Did your perception change from the time you were in the thick of it until now?
About two years ago, I step away from my career to regroup and gather myself. I was in a job that I did not know at that time was being bought out by another company and for the fourth time in my adult life, I was laid off (let me tell you it makes the resume look like a jumping situation). Being the lowest person on the totem pole rarely had its perks and given the grim job market I had been thrust into, I decided to become underemployed to discover what I wanted to do before reentering my career. Surprisingly, my husband was fine on the decision to work in a “mom and pop” specialty grocery store and the small business itself was willing to match near the same amount I was being paid before.
The specialty grocery store is not far from bustling south hills of Pittsburgh and welcomes the likes of former Pittsburgh Pirates, NFL referees and politicians as well as many of the local people who make the community for which it is. For nearly a year, I was in the know on many things in our community and brought home gossip that my husband enjoyed as many people we knew were frequent regulars. Many of the people I worked along with at the customer service desk, alcohol bar and produce were great people as well with their uniqueness. There was also a couple of them who may be not a great fit. Some people I still keep in touch with to this day while others were those acquaintances just meant for that moment in time. Eventually a local business owner came in and offered me a position back in my career field which I took him up on the offer when it felt right.
Flash forward to this past weekend when I was shopping with my mother. This middle aged woman ran up to me and I quickly realized that she was the employee I trained to replace me as a supervisor when I left. The woman had also left the store and was now working for a competitor for which she seemed to be happy working at. Without prompting, I received a status update on all the fights, firings and who also left to work with her at the new location. I did not have any idea how wild arguments about produce could be or how much a promising manager could sleep on the clock. I could tell that she was thoroughly enjoying the conversation and I just participated until the conversation had run its course.
Maybe things were just that crazy in that store or I had simply missed the moments. I treasure that place and still go from time to time to get specialty items that the big grocery store does not carry. This accidental run in provided some memories and a couple of laughs!
