More training and a break.
Nic turned out to be a fast learner, and easy to get along with. She showed just the right amount of interest; not totally bored as to make Sam feel useless, and not falsely enthusiastic. When the time came for them both to take a break, Sam found that he was not, unlike in the case of many of his former and current co-workers, dreading the thought of 15 minutes in her company.
‘So how long have been here?’ she asked as she nursed a bottle of juice. They were sitting in the tea room alone, at opposite ends of the large square table.
‘Three years,’ Sam said quietly, avoiding eye contact. To him, three years was an eternity to spend at a job such as the Bargain Barn.
‘Oh yeah. So you’re practically an expert on all that stuff we just did.’
Sam let out an embarrassed chuckle. ‘Not quite.’
‘So do you work here full time?’
‘No, just part time. Usually 4 days a week, afternoons or nights on weekdays and the long Saturday or Sunday shift.’
Nic nodded, seeming genuinely interested. ‘Do you go to school too?’
‘No, not at the moment. You?’
‘Nope, never been to uni. Since I finished high school I’ve preferred to learn from the real world. Well, I haven’t really learned much though, except that most jobs suck.’
‘What did you do before coming here?’
‘Secretary at a legal firm. Sounds fancy, but it really wasn’t. Just picking up the phone mostly. It was boring and the place was full of assholes.’
‘So why’d you pick retail?’ Sam asked quizzically. The customer service profession was certainly not the place for those with an aversion to boredom or assholes.
Nic shrugged. ‘Well, it’s a rite of passage isn’t it?’
‘What?’
‘Oh come on, they say everyone needs to work in retail at least once in their life. Since I missed the boat as a teenager, I’m experiencing it now. It’s just…humanity, isn’t it? On any given day you’re likely to get a neat little cross section of society, deal with the good, the bad, and the ugly.’
‘Believe me, there are no positives to be taken from dealing with the bad and the ugly.’
Nic sighed. ‘We don’t live in a perfect world, Sam.’
Sam thought this was a rather odd, overly philosophical thing to say under the circumstances, but simply nodded in agreement. Nic let out a short, high laugh and shook her head slowly.
‘Well, maybe I am glamourising it a little. But hey, why not? It’s easy to get hired, the work seems easy, no responsibilities…honestly, it seems like you can check your brain at the door.’
Sam thought of his tendency to daydream and nervously diverted his eyes. Nic quickly became defensive, afraid that she had just said something gravely offensive.
‘Oh, I’m not saying you’re some kind of idiot for working here. You know what I mean, don’t you?’
‘Yeah. Yeah, I do’.
Nic smiled at him and again shook her head in that bemused way, taking another swig of her juice. Sam simply watched her curiously, taking in her mannerisms. One hand was sliding the bottle cap absently across the table’s slick surface, the other began adjusting stray, wispy pieces of hair. The silence in the room was calm and easy until Sam scraped his chair across the floor and rose.
‘Well, we should get back out there.’
