I have been working at a north face outlet store selling outdoor gear to the masses at a discount price. Its been a humbling experience as I, along with a large percentage of people in the midst of the world economic crisis, work at a job I am overqualified for :0).
There are a few things keeping me sane during the process of pretending I'm a salesperson.
I have been able to sell coats (and shoes, gloves, backpacks and hats) to people from all over the world. Somehow our outlet mall has become a huge Oregon tourist attraction (which is ridiculous considering how many beautiful things there are to see in Oregon!!) So I have taken up the pastime of learning to recognize accents.
I recognized a Spanish accent once, and discovered that the couple was from Valencia, Spain. They were pretty surprised to hear I had visited their town during the Las Fallas festival last year, and I helped them pick out shoes for their grandfather, strangely allowing me to walk the streets of Valencia once again.
The French and German accents are getting easier to pick up. And people always seem to like hearing your connection to where they are from. I like to imagine it makes the world seem smaller for us all. A German couple from Stuttgart was excited to hear I had seen Stuttgart play in a champions league game last year. The Irish accents are fun to hear too. Rach, you would be proud of me, I am still 100% able to distinguish a Dubliner family from a southern Irish family.
And my newest pleasure, is checking people's photo id for a sale. Then, even if they have managed to cover up their accent, you discover they are from China or Norway or Texas!
Finally, there are the locals I get to talk to who are prepping for trips abroad. I helped a lady find a coat to watch the Iditarod sled race and a man find a backpack for a school building trip to Liberia. I found coats for students moving to the east coast to start college and fleeces for backpacking Europe trips. Warm things for an American woman living for 14 years in Mongolia (though nothing in our store could compare to her long mink coat!!!) and a sleeping bag for a man who has been contracted by an American corporation to work in Afghanistan.
These are the people and the stories that make my current days selling coats much more joyous.
