Sears
How did this silly idea last 5 years?
5 years ago I was temporarily unemployed shortly before Christmas, ironically because I had just quit another job I never wanted. In fact, that was the last job I quit before today. I never wanted to work there but still found it hard to move on but then they forced me to choose between them and the PNE and it suddenly became very easy. I had decided to enjoy not working for awhile as I had substantial savings amassed.
About 2 months into not working Burton contacted me. He knew I wasn’t working, Christmas wasn’t far away, and most importantly the seasonal employees in his section of Eaton’s were total assclowns for the second year running.
I wasn’t interested.
He told me it’d be fun. I told him it was retail. He told me with extra money I could give the people I care about a better Christmas. I told him I could actually spend time with the people I care about. He said we’d have a lot of fun working together but more than that he needed my help.
Bah.
I sent him my résumé and he did all the legwork. I had an interview set up the next day with someone named Annie. I helped her resolve a payroll problem on the way to her office. I spent the entire interview regaling her with amusing tales of fair.
And once again, indirectly, the fair would provide.
They had me write a test that began with the simplest questions imaginable and ended with calculus.
As expected I was hired but with Burton having done all the legwork and having put in several strong endorsements on my behalf I was placed in a different area but only informed of this AFTER accepting the job.
That first Christmas season was hell, although it did have some high points like discounts, incentives, and meeting Warren.
When I was invited back the following Christmas I said no. Hell no. Not on your life buddy. But they sweet talked me into it. “But we’re Sears now, almost no one is on commission and there are no quotas”. Eventually I caved.
During my second Christmas season I had an encounter with a supervisor from another area where I questioned his leadership abilities.
Christmas contract completed I moved on only to be contacted in April to be offered a permanent part time position…by the supervisor I had told off.
I was so thrown by it I just accepted the offer out of shock.
A year later a new manager came to the floor who I had a cold war with, eventually the cold war went hot when I requested some time off and she responded by firing me. I fired back citing her unjustified cause and manpower shortage and negotiated a resignation. Before the paperwork was processed I was contacted by a manager from another department who went to the trouble to create a whole new position to keep me in the company and transfer to her department.
2 years later she leaves to become the manager of a different store and the department is taken over by the person who trained me that first Christmas. I was not impressed with him then and I certainly wasn’t now. He arbitrarily changed the nature of my position and began watching my every move. Clearly it was time to leave.
And today I did.
