Benefits of Retail

            Ever since I started working in retail, (yes, I write about it a lot) I've learned a few tips that will definitely help me when I'm launched out into the real world in a few short months:

            1. I've gained some fashion sense. I've come to notice what clothing items do and do NOT go together. For example, long sweater dresses look cute with black leggings and boots. But only for the right age group. Ladies, if you have a teenage daughter, you're not supposed to be able to wear her clothes. It's crazy to see women in their 40s trying on Miss Me jeans with a hot pink, tight, lacey t-shirt. I've had women in their late 40s or older with platinum blonde hair, fake lips, boobs, nails, the whole nine yards, decked out in bedazzled jeans and thin, strappy heels just to go shopping.

            2. The clearance rack is your friend. One person might say those are just the clothes that no one else wanted, which I guess I could agree to, to an extent. But some of the deals are damn near impossible to pass up. At work right now, we're having a clearance event where everything on clearance is 33% off the ticketed price. Being an associate, I get an extra 30% off that 33%, so I get almost two thirds off something that has already been marked down. If you search hard enough, you can find some real gems in the clearance that a lot of people don't pick up; I'd take advantage of it because you could save a bundle on something you might have spent a fortune on before.

            3. I've learned how to save money. Well, sort of. Working in one of my favorite stores is dangerous because I see everything that comes through it and I want to blow my entire paycheck. But I've learned to control my spending and budget what I can spend and what I should save for something more important. Like college in a few months. Although I haven't really saved all that much because Christmas shopping is expensive but that's beside the point.

            4. I've gained people skills. Although it's really hard to keep my cool when bitchy people come to me for help and then complain when I don't give them the answer they're looking for, or they come in with some hidden motive to trash the entire store and make everyone's day miserable, I've managed to refrain from punching many of them in the face. I've gotten over my little issues with answering the phone; now it's like second nature to me. I can easily start a conversation with complete strangers, something I would never have been able to do a year ago.

            Although working in retail sucks 99.5% of the time, I've managed to grow as an employee and ultimately as a person while working there. Hopefully this concluded my series of work-related posts for a while.

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