Never know where you're going to run into another "ex-K-mart employee". Only, when I worked at K-mart, you were about two years old. It was my first "real" job (the snack bar at the swap meet in the 11th grade doesn't really count), the summer I graduated high school. Long enough ago that they paid us in cash.
K-Mart was my first “real” job too. Working for free on my dad’s political campaigns didn’t count! Neither did helping my mom run the Toys for Tots program at the jail.
When I turned 16, my Dad took me to the local K-Mart to get a job. Literally … I think he waited in the parking lot while I filled out my application. I worked there my Junior & Senior year in high school (late 80’s) and summer and Christmas breaks during College (early 90’s). I started out as a cashier, then got promoted to checkout supervisor & customer service desk.
We too got paid in cash, which I always thought was weird. Many people left the cash cage with their pay, stopped off at lay away to make an installment payment on something or other, then strolled through the store picking up random purchases. So in a way, I guess it was really smart of them to pay us in cash.
I loved working at K-Mart. That may sound weird, but I did. And it had nothing to do with blue light specials as they were banned for most of my tenure. They only made an appearance for the rare “moonlight madness.”
I remember watching Nelson Mandela be released from jail while I was in the break room.
I fondly remember working on the garden patio which was notoriously devoid of customers … I’d write letters to friends on credit card receipts. And opening the boxes of school supplies. And working in the automotive section (filling in for the boys who always called in “sick”) where men would walk towards me with an inquisitive look, decide as a woman I’d know nothing (which was in fact true), and then walk away. This happened in Sporting Goods too.
I don’t remember so fondly the music loop (I swear it was 20 minutes long), stocking the cigarettes, selling bait or ammo, or standing up for hours on end.
Working the checkout lines at Christmas which went on for ever was also a good lesson in patience and being in the moment. There was nothing you could do about how grumpy people were or to make the lines dissappear. It was what it was. A good life lesson.
All in all my illustrious K-Mart career was a positive period in my life. Not one I’d want to repeat mind you, but it was home for a time.
4 comments:
And the beat goes on... I too was a K-Mart employee! Can you believe it? In college I served at the bigK for several years - I found it to be a great job then. And sometimes long for the simplicity of it. I was a checker, cust service rep, and worked in garden shop in the summer. The best though for me was working Layaway (except at Christmas time) as there was lots of down time in which to, as you remember, write letters to my friends and family. Long letters on the layaway printer paper - the kind with the perforated edges... The always gave us our birthday off with pay! And the bread pudding in the cafe was horribly wonderful. Also got paid in cash which was lovely as a college student in a drinking age is 19 town.
I knew we were kindred spirits Christine!
Maybe we can start a club of women religious who used to work at K-Mart?? :)
I forgot to mention the birthday thing. We also got the day off with pay, and a box of Andes mints with our paycheck that week.
I've always taken a vacatin day for my birthday ever since. It just seems wrong to work that day.
And I always wanted to work in layaway, but there was lots of competition for that job. Layaway printer paper sounds much better for letters than credit card slips!
great post and a walk down memory lane. Not that we have K-mart here.
hey, we didn't get mints! That would have been cool. But we did have blue light specials and if we were working, we could go later and get the deal. My fave, though, was the employee moonlight madness night when we got all the deals we could stand! And we got to use layaway... of course I also had to work then.... oh, the days. I wonder how many would be in the club! :-)
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