I am NOT ashamed
“You should stop saying you work in retail, no offense.”
Offense has been taken and I’ll be back for the gate later.
I am not ashamed that I chose to make the retail industry as a way to pay the bills. I couldn’t afford to go to college and knew sturdent loans were a honey trap, so I chose to gain my “higher learning” from life. And it taught me well - mainly that people in general are stuck up snobs that have their noses so far up in the air they drown every time it rains.
It reminds me of when I was made to feel ashamed that I grew up “poor” and lived in the country all of my life (there were 6 of 14 kids living in the house at any given time - that’s why we were “poor” and could only afford housing in bumfuck Egypt). I was made to feel ashamed that I knew how to slaughter and butcher chickens. As a joke, it was put in my high school yearbook that my future goals was to “let the chickens run free” (when the shit hits the fan, at least I know I won’t starve to death). I was made to feel ashamed that I had a vocabulary higher than a fourth grader and wasn’t afraid to use it (if I had to learn that shit and have the ability to articulate it in ordinary circumstances, why wouldn’t I expound? It’s not like algebra will ever be utilized in my typical day). I was made to feel ashamed that I like doing all things society deems “not girly” (but it made life easier when there was no on to help me change a tire at 1 a.m.) I was made to feel ashamed that I want a man to want to take care of me (and not in a “man’s work” kind of way, but in the “ooo, that bisch! We should knife her” kind of way - you know, a support system).
I was made to feel ashamed because I didn’t want to get married (marriage is sanctioned slavery). I was made to feel ashamed for not wanting to inject my body with poisons made in laboratories disguised as medicines (God gave us plenty to heal ourselves with). I was made to feel ashamed that I had a child out of wedlock; that I refused to marry the father; that I refused to vaccinate my child after an allergic reaction to the MMR vaccine; I was made to feel ashamed for not taking my child to the ER for every fever, ache and pain he had. But most of all, for the most part and from most people - absolute strangers and from those who were closest to me - I was made to feel ashamed to be me.
I’m not ashamed. I’m proud. And not in the “independent adult woman” kind of way - because I still need someone to open a jar for me. I’m proud of the way I stood my ground, stared the haters in the eye and told them to fuck themselves.
I am sick and goddamned tired of the notion that people work in retail are idiots or morons. I’m tired of the notion that all we do is stock shelves. I’m tired of the notion that working in retail isn’t hard. If it’s not that hard, then how come you people can never find where maple syrup is? If it’s not challenging, then how about you deal with your cranky toddler with nothing but a smile and nice words all day, every day, regardless of how they are acting (because let’s face it, when y’all are getting pissy for being in line for TWO minutes, y’all are acting like toddlers throwing tantrums)? If retail isn’t laborious, then you go on right ahead and lift over 500 pounds per shift, walk over 10 miles per shift, work in sweltering heat and arctic cold, day in and day out for a measly $10 an hour.
Working in retail is NOT something I’m ashamed of doing. Working in retail taught me to see things from another’s viewpoint. It solidified my belief that one should be kind to another because we don’t know what’s going on in their life. It taught me how to adapt like a frigging marine due to the chaotic changes that is the hallmark of retail. It taught me how to prioritize and take the lead when no one else will.
No. I’m not ashamed of working retail and I REFUSE to stop saying it like it’s something to be ashamed of.
…I’ll take that gate now, thank you.
