Those jobs that haunt us.

Posted on November 13, 2008

Mine, is Best Buy.

I worked in the Best Buy customer service department for four years during college.  It was a perfect college job because it didn’t require a whole lot of thought, or commitment, and I could transfer back and forth between Fort Collins and Aurora. However, it was no picnic.  If you want a hard cold look at the psyche of the American consumer, work in customer service.

Oddly enough, I think it actually prepared me for my work with difficult children.  Anybody who has worked in costumer service can tell you that it can be stressful.  Customers can be unreasonable, rude, and at times violent.  I actually had a lady throw a phone at me once, a phone that was AT LEAST five years old and there was NO WAY it was still under warranty.  I also had security escort out another customer because the printer he sent to service came back saying that the warranty had been voided due to something he had done to it.  This is what I loved about that one, he was cussing me out at top volume, while holding his five-year-old’s hand.  Excellent lesson for your son, sir.

The Christmas season was the worst.  I am still traumatized, it is one of the reason I try to have all my Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving.  People really suck at Christmas time.

One time, I was running the register because the cashiers were backed up, and we literally had every register manned.  There was a guy in line who was bitching to his kid.  “Pay attention, this is what happens when you don’t have a college education, you end becoming a cashier for minimum wage.  You’d think they would try to find people who could actually do the job.  Jeez this is taking forever.  Maybe they should train these people better so the lines wouldn’t be so long,” and on and on and on.  The funny thing is, the hold up wasn’t me, it was the little old lady three customers in front of him who was counting out the change down to the penny.  When he finally got to my register, I told him off.  I explained to him that I was in college and this job was helping to pay for it, I had plenty of training and was actually a senior in the customer service department, and if he didn’t want to wait in line, he shouldn’t shop during one of the busiest times of the season.  He asked to see a manager, and I said, “I don’t think that’s going to get you out of here any faster.”  Luckily, my manager was nearby and had heard the exchange, he totally backed me up and suggested that the guy find another store if he didn’t like the way things were run at Best Buy.

Why am I telling you about this?

Last night I had a dream where John, Chloe, and I moved to New York.  We were living in a tiny apartment and couldn’t afford the rent, so I had to go back to work at Best Buy.  I was in the warehouse listening to the drone go on and on about where everything was, and I felt so old and out of place.  But, at the same time, I knew the ropes so there was a sense of superiority.  A feeling of “I got this.”  When I woke up, I was surprised to find myself in my bedroom in New Jersey.  It seemed SO real!

I think the dream was brought about by my PTSD when it comes to the Christmas shopping season.  They’ve already started playing the music in the stores, and it triggered the fear of having to return to working in retail.  I would do it if I had to, but MAN it would be painful!