Happy Monday to everyone! May this Monday have great potential and set the pace to a highly successful week for all of you.
This week's blog shout out goes to Mike Kopke. Happy Birthday love! I miss you and I hope that you have a perfect day!
Some of you may have off of work today, but I do not. In fact, Easter Sunday is one of the three days of the year that the mall is closed. Having the day off and knowing that everyone else did also was quite relaxing. Don't you worry, though. All evening on Saturday, we had customers calling asking what the mall hours were for EASTER SUNDAY. How dare we get a holiday off, right?
Regardless...
Saturday evening I also hosted an after hours shopping party for two families who just couldn't seem to find the time to get to the mall during the regular operating hours of 10a.m. to 9p.m. At 9:15, when I approached one of the mothers still leisurely shopping around in my store, I let her know that she needed to bring her purchases to the register. In response, she said, "I don't understand why I can't keep shopping considering I am a paying customer." Now, what I told the woman was, "Well miss, the mall doors actually lock at 9:30." But, what I wanted to say was, "Don't be selfish, I'm trying to go out tonight." Looking back, I'm not really sure where the confusion came about. Perhaps this particular woman has spent too much time in the after hours panty parties that Victoria's Secret occasionally hosts.
On Wednesday, I witnessed a woman absolutely lose her mind (and her composure) on one of my managers when she found out that she could not have her return refunded to her in cash. You see, where we come from, you can only receive your refund based on your original form of payment. This particular woman originally paid with a check; therefore, her money could only be refunded back to her checking account. As it turns out, she disagreed. She argued with us for quite some time about the logistics of refunds and the logistics of how checks work. In her mind, "a check is cash" and she told us over and over again before saying "this store is retarded" as she stomped away. Someone should teach her social norms before they let her back out of the house or the institution that she came from that morning.
In the later portions of last week, I spent a couple of days in Altoona, PA working at one of our stores out there. As crazy as customers in Pittsburgh are, these customers made our looks like mother Theresa. For every 20 customers that I said hello to, 0 said hello back to me. For every 50 customers that I said hello to, 0 said hello back to me. Everyone there was rude, and struggled with the idea that you could not take merchandise out of the store without setting off the alarm. I saw multiple customers walk into the store pushing carts from Sears. I don't know whats in the water in Altoona, but I wasn't taking any chances. I only drank bottled beverages for those two days.
Much like every other experience in life, I used the things I learned there, applied them to my life, and brought them back to my store. I came home with a strong sense of appreciation for all of those that work at the 30176 and even an appreciation for those that shop at my store. Above all, I am thankful for the chance I was given to work with a new group of people across the state for a couple of days. It is great to know that I have an extended work family beyond the city of Pittsburgh.
Helping others is the best way to recognize your worth on this earth. The Dalai Lama once said, "Our prime purpose on this earth is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them."
Last week after church, I explained to 10-year-old Nick (Nickbball) what kinds of foods you did not need to eat. I told him that some foods give you belly fat, and told him not to eat too much candy. Yesterday, Nick gave away a large amount of candy to his younger cousins. He told me that he couldn't stop thinking about belly fat and that "It was like I was stuck inside of his head." Often, when you touch one life, there is a trickling down that occurs. I'm sure that Nick's cousins ate the crap out of that Easter candy.
You don't have to donate thousands of dollars to a charity to make a difference in the world. In fact, some of the most memorable actions are those that seem the smallest to those who offer them. Hold the door for someone, smile, say thank you, ask someone about their day, lend a helping hand, give someone a ride, make someone laugh, tell your friends how much they mean to you, do anything you can to positively impact the life of another human being.
And if, for some reason, you cannot find the courage or compassion in your heart or in your life to positively impact the lives of others, then don't you dare grace someone's life negatively.
Here's to doing something, anything, for someone that isn't yourself,
Xoxo
