The other day at work I had a woman come in to the store who I really didn't care for. It was early afternoon on a week day, and she came in shopping for jeans with her daughter. My coworker ended up being the one to help them as they shopped, so I didn't talk to her until they were ringing out their purchases.
She started talking about how her daughter only wore sweats to school and dressed grimy because she went to an art school. At the mention of "art school", my ears perked up.
"Oh? Which school?" I asked.
"The School of the Art Institute," the woman told me, speaking for her daughter who was standing right there.
"I know some people who went there. I went to Columbia downtown."
The woman looked at me and asked if I graduated. When I said that I had in Fall 2010, she responded with, "And you work here?"
At first, I didn't really know what to say to that. The disdain in the woman's voice over me working a job in retail even after I've earned a college degree was apparent, and I wasn't sure what to do with that.
After I collected myself a bit from the verbal slap in the face, I told her that I was actually a manager. When that still failed to impress her, I told her how my degree was in Fiction Writing, and that I needed a job to support myself while I was writing.
Finally, she took the judgemental look off of her face and got excited. Apparently, she loves writers, and started to tell me about this fabulous memoir that she had just read. It was about a woman's writing process and a snake, and really funny. The girl who I was working with and I just looked at each other since she kept babbling on, trying to figure out the name of this outstanding book that I had to know about.
"Moon and Me? New Moon and Me? Moon? The snake's name was Moon, so I know it was in there somewhere."
We just smile and nod at her, wondering why she was still talking.
She left without any more dirty looks, since apparently me being a writer makes it OK to work retail. I still just don't know why the initial disdain was present and why she didn't even bother to hide it. Yes, some people might believe "retail" is a dirty word and that to work there is Hell, but that doesn't mean that I am one of them. I actually like my retail job. The girls I work with are hilarious and fun, and it's only once in a while that we get a devil customer. However, even if I was one to hate my retail job, there's no need to rub it in my face.
Also, again I say- this was early afternoon on a week day. So while this woman was mocking my job, she wasn't at one herself- meaning that there isn't room to judge others about their working lives. And she was also sending her daughter to an art school. Does she think that when her artist child graduates she'll automatically be a famous artist with lots of money in this economy? Or will her daughter have to find a job, any job, just like the rest of us to make ends mean after she's done with school before she can establish herself?
I just don't believe that people should judge someone based on preconceived notions. No one but me knows how I feel about where I work or what I do, so there's no reason to look down upon it. I'll do me, and you just do you.
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