Weekend away

I know, I know. The blog has been silent too long. In my defense, nothing happened.

This past weekend I went back to my college town to visit friends doing research or working for the summer. I found that while I'm perfectly okay accepting my alumni status and the fact that last year's juniors are now seniors, it's weird to see last year's sophomores be called juniors. Maybe just because they were the first group that just seemed so young to me when they entered. The class behind mine was only a year younger (many of them actually older than me) so it's okay to see them grow up. Two years behind however? Eerie. All in all, it was a good weekend. I got to see two other alum friends and catch up with them. It felt strange to have to "catch up" when it's only been a month since graduation, but a lot has happened. Amazingly enough, the real world has just as much drama and intrigue as college ever did; it simply adds bills and housing and jobs to the mix.

Saturday was spent with pretty much the entire undergraduate crowd at school for the summer in one of the two bars watching the soccer game. Sad result, but incredible atmosphere. Somehow, I doubt I'll have any similar experiences while I continue to watch my beloved Spanish side throughout the rest of the World Cup...

Unfortunately, or maybe not, my weekend was cut short due to the need to be trained for my part time job as a sales associate (aka retail drudge) at a store in the mall. I woke up and drove the threeish hours back home in order to be at the mall by 11:30. That journey was mildly uneventful with the exception of my first true roadkill accident. I was driving along, minding my own business, not speeding terribly much for once (recent ticket encounter has caused me to be a bit more cautious), when out of nowhere BAM! A small winged creature made contact with my car. I saw it happen in slow motion practically. Bird flying low, crossing my path, making contact with the left hand side of my car. Feathers exploding and going everywhere. It was like a mini down pillow fight taking place in front of my car. I was a trifle traumatized. The poor bird. Not to mention, the feathers. I had feathers in my windshield wipers. Luckily, I had no reason to use my wipers or each swipe would have been a little reminder, "bird killer.... bird killer... bird killer...".

In any event, I came home, took a quick shower and was off to be trained. Which is when I discovered that being in a sorority does have some benefits. Years of training in recruitment procedure has made retail a cinch. I felt like I was sitting in a recruitment workshop all over again when the managers were explaining what to do to be a successful sales associate:
- try and use the customer's name whenever possible to put him/her at ease
- find a way to relate to the customer ("I have that same skirt! I just love it!" vs. "I have that same skirt! I just love it!")
- find a way to bring the customer's interests back to the store's interests ("You know what would go great with that skirt of yours? This lovely little tank top!" vs "You say you love volunteering? Our sorority is SO involved with philanthropy!")
- compliment the customer ("I love your necklace!" vs "I love your necklace!")
- ask open ended, as opposed to yes/no, questions ("What kind of clothes do you tend to go for?" vs "What did you do over Christmas break?")
- if a customer has an item in her hand, suggest similar or complimentary items ("This cardigan would go great with that dress!" vs "You like watching football? My friend Tara is absolutely obsessed with the Patriots! I'll have to introduce you guys!")

And so on and so on. Glad to know that if the whole teaching bit doesn't fare well for me, I can always go into retail.