I sometimes wonder (usually at the end of every weekend) if retail is the thing for me. I mean, I don’t really get the purpose, except that I get paid and get benefits, and most of my coworkers are ok.
My last job involved in-home nursing and hospice care, where I always felt like I must be contributing to a good cause. I went on a couple of home visits so I could see how the nurses and therapists worked with patients, and how much the patients needed the care. It was a compassionate endeavor.
Before that, I worked with insurance for many years. I memorized every word of insurance policies and saw how insurance could help people, essentially. It wasn’t always the best thing happening in the world, but sometimes it was. I remember my whole maternity care copayment was $20. No horrendous $5K plus bills for me! Health and life insurance helped families. That’s what I saw.
Retail, I don’t know. People have an opportunity to improve their homes, and make it a more beautiful place to go. You make your home fit your personality, in some cases. For us, it was just a matter of, “What stores exist here?” We got some of our things at Ikea. Some of it is left from Nebraska Furniture Mart, pre-move-to-Dallas. Like someone else said, it seemed odd not having NFM to buy from when we actually had to replace things that didn’t make the move from Omaha.
Overall, life in retail is ok. Maybe I will see more purpose when the store opens and actual customers walk in. Soon, I will be able to buy things, too, and see what an employee discount is like. Maybe my heart will be more in it then.
I can still walk down the aisle and think, “Wow… That is really pretty”, and just enjoy the art of putting the right things together and have it look lovely.
yemalu 