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Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Cincigal Grocery Store Clerk - SO MUCH MORE

Well, the Liquidation has begun.  Yesterday was the first day of the future of this store and, the feeling was just a little different than what I had expected. As in any given situation, you can sometimes figure out just how you are going to feel and be, somewhat, prepared.  But once involved, you find that it is so much more than what you were prepared for.  Such was the feeling last night.

First off, the presence is different.  Signs are everywhere announcing the percentages off of each and every product.  And, just in case you are not good in math, there is a list of the prices with the percentage off giving one the complete total of each item.  The signs are on every table, shelf, case and hanging from the ceilings - by the end of the evening quite a few were on the floor.

The parking lot was full and there were people coming and going- most of which I had never seen before.  In fact, to see a familiar face was a welcomed sight.  The usual customers would stop and talk about how they were going to miss the store and wish that it wasn't closing.  They spoke not only of the convenience but of how they would miss these employees that they had come to know.  While speaking with one of our regulars, another customer came by and said, 'Aren't you going to miss this?'  'Where else can you go and be made to feel that they are really glad to see you?'  Good point!

In some ways it was like being at a garage sale, the way people would toss the products around in their quest.  Which ultimately led to another problem, 'You call this a Sale?'  No comment.

I felt like I was watching the store being picked apart and the thoughts going through my head were not Customer Service related.  In fact, I found myself having to leave the floor - a time or two.

This was the moment when everything became a reality.

I wish that there had been another employee around that I could have shared these feelings with - to know that someone else was feeling the same; lost, bewildered, angry, sad. 

Besides the store, there are the regular customers.  The casual acquaintances that turned into friendships.  After all, it was through a customer that I have became a member of a Book Club.  The people that call you by name, offer advice, provide some really good recipes, bring you homemade cookies at Christmas and make you smile and laugh.

But now I have to brace myself for a second reality - the employees; the laughs, the friendships, the everyday contact.

When the announcement came down, about the store closing, employees are informed personally.  Each was given a moment to express their feelings and their future intentions.  Emphasis is put on how one feels at that moment and, as I was told, any sadness one feels is considered part of the grieving process that we experience during this time.

Unlike most of the employees, I am not setting off to another store.  I won't be spending the first week or so acclimating myself to a new surroundings with new co-workers.  Nope, I am just going to the house.  It's exciting, in a way, to say that I am going to start something new, fulfill something that I have wanted to do for a long time.  But, at the same time, there remains some questionable doubt.  Everything will be different.

So, ask me in October how I am going to miss these people since I am not going to see them anymore. 

You see, I thought I had it all figured out and I knew just how it was going to feel to say, goodbye; sad.  But when I walked into the situation, as I did yesterday,  I found that how I thought I would feel was just that, thoughts.

Because, when faced with the reality, it is the feeling I got inside that made it so much more.

Talk at ya later!




 

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