shop girl

I used to work at a high-end boutique fashion shop where a simple tank top cost you 100 bucks, where my ย customers smelt like an expensive perfume, and they easily spent their money without a second thought. ย My shop was nice and cool. And I felt safe and happy to go to work.

But something had changed, the retail situation was not good in this part of the world, so my nice shop was forced to close and moved to somewhere a bit far away from where I live. ย When they asked me if I still wanted to work for them, I said yes. ย I know it will be a big change and challenge. Now, it’s a clearance outlet, my customers have colourful hair, some I noticed so far have green, blue, and pink hair. Some enter the shop as if they are in another planet. ย When I greet them, often I get just a blank stared at me or a surprised look and ignored look, but I also get some nice responses and friendly smiles.

The place I work now is little bit far away, it will take me 45 minutes to drive. ย The good thing is, since it’s out of the CBD area so traffic is not bad. ย I get to know some funny characters since I work here. ย Some of the customers look rough in the surface but once you have conversation with them, they actually a nice decent people. ย The other day I had a grandmother wanted to buy her grand-daughter a nice dress for her birthday, though she didn’t have enough money to pay. ย It breaks my heart looking at this 80 years old lady with her trembling hands counting her money to bit. ย Or a story of the three sisters who lives in the country and had to driver for 3 hours to go shopping for Mother’s Day. ย Occasionally I will get a rude real red-neck people but so far I can handle them๐Ÿ˜‰. ย Shoplifting and pick-pocketing are also common in this area. ย Just yesterday, a lady came to my shop and was looking at the clothes while her supermarket trolley just parked nearby. ย Suddenly a man came in and just grabbed her trolley and walked away. ย Lucky the lady noticed and she yelled and chased him. ย She got it back. ย Oh my God, my heart stopped beating for a while and made me nervous since I was only by myself at the shop.

So, even though my shop now not so posh like it was before but so far working here give me lots of life lessons. ย When I was so jealous of my friend displaying her beautiful face on social media with expensive bag and shoes while holidaying overseas, I got slapped on my face listened to the lady that she had to wait until pay day to buy that nice tunic for $20. ย When I complained that after work I have to cook dinner and I wish I could just go to the restaurant to eat out, this young woman told me that she’s never been to Red Rooster let alone eating out at the nice restaurant. ย Oh my, I feel so spoilt suddenly.

Like my mother always says, ” don’t always look up you’ll never content with your life “. ย It’s true. ย Social media, ads, glossy magazines, they are all sometimes make us feel wanting this and that and it never ends. I’m grateful that I’m healthy and I’m capable to work. I believe if I’m good enough in the end of the day I will get something better. I actually don’t mind managing the shop and dealing with the customer, but I really don’t like the location and how far I have to drive to work. Some people like driving far away to work, but not me unfortunately.

I believe one day I will get something better if I’m patience and persistent in what I’m doing. Meanwhile…life goes on, I just need to toughen up and stop being a princess๐Ÿ˜œ๐Ÿ˜œ

Happy Thursday everyone, day off today yaay!!

23 responses to “shop girl”

  1. Waduh 45 menit disana jauh beneran ya mbak. Kalau di Jakarta terhitung deket tapi macet… banyak pengalaman liat karakter pembeli yg beragam jadinya yaaa… although lbh nyaman di high end store sebelumnya pasti..

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    1. Hehehe iya Shin, karna ga terbiasa aza sih akunya. Biasanya kan paling lama 20 menit, itu aza uda termasuk lumayan lama haha ๐Ÿ™‚ Iya ya, kalo di Jkt padahal 45 menit itu nothing ya.

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  2. Enjoy your day off!! Be safe when you are at work, mbak Ria. So touching the story of that 80 yo Grandma. Xoxo

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    1. Thanks Sas, yup I felt really sorry for the Grandma ๐Ÿ˜ฆ

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  3. It’s true, Mbak Ria. There are so much things to be thanked for. Even little things that we usually take for granted, they are actually the biggest things to be grateful for. Have a great week, enjoy your day off. God bless! ๐Ÿ™‚

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    1. Hi Seraphine, I know right…sometimes we tend to take for granted little things and dwell on it but if you look down actually there are more big problems than what we actually have. Thanks darl ๐Ÿ™‚

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Ah it must be hard to deal with different customers especially the one like that grandmother who wanted to buy a dress :/

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    1. Yes Va, customers service thingy is not always easy, especially in retail. No matter how you feel that day you gotta smile, greet, and treat them nicely and answer their million questions. In the end of the day I gave a bit discount for the grandmother though…

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  5. NisadanChicco Avatar
    NisadanChicco

    I miss working mbaaa, I miss when I can have my own money. like when I got parttime job back in sydney or when i was in jakarta . Kayanya happy ajaa gitu pas dapat gaji huehehe .. There are some aspect in working life that I miss , like adult conversation, social skill/life , goals dll. With current condition plus tinggal di sini kayanya impossible for me to get job ;p

    You’re so lucky mbaa ;). still alot people outthere struggling to get job.. Biar kata gak di high end yang penting kan bisa happy2 ama duit sendiri n finding something that you can enjoyed selain urusan rumah, parenting and think more about what you’ve gained and learned kaya dari macam2 karakter cust ..

    Best wishes ya mba buat kerjaanya. Lancar jaya selalu!! Enjoy your day off ;*

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    1. Your time will come Nis. At the moment just enjoy being a full time mama, it’s a hard work though and it’s not easy. It’s constant 24/7. Unlike working, when you finish your shift that’s it, you don’t have to deal with it until the next day you turn to work. But motherhood? No way. But I do understand your feeling want to work too. Get out of mama’s routine for a while, meet adults and have adults conversation, and a bit $$$ to buy our own make-up let’s say ๐Ÿ™‚ ๐Ÿ™‚
      Aku dulu kerja lagi pertama kali after being a mama when the boys just turned 18 months and it was a disaster, I didn’t know what I was thinking at that time, two babies, FIFO hubby, and tried to work….so it only lasted 5 months! Even know when mister away Nis, I’m still struggling a bit with their after school activities so yeah it’s not that easy.
      Thanks darling, enjoy your pregnancy too and take care… xx

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  6. Kirain mau cerita ttg filmnya mbak ๐Ÿ™‚ hihi kerja di retail juga bikin aku ketemu macam2 customer, mulai dari yang sopan banget sampe yg kurang ajar banget juga ada. Lucu sih jadinya. Happy day off!

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    1. Ahahaha abis ga ada icon shop girl yang cool except that Ge ๐Ÿ™‚
      Iya kan Ge, customer itu macem2 modelnya ya. Masih beruntung sedikit, mungkin, disini ga menganut asas customer is the king, so customer ga bisa bully dan macem2 juga ke kita sih ๐Ÿ™‚ As long as we still serve them right and polite and nice, it’s no problem.

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  7. I got teary imagining the grandma ๐Ÿ˜ฆ But you are so right, as long as we have patience, something better will come ๐Ÿ™‚

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    1. I felt terrible about the Grandma, Christa. In the end I gave her a little bit discount tho. Yes, patience and persistence, somehow will get me to a better place later.xx

      Liked by 1 person

  8. such a moving story ria..i can relate the feeling ๐Ÿ™‚

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    1. Thanks Vari. Sometimes I have to get out of my comfort zone I think :p

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  9. 45 menit jauh bgt pasti disana ya. Kantor aku dulu 45 menit Ria, padahal cuman 7 kiloan aja hahaha.

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    1. 45 menit buat ukuran Perth mayan jauh Non ๐Ÿ™‚ Uda gitu it’s out of my way a bit jadi makin kerasa deh ๐Ÿ™‚

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  10. Thanks for sharing this reminder Mbak Ria. I need to start counting my bless. Enjoy your day off.

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    1. My pleasure Ail ๐Ÿ™‚

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  11. Nice post Mbak dan bener banget kl liat Socmed pasti bawaannya pingin pingin dan pingin. Padahal life is not so bad afterall actually. Seru banget baca pengalaman kerja retailnya

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    1. Iya kan Mar, kalo ngeliatin postingan di sosmed bawaannya pengen kayak dia, pengen punya ini itu, ga ada abisnya ๐Ÿ™‚
      Working in retail is colorful and fun as well too, every day almost different characters you will have to deal or see.

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  12. klo di jakarta kak dekat tapi macetnya

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