My retail life
Thursday, December 14th, 2006So far, my longest term employer is still this one, a retail store where I hid out for the better part of the nineties, through one college diploma and one baby and seven horrifying holiday seasons.
It was a job; it paid a few bills, or part of them, and I know I gained valuable experience, perhaps not so much from the job, but from the people and the friendships made that still endure.
What I internalized forever was the unkindness of people during the holidays; the bad attitudes, crabby parents, sobbing kids, self-important shoppers shoving their way through retail stores with unrealistic expectations as their guide. It made me despise Christmas and it was a good number of years before I worked my way back to enjoying the sound of a carol or could give in to experiencing holiday cheer.
It’s still fresh enough for me to not work on Christmas Eve. Although “work” was a day of little accomplishment during eight hour shifts on Dec. 24. I’m still marveling at the break I’ll have between Christmas and New Year’s, a luxury I do not take for granted.
The boy will work his first Christmas Eve in the retail world this year. Because he has a better view of his future than I did during my retail years, I’m sure it will be more enjoyable, less drudgery for him. My hope is that something makes it special, like he’s part of the whole Santa scramble as parents hit the store for last minute gifts. And I hope they’re all kind.

A friend told me about an interview candidate she faced across her desk recently. The candidate, a young woman, appeared to have cosmetically enhanced or very unnaturally large lips. As a young woman candidate, I suspected 
If you haven’t heard, 
