By ABBEY NAUMOWICZ
Contributing Writer
While many students went home to enjoy a relaxing winter break, I did the exact opposite. In October, I got a job working at Crossgates Mall. While I was at school for first semester, I worked a few days every week, which was very doable. However, when winter break rolled around, my hours got upped quite significantly. I thought that maybe I would keep about the same hours, but my days quickly went from 4 hour shifts to 7 or 8 hours (maybe more) and about 6 days a week. I knew I was getting more hours, but it did not really hit me until I was actually working what much in a week. I even maxed out my hours one week, and had to take a day off! It was not too bad though: I really enjoy my job, and who doesn’t like a little extra money?
Normally, if I was at school, I would take the bus to work: either the 10 or 114. At home though, there is no bus, so it is about a 30-minute drive one-way.
The store was busy regularly from Black Friday on through about a week after New Years. Most days were alright, but the days right before and after Christmas were a zoo. The worst part was the customers who went out of their way to be rude, no matter how hard you were trying to help them. Some were just grumpy that they had to make gift exchanges and took it out on everyone else. Others got frustrated that we did not have exactly what they were looking for in their size, or in the particular style that they wanted, and got way too upset about it. One customer even flipped out on (meaning yelled at, insulted, rolled eyes at, and did the disapproving-finger-wagging-head-bob) another associate and I because we were closing the store (on Christmas Eve) and she refused to leave the store until she got EXACTLY what she wanted. She made us search the store for it AND carry the clothes around for her. On a few occasions during the rush periods, some employees had to leave the sales floor because customers were being so rude to them. Despite the fact that there were long and stressful hours, I really did learn a lot about dealing with customer issues; the best thing to do is just to try your best to be friendly and polite no matter what, and try to help them find what they are looking for.
Looking back over my break, I do wish that I had a little more free time However, I am very happy with my decision to work over break, and with the cost of textbooks this semester, I am definitely glad I have the extra money.
