Everyone always says that working in retail isn’t glamorous, and they’re right. Sometimes it’s the most frustrating job in the world. You deal with rude customers and store sales, expired coupons, the old, “I left my coupon at home, can you still ring it in?”, the people who shop right up until close and are waiting for you to open the store early in the morning, and I honestly wouldn’t trade my experience in retail for anything.

Ever since I was 15 I’ve been working in the customer service industry. I started out with McDonald's, then moved to Payless Shoe Source, and am currently employed at Savers. Each store on their own has given me so many experiences and life lessons that I’ll carry with me forever. But the one thing I will always be thankful for is these jobs allowed me to come out of my shell. Sometimes I tend to be painfully shy, it can physically make me sick to try to speak to strangers when I’m outside of work, but when I’m on the clock I gain this confidence that I never knew I had and I’m able to talk to complete strangers seamlessly and carry on normal conversations. Without my experiences in my jobs, I would never be able to do that. It’s like my anxiety disappears when I’m working and surrounded by good supportive co-workers and managers.

Even though there have been some positives in retail for me, there have also been some negatives. In every retail store, there’s always going to be rude customers. You can have the friendliest staff in the world, and there will still always be a customer that is just sour. They’ll try to tear you down, degrade you, and call you dumb and that they aren’t surprised you’re working in retail, but I take their opinions with a grain of salt. I couldn’t care less what customers have to say about me. You’re coming into my place of work and insulting me, that’s fine by me because it has helped me build a shell and has given me the ability to stick up for myself. I’ve always been an incredibly emotional person, but after four years of dealing with rude people, it’s given me the strength to put a smile on my face and to not let it get to me. Now, of course, the break room is the perfect place to let off some steam with your co-workers about that regular who got mad you couldn’t take their expired coupon.

Although working retail is one of the hardest jobs, I love it. There are good experiences and bad experiences in every job, and the bad experiences have helped me become a better person, and the good ones have helped my social skills and have given me life lessons. Whenever I tell someone I like my retail job, they look at me like they’ve just seen a ghost. It isn’t too often you hear someone say that, but I truly love what I do, the customers who are nice and supportive, and my coworkers and managers I’ve had over the years. It’s helped prepare me for my future, so when I go out and get a job after college I know how to deal with rude people, how to keep my emotions concealed, and how to carry on a conversation without hyperventilating.

I don’t regret my choice of going into retail and I never will.