Wait Til I Get My Money Right ...

If Kanye could fold t-shirts at the gap, surely I can endure one more day of saying "Do you want to try that on?". I am not comparing myself to Kanye. Creative and widly imaginative, yes. Egotistical prick and perpetual toddler, no. "Why won't you let that man be great" is what he would say as he read this on his macbook air (insert eye-roll). I digress. Apologies. 

As a buyer at a resale shop (which shall remain nameless), I have the pleasure of combing through piles of clothes on a daily basis. Based upon condition, style and cuts/washes, I make the determination to buy in said items. Of course I can't buy it all. Sometimes its crap. Lets be honest, folks. This is a business. I also have to complete your standard customer service tasks like engaging customers, opening up dressing rooms and straightening at the end of the night. 

Yes, I have encountered less than savory individuals in my line of work. Argumentative customers that want to haggle over last seasons wares. "Oh really, sir. You want to sell that Coogi sweatshirt?" .. "Ma'am, I'm sorry but Azure jeans aren't a big seller for us .. Do you have anything from 2009 perhaps". I deal with shoplifters, tag-switchers, and random dirty girls.  I've been called various expletives (let me tell you, nothing gets your day started until you're called a "dickhead").

What if every morning, I thought about everything mentioned above? It would be impossible to come to work with a smile. How do I circumvent the negativity. Easy. I do work that pleases me when I can. That means taking initiative to do projects. Joking around with customers. Smiling and waving at babies that come in the store. Listening to co-workers tell me what happened last night (read: comprehending what comes out of their mouths rather than nod unconvincingly). 

If you do not find any joy in what you do, it will eat you alive. This job is a stepping stone. In my time here I have the responsibility to take away lessons I have learned. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in where we want to be, that we aren't willing to endure journey there. 

Now that I'm off of my soapbox/philosophical high-horse, I can keep it "one hundred" (pronounced "one hunnid" by "the kids these days" .. and by "the kids these days", i mean my lovely boyfriend). It is not easy. Plenty of people are doing whatever they have to in this recession. Like me, they know this won't last always. 

Job (no) Fair

Print business cards. Network. Write Shit Down. Visualize. Read "The Secret". Pray. Do the rain dance. Eat my vegetables. Rinse. Repeat (if necessary). This has been my routine for the past year. Guess what? Still haven't gotten that dream job. I'm less than pleased. Have you noticed already? Yes? 

I had the pleasure of graduating into the worst job market in the past decade. I also made sure to graduate with a degree that was sure to pigeon-hole me (Design & Merchandising). I couldn't help it, I'm a glutton for punishment. It will take a boatload of elbow grease to get me out of this butt-fuck. 

Design and Merchandising is a hybrid of fashion, marketing, buying/retail management and "soft" graphic design. Soft, not meaning flacid; however, I am proficient in adobe suite/after effects but real graphic designers would throw fecal matter at me for implying we had the same coursework. 

I have suffered more rejection now than ever before in my life. Always a great student. Never in trouble. Im attractive, so I haven't had problems with the fellas (hollaaaaaa). But how are you supposed to react when you never hear back from jobs, or when you do, they simply say "We hired another candidate, but we would like you to continue to apply for positions with our company". Well, fuck you sir/madame. 

I wasn't prepared for this. I thought graduation=job. Dear economy, you're ruining my sense of self-entitlement. When my parents graduated, they awoke in the land of milk and honey. If I were to follow the theory of transitive property that says if A=B and B=C, then A=C. Meaning my parents went to college and got great jobs. I am like my parents and too attended college; then I should have a great job. I took out that Stafford Loan with the assumption i would be a big baller/shotcaller in a year or less. You son of a bitch. 

The fashion industry is in dire straights and entry level positions are non-existent. This means I can continue to wallow in self-pity and blame the economy (which I do regularly in twenty minute intervals) or I can get off my arse! Now here is the hard part. How do you continue to keep pushing on without that "pat on the back". In school when you studied hard for a test or wrote an exceptional paper, you had the grades to reflect that. How do you drum up the fortitude to keep going when you can't see the fruits of your labor. When emails are never returned or you network until your blue in the face, how do you keep from playing in traffic? I must be solving this great mystery of the universe, because I have yet to give up.