Lately, I’ve been feeling very bad about myself. My relationship is kaput, my boyfriend’s family hates me, my finances are in shambles. I don’t have much to feel good about. Other than my job (and my friends/coworkers), I pretty much hate my life and myself. My self esteem has always been horrible. A lifetime of having my sisters and strangers treat me like crap and basically tell me that I was worthless every chance they got, left me feeling like a waste of oxygen. Lately, my self esteem had been getting better but recent events have left me feeling even worse than I did when I was a teenager.
Today I was feeling the lowest I have ever felt. I was on the verge of tears for my first 3 hours at work. My friends are really starting to worry about me. It can be kind of difficult to be bright and cheery with customers when your life is falling apart. But, I did my best to pull myself together and not let my customers see my pain.
I get a lot of grief from many customers because they feel that Home Depot employees are all idiots. I am usually able to change their minds if they give me a chance.
Today, I had a customer shopping for carpet. Instead of dwelling on my sadness, I decided to throw myself into my work. I did everything right. I asked all the right questions and recommended all the appropriate products. I remembered to suggest all the possible upgrades and she very open to all of them. I was still feeling pretty crappy but I was proud of myself. At the end of our time together (about 45 minutes), I was expecting her to want to set up for a measure. Imagine my surprise when she said she wasn’t going to at that time. My heart sank. I felt like I had over sold and she felt pressured. Then she told me that she had an appointment with another carpet store. And she’d be back.
Every time someone tells me that, they never come back. But she said that if she had known the kind of service she would get with me, she never would have made the appointment in the first place. I felt my spirits lifting. She asked for my business card. As I gave it to her, I told her that when (if) she returns, she can work with me or any of my coworkers as we don’t work on commission. We do have sales quotas but I didn’t tell her that. I don’t like my customers to feel they have to work with me because I’m not always there.
Then, she said, “I don’t want to work with anyone else. You know more about carpet than anyone I’ve ever talked to. I didn’t even have a chance to ask any questions because you answered them before I could. You answered questions I didn’t even know I had. When I come back, I will only be working with you.” Then she thanked me and left for her appointment.
I almost started crying. I was able to pull myself together enough to thank her for her kind words. Then, I went to join my coworkers. One of them noticed a change in me immediately and asked what happened. I told her what my customer had said. I started crying as I told her. I have had compliments in the past - I take a lot of pride in my work so I get a lot of them. But, I have never had a complete stranger say something like that to me. I can’t even begin to describe the change it caused in me. I wish I could tell her how much it meant to me.
So many people feel they have a right to treat retail associates like second class citizens. Every once in a while, you get someone who genuinely appreciates the work we do and actually let you know. I wish these people nothing but the best in life. They deserve it.
My boyfriend just asked me if she was a secret shopper. God, I hope she was 
