Two, more tenured sales associates with whom I worked, were barely civil to me. At best, they were dismissive. At worst, they were pretty mean. But over time, things changed. One of them (I think I called him Charlie) has become one of the people I like most on the floor. And the other, a woman, is someone I now like very much.
That brings me to Albert (he said it was fine to use his real name).
Albert is not a sales associate. He is one of the many people who support the sales associates, working tirelessly off the floor. Among other things, Albert helps sort the many items that come off the hangers for customers to try on. He sorts them according to brand and floor, and then insures they are re-distributed to the right areas. It's a tough job.
I carry armloads of clothes back to the area where Albert works. I do this easily 20 or more times a day. And for so long, Albert has greeted me with one of two comments:
"Don't put that there." (There are multiple racks where we can hang clothes, and it's often unclear which of the many racks to use.)
or...
"You need to hang that in your area!" (We are responsible for re-stocking in the areas where we work. If I'm very busy, I sometimes don't.)
Albert's tone and delivery (to me) has always been very stern. It'd be pretty easy to assume he didn't like working with me.
But then, the other day, I bumped into Albert on the first floor. I was wearing jeans and a short white Iro jacket and booties. He looked at me and said, "You look cool today; I like what you're wearing," or something like that. I don't even think it was an olive branch. Just a genuine compliment. I was deeply touched.
And just like that, I fell in love with Albert.
Now when I see him, he smiles. He's always been helpful but now he's less stern and more approachable.
We may not be going to movies and having dinners together (he's also a trillion years younger than I am). But still, I love having Albert as a new work friend.
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