Hi to everyone who opened my article because of my click bait. So, I don’t know about y’all but quarantine last spring presented me with a slight problem. I had no money coming in, as the babysitting I had been doing all year had completely stopped thanks to parents’ worries. However, with nothing to do besides watch Netflix and shop online, my money was still draining fast.

Sooooo flash forward another two months and I decided to get a job at  a women’s boutique in Town Center. I am leaving the name out of it since I am about to bash on it lol but lets just say the clothes are ehhhh and way too expensive but the jewelry is cheap and 10/10.

Anyways, it was the day of my interview. I was super super nervous (many months late apology to Allie and Katie. I had been with them leading up to my interview and I was literally just ignoring them the whole time I was so worried. oops.) Anyways, my sisters, who both worked in Food and Beverage, assured me that the interview would be no big deal and only 5 minutes top.

I pulled up to the interview, took a deep breath, and walked in

MORE THAN 30 MINUTES LATER I walk out. This interview really really should have been red flag number 1. My interviewer asked me to explain why I picked out each part of my outfit. She also asked me many many questions about “when I have been most challenged in life” and “what I bring to the table”. I answered all these questions amazingly, of course. I really did actuall.y I think my brain just went on autopilot and said the first thing that came to mind for each one. The fact that I had a 30 minute interview though for a job that paid 9 dollars an hour is just crazy to me.

red flag number 2: I had to work directly with my manager. and ONLY my manager! Now, I work at Five Loaves with a bunch of other other high school girls. We always tell our entire life stories to each other and it is definitely a step up from working with my boss

red flag number 3: Literally EVERY SINGLE day I would be critiqued on my outfit. and it is not like I was wearing a t-shirt and Lululemon shorts to work or anything. The last shift I ever worked (right before I quitttttt) I was told that my NICE CHURCH dress was “not appropriate” for work. She went on to explain how if I “paired with a different necklace” or “bigger earrings” it would be fine. These judgements made my already anxious self before work evennnnn more anxious that my outfit choices would be vetoed.

red flag number 4: To be fair, I don’t know if this red flag is all retail or just the specific place where I worked. At my place, at least, you had to have a FULL GENUINE conversation with every single customer who came in. And not just a like “Hey, how are you”. We had to either compliment them on their shoes or some of their outfit or connect with them on something in their life. The annoying thing about HAVING to do this with every customer is that it no longer feels genuine because you are looking for something to say.

Okay enough ranting. After one too many times of her critiquing my outfit I quit. Although, to be fair, I also quit because during the school year they would only have worked me on the weekends, and I wanted to work during the week too. Also, my sister worked in Food and Beverage and made 11 an hour and I only made 9

Now, I work as a hostess at Five Loaves Cafe.

Pros of Five Loaves:

-I make more like 11-12 dollars an hour depending on how busy the shifts are.

-I work with 3 other seniors at Wando and a sophomore at Bishop England. It’s so fun to talk with them about our lives. We literally will talk about so much random drama in between talking to customers and cleaning off tables.

-Another good thing about it is that, even though I obviously welcome the customers when they come in, I do not have an exact conversation I have to have with them. This makes the conversations much more real and I find myself complimenting them on their outfit or shoes sometimes when I genuinely really like them.

-Also, I like the repetition of getting really busy and then getting people off the wait list as quick as possible. I think it is really satisfying to go through the same steps every shift.

Disclaimer: This is just my personal experience. For those of you who do work in retail and love it, congrats. You must be a whole lot less awkward than me. However, for anyone considering working in Food and Beverage, I highly recommend!!