The Boxer

Working in retail
is a little like
being a boxer,
especially one
trying to work
their way up
or near the end
of their career.

Sure, maybe you
have some people
who believe in you,
but guess who's getting
all the punches?

But I have to go
with a different
metaphor (stuck
with that one
because I liked
the title).

Being in retail
is like playing
for a professional
sports team, which
I will specify here
as a baseball club.

No matter how
you do personally,
everyone's going
to think of your
team based on
how it's actually
doing, and base
their expectations
and frustrations
on that.

If you're losing,
you're worth
less than nothing.

They'll still expect
the world of you,
but they won't care
what kind of pressure
that actually is
to work under.

They only want results,
and they don't care
how you're actually
doing, just that
your whole team
can't seem to win.

Now amplify that
for the Boston market,
where even heroes
can quickly turn
into goats (yes,
even I have been
guilty of this one),
at the drop of a dime.

It's tough to be a star.

And then transfer that
into an experience
that pays far less
and expects far more
with the belief that
you can be replaced
very easily, no matter
what you can actually
do, and based only
on the most minimal
of observations.

And then there's customers.

They don't see you at all,
even when you're the best
thing to happen to them
all year at least.

They only see something
that is supposed to
answer their questions
and give them their
products and send them
on their way.

They hardly even appreciate
any of it, and definitely
don't remember it.

And if you don't meet
even the most unreasonable
of demands, then you
are the villain,
you are anathema,
just like that.

In retail,
it's legal to
slander reputations.

Ain't that grand?