If you're close with me and we've talked recently, you probably know I have become increasingly dissatisfied with my job. I graduated with an art degree in 2012, moved to Texas, and almost immediately landed a retail job working at a craft store. I started out part time, and I loved it. As with every job I have had, I gave this one 110%. After a year and a half, I was moved to full time and promoted to keyholder. It took me awhile to get into the groove of being in charge and working twice as many hours... along with my commute. Yes, this retail job put 50 miles a day on my car. I was really happy with the promotion, though, because I figured that even if this job wasn't what I really wanted to do forever, I would rather be in a job where I feel like I'm going somewhere than in one that is stagnant. Also, full time was really good for whacking loans in the head with a big stick.
Now I have been full time and management for a year, and though I feel I'm used to the position now, I've grown to dislike it. Every day there is some sort of customer service thing that I have to mediate or alleviate - you know, bend over backwards to make the customer satisfied. Sometimes I don't like the choices of my coworkers that add extra stress to my plate. Every night that I close some part of the store has been torn apart by someone, or random things have been stashed in random places and I have to locate them and put things back where they go. How many nights can I handle straightening the same t-shirts, picking up the same pile of stickers and putting them up, being excited to finally sell an annoying product only to have it re-ordered and replaced? The monotony has begun to set in. The frustration at a long commute for a meager wage and monotony no longer seems worth it. There are obviously a lot of things I have loved about this job - most of them being the people, my coworkers that have become friends, and the repeat customers that know me by name and who I know by name. I see certain people in line and I have their tax exemption form ready to apply to their order. I will be sad to not have interactions with these people on a regular basis.
I believe that with every job and person there is an expiration date - that a time comes when it's time to move on. I have reached mine. It might seem stupid or irresponsible to put in my notice now, when I don't have a new job lined up yet, but it feels like the right thing. My last day of work will be January 31, 2015. I look forward in the next couple months to being a sister and a daughter, helping with planning my sister's wedding in March. I look forward to turning 25, being a maid of honor, and stepping out again trying to figure out what to do next with my life. I'm hoping to take some time to reflect and make stuff and see if I can sell it, you know, start my own business - then begin a job search, looking for companies closer to where I live. I might be ok with retail again if it was part time, close by, and in a smaller store, though I think I'd also like working in a small cafe or coffee shop, and I already know I enjoy office jobs. If you know of anything close to Duncanville or Cedar Hill, Texas that you think I'd enjoy, let me know. I'm open to ideas.
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