"Real" Job.

I haven't been good about posting lately. I've been busy and sleepy. And I also started this blog while unemployed, which brings me to my post of the evening!

I just saw someone on Facebook refer to girls working in a retail store as lacking a "real job." Does it pay you? Do you do things? Then it's a damn job!

Regardless of the amount of hours or pay you make, a job is a job, and frankly any person who shows contempt for a person working in a clothing store, in a restaurant, or any other low-wage customer service job is just exposing their own ignorance. Regardless of the perception of those jobs, they are hard. I know a slew of different aged people working these jobs, and they aren't just kiddie, teeny boppers. I've worked with teenagers and grown women with families. It's not just standing around bullshitting. You've got to know all of merchandise, the sales, how to run the registers, all of the store's policies, the sizing (if you work in a clothing store) etc. It's not just sitting around gossiping. I've had customers who are engaging and fun, as well as customers who are completely disrespectful and thankless but no matter what I'm met with I still have to be composed, respectful, and patient. I do this for eight hours a day.

I'm not saying this to render sympathy. It's the job I have and I do it (as it wasn't easy to find a full-time gig out of college). However, it's not any less of a job than your 9-5. Our management works full-time, sometimes more. Do not treat someone like less of a human, void of a "real job" just because they haven't gotten a full time position yet.

PS: It's not ideal for us when the store closes at nine and you roll up at 8:55pm. Most of us will have composure and help you regardless of when you arrive. However, there will be times when you encounter someone crabby because they're human! We don't live in the store, and we cannot begin to close our stores until you're out. Is it okay for an associate to show attitude? Not at all. But if you were in that circumstance, having worked all day or maybe just gotten out of a full day at high school or university...how would you feel? You can't say you wouldn't be exhausted.

This is why I think everyone needs to work a job like that. Also, if you're suddenly uppity because you've transcended and gotten a full-time job, you need to get over it. As a person who has been there, you should know how to be conscientious.