at your service

i've been in the (customer) service industry for over five years now (20 years if you count my child-adulthood). in these five years i have learned everything and nothing all at once. you may think you know everything about a job that you've done for so long, but the truth is that no day is exactly the same as another and if it seems that all your days are unidentifiable, it's because you were not participating in them. what i've learned is that you have to look for the small things that make each day unique. i've learned that the simple act of smiling, responding, or saying thank you goes a long, long way. i've learned that when you are put in a position to be of service to someone, you are really forced to befriend them in 10 seconds or less. you must greet them, interrogate them, provide for them, and make them feel better leaving than when they came in. (you must also seduce them into purchasing more than they intended, which no one should judge you for seeing as it's your job). i've learned that every job is not as easy or as challenging as it seems, it really just depends on the strength and intelligence of the person performing the job. i feel like i had a predisposition to becoming a person of service because i was always raised to be pleasant to others and give 100% even if i received nothing in return. while these attributes help push me through each day at work, i cannot say that they are 100% helpful in my relationships. i can only give so much of myself before i lose sight of my true being, so i apologize in advance for not being the perfect daughter, sister, friend, and girlfriend that i started out as. i've learned that you can't stretch yourself out so thin and still maintain a healthy state of mind. so i'm pulling back and will no longer be at your service.

i've learned a lot, but i could have learned all of the stuff i know from other situations as well- so i attribute none of my knowledge solely to the "lifer" status i earned through loyalty to my current employer. instead, i attribute it to my relentless efforts at making sense of this non-sensical world.