when they knew they had more. I really get peeved when the customers treat us as if we are stupid, yet they can not even count the items they have correctly. It just really amazes me how silly people can be at times.

I always try to treat people like I want to be treated. I always try to be considerate and polite to everyone even when I am not treated that way. Sometimes being kind and polite will help turn the person who is in a foul mood or being rude around and they will start treating others better after that.

So, please, again, just treat people as well as you want to be treated and it will work in your favor most of the time. People do appreciate a kind word and a nice smile more often than not.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

What I Would Like to Focus On for the Month of June

Before I get into what I am going to focus on in June I just wanted to share a situation that I am sure others have had at work. I really did get very upset especially with one of my managers. He is one of the newer managers at my store who came in right before we relocated. Last week he did the schedule because the person who usually does it was on vacation. Well, every week since I can remember I have been scheduled on Monday. But the one Monday that we would be getting time-and-a-half because of it being a holiday (Memorial Day) this manager does not schedule me. So the Friday before Memorial Day I saw him before work and when he asked me how I was doing he knew I was upset by the way I answered though I did not have a chance to tell him why at that time. So what happened later is kind of weird. Almost as if he could read my mind or feel the bad vibes I had he calls me later that day and asks if I want to work on Monday. So after expending all that energy on being upset it turned out I ended up working anyway.

I will be glad when I can get this affiliate marketing thing up and working so I will not have to deal with these kind of upsets anymore. I was thinking at all my previous jobs (except for the first few jobs when I started working) I paid more in taxes than what I am paid now. But there are quite a few people in the same situation. It goes to show that we all do what we have to do to make ends meet. And we do this until we find a way to change things for the better. I have decided that I am definitely going to do just that within the next few months. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I have decided that for awhile I am going to focus on one subject per week with. Today I will give a synopsis of the next few weeks and what the subjects are. I thought that this would keep what I am writing about a bit more interesting and also keep me somewhat more organized.

For the first week the topic I would like to focus on is So different aspects of How We Treat Each Other. So, starting Monday June 1st, I am going to focus on How Customers Treat the People Working At the Places We Go to Shop and vice-versa (how the workers treat the customers). In my many years of working I have already experienced how wonderful or how very terrible we can be to one another and there is much to be said about how we treat each other and how we should treat each other. Since this site is about work I will also try to stay mainly on how we treat one another when we come in contact and interact on our jobs.

The following week, starting Monday, June 8th, I am going to focus on different characteristics of our co-workers and how we interact with them on the job. Are we straight-out about business or do we get personal with the people we work with? How much do we really know about them and how much do we let them know about ourselves? I have some humorous stories and some not-so-humorous stories to tell. I am sure everyone has quite as few of each in their memories.

The third week, which will be around June 15th, I am looking forward to sharing how we get along with the boss (or bosses) and how they treat us. Now this can be a very touchy subject. Much of the day may depend on our interaction with the person or persons in charge (and also the people who think they are in charge). How many of us have been down that road of too many Chiefs and not enough Indians? Or the one where one manager tells you to do something one way and another gives you totally different directions. Who do you listen to or how do we remedy a situation like that?

I have more ideas for the next couple of weeks in June, but for now these are the subjects for the first three weeks. Don't want to get too far ahead of myself.

Thanks for checking in and taking the time to read this today. Please feel free to leave a comment or share a story or two which you have from the job.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

We Don't Call Them Fitting Rooms Anymore

It is a great Thursday. Isn't it? At least here in Elgin, IL. The sun is shining and right now it is almost 80 degrees. I am not working today, at least so far (since there are many times I will get a call to fill in for someone who has not shown for one reason or another).

So now the Fitting Rooms are being called Dressing Rooms. Since we have moved to a new location the Fitting Rooms, oops, sorry, Dressing Rooms have been upgraded to a very posh look. I suppose another way of attracting the higher end customers. We have received many compliments on them. The thing is the customers leave them in no better condition than they did the old ones. Garbage all over the floor, sticky labels and such end up stuck on the walls and floors. I really see a lack of respect by many people.

There is always a question in our minds of how these people's homes look if they can not even pick up a few articles of clothing or pieces of paper when they are our. I would be embarrassed myself to leave an area in the condition some of the customers leave the Dressing Rooms. Don't people think it reflects on them at all?

It is mostly the older ones who pick up after themselves (and many times the others who were there before them). They hang the clothes neatly and are respectful and polite to the store Associates. Why? I believe it is how people were raised and the influence parents had on them. Now it seems neither parents nor kids are very caring or have much character when our and dealing with people. It may not seem like a big deal, but you have to deal with people all day long it can make it either a very long, grueling day or it can go by quickly and be an enjoyable day. Me, I prefer the latter.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

In The Fitting Room - The Beginning

My daughter has urged me to write about my most recent or present job. Right now I am working in a retail store. It is going to be almost a year in June that I have been at this job. It may not seem that long but I feel good about it after having been out of work for a few years (but that is a whole other story) and also since this is not the type of work I am used to doing. All I can say is that it is quite a change from working in an office.

I have constant contact with the public at the store and situations which arise are unlimited. As I said before I have never had a job quite like this. Of course much of my time is spent checking the clothes people are thinking of buying as they come in and out of the fitting room. I must say it is very enlightening as to the character of people. It has definitely been a new way of getting to know people on a very personal basis. People quite frequently open up and tell me a lot about themselves and their lives. After all, being around people as they change and try on clothing can be quite an intimate situation if you think about it. Even seeing the type of clothing and also lingerie that are chosen can tell me quite a bit about the individual.

My eyes have definitely been opened to the fact that some people are addicted to shopping, but now I find how addictive just trying on clothes can be to many a customer. Some will bring a whole cart full, and since we only allow 8 items at a time, they will make 2, 3, up to 4 and even 5 trips into the fitting room. Sometimes instead of just bringing a cart with the clothes, they will just come back and forth from the floor and bring 8 items each time. But what really amazed me was how many of them will not even buy one item they have tried on. And these are people who are regular customers. They will come in a few times a week and do the same thing every time they come in the store - try on mounds of clothes and never buy one piece.

Right now, with the economy the way it is, we are being more careful than ever to keep an eye on and check what is going in and coming out of the fitting room because theft is way up. So with that being part of my job also, there are many reactions when I tell them I need to check the clothes. I get reactions anywhere from “hey, no problem, that’s your job” to customers who give you this look like you have already accused them of stealing. Some people are so very nice about it and others can be really nasty.

I am always appreciative when the first customers of the day just let me do my job and show their appreciation for the job that I am doing. I always try to be courteous and friendly. And I must say that much of the time the customers are really great.

So this is what this blog is about. I really want to share with you that part of my life and the time that I spend with my customers as I relay some of the stories of what happens in the fitting room; along with other tales of working in retail. I hope for this to be entertaining along with giving some insight to the character of people when they are shopping. Some are quite humorous and can be comical. Others will be of those customers that are just plain rude and even nasty. It is really amazing how much of a person can be seen and learned in such a very short time, in the minutes (or sometimes hours) spent shopping along with trying on clothes.

So stick with me from day to day and I hope you will enjoy what I have to offer.