Lesson 2: Learn what not to say, and how to say what you shouldn't.
If only I had known then, what I had now learned. I could potentially have had a long miserable carreer that I hated. Wait... was that right? Even though I didn't have a job, I was considerably better off than I was, I was no longer worried about ending up with my parents feeding cats when I turned 30. That just wasn't going to happen to the New Me. Within a week, and a few more adjustments to my resume, I had 3 job offers at other retail stores. 1 that paid well, with horrible hours. 1 that paid terribly, with amazing hours. and one that didn't pay so poorly, with constantly fluctuating hours. I chose option 3... it was middle of the road, and I was no longer so driven by the amount of money I was earning, because I knew that there would always be more at some point, and if I played my new poker hand correctly this time, then I had very little to worry about. I was now employed at a retail clothing store 40 miles away from where I lived, servicing rich 13-17 year old who thought because their family had more money than I did, I was a lowly servant.
As you can imagine, that didn't really work so well for me, I was now old enough to drink, and I would be damned if I allowed a 16 year old kid tell me how much better he was than I. Two complaints later, I was facing my first write up, for being rude to customers. (Which I thought was the most ironic thing I had ever heard....) So I fell back on what I knew best, hiding barbs within my words. A skill that I had honed over 16 years of living with my parents. The key to my success was the overpowering ego that these children had developed due to an overactive pocketbook. I got my first chance to try this out the following day after the write-up.
A young guy roughly 16 years old came into the store with his 'posse', a cadre of teen girls dogging his heels and giggling like they were fresh out of the dental chair and filled with nitrous-oxide. You could tell he was a cocky mofo, by his swagger, and the dirty looks he kept sending my way. I decided that this was where I was taking my stand, walking up to the group, I winked at the prettiest girl in his group and introduced myself. Told them that if there was 'anything' I could do to help them. Just to let me know. Within 10 minutes he had made his way back to the fitting room, and I made my way to his group of friends. We chatted and carried on, I flirted a little bit, and went back to my station at the counter. Started repacking the boxes, and the bags under the counter. When I stood up I realized I was surrounded by all of those cackling (Obnoxious) girls. Asking me questions, and throwing their hair around. Result! The boy came out of the back and saw all of the girls hanging onto the counter, and his face just dropped. In a period of 10 minutes I had stolen from him what his money had given him. His popularity.As he slowly made his way up to the counter, clearly defeated. I smiled and checked him out. Said goodbye to my new fan base, and watched them all walk out, this time with the cocky 16 year old at the back, having to listen to the girls talk about the 'cute' sales guy at the counter, and how nice he was.
These are my favorite lessons to learn, the ones where you get to teach someone else something too. People are fickle, especially young people. Every shiny thing will tickle their fancies, and the key to remaining popular is to always be more glittering than before. The next time I saw the kid, I offered him a job at the store, and he ended up being one of my best employees.
I didn't stay at this position for ever, I worked there managing the store for a couple more years learning more about management, and how to deal with a class of people who would always look down on me due to my working class background. I continually developed what I refer to as my undertalk skills. Being able to say what I really think by saying what other people want to hear. (This is exceptionally important for anyone who wants to succeed in life without going crazy. You can actually fit in with any crowd, without having to sacrifice any of your personal morals or values.)
- Knowing who you are is an important thing, people will always tell you that you need to change this, or you need to grow that. The reallity is, that you are the only one who will always be there for you. Be happy with yourself, and let others adjust to who you are. When you try to be something your not, it will always show through. Become who you want to be, but never forget who you were. - Timothy Ralston
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