My job at Macy's is both fairly easy and incredibly difficult. The easy part is just doing my job. The incredibly difficult part is dealing with cranky customers, gross things left behind by disgusting customers, slow computers and pricing that won't cooperate.
This morning I woke up and began to cry. I am so burned out from my job and really need a change. My boss, Cassandra, knows this. I told her that working for her is what helps me get through my shift. Really, she is. She's a young manager, but she's mature beyond her years. While I can't talk to her about everything (she doesn't know what it is to deal with a 20 year old daughter), I can talk to her about customer situations and know that, for the most part, she is listening to me. In spite of that, it still doesn't change the fact that I'm tired of dealing with crabby people.
Today was the preview of the One Day Sale that all the employees hate, loathe and despise. Customers get ridiculous about these sales. Today I had a customer who barely understood English but insisted that she could override the $10 coupon on her $15 purchase going to someone else. (The coupon is $10 off $25 or more.) That customer was really the only problem customer I had - that is nothing short of a miracle. One customer was thrilled when I fixed a problem with a previous purchase, another customer was ecstatic that I found the pants she wanted to get for her daughter and another customer praised me for bravely chasing a man out of the women's fitting room. A grandmother purchased some clothes for herself and her daughter while her 12-month old granddaughter lifted up my spirits with her sweet smile and adorable giggles.
Cassandra met with me to go over my monthly score card for sales - high marks across the board. She was thrilled and so was I. Still no word on a raise, though.
Finally, my shift ended and I bolted out the door. Just as I rounded the corner from the employee entrance to the front of the store, I spotted a pigeon on the sidewalk. It was too close to the doors and when I came near it, it only backed away from me. It didn't fly away - just backed up and in circles. At first, I thought it had an injured wing, but it kept going around in circles. Backwards. Probably a head injury from flying into the glass windows above the doors. Other customers spotted it and went around it, but no offers of help. One of the cleaning ladies spotted me outside and came out wanting to know what we should do. I told her to get a box and some towels or rags. It took her awhile, but she returned as I was talking to another customer and his girlfriend about the bird. We fixed up the box and the guy gingerly picked up the bird and placed him in the box. I assured everyone that I would take the bird to a place I knew that would help him.
I raced home with the pigeon in the box. I told Big Jack and Jack Jr. about the bird. Jack Jr. called the Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center which is about a mile from my house. They had just shut off their phones for the night. Big Jack came with me while I drove over to the center to see if we could catch the volunteers before they left. As luck would have it, we got there just in time. We dropped off Macy (yes, we named him) in the very capable hands of the volunteers. Now to hope and pray that Macy will make it through the next few days and be as good as new.
Today was probably a better day than what I expected when I woke up this morning. Maybe God is trying to tell me that He's watching over me as well as Macy. (The bird, not the company)
