In English we wrote essays based off the things we believe in. In order to get started we first made a list of Thing I Have Learned in My Life So Far. The list that follows is mine.
- It’s always better to be honest than lie. I
- It’s okay to ask questions. You’re not annoying.
- If you don’t ask the answer is definitely no.
- If today was bad, go to sleep, tomorrow will be better.
- Tell your homies that you love them. They might not know.
- Exercising makes it easier to do a lot of things.
- Never gossip, it just leads to lies, see #1.
- You’re not responsible for carrying other people’s pain, it’s your life do what makes you happy.
- You and your parents might not agree and that’s okay.
- Don’t let others think for you, trust yourself to choose. If you choose wrong that’s okay,
We then took one of our beliefs and made it into an essay. We recorded ourselves reading the essay and used that audio to make an After Effects video. The video is on the Digital Media page.
This I Believe
I work in customer service and before you go “Oof, that sucks” or “why?”, allow me to say that I don’t hate my job. I feel like it has become commonplace to have a grumpy customer service worker. Customer service itself is fine, most people are nice, however it’s the select few who resort to verbal abuse that remind me that I’m not responsible for carrying other people’s pain.
I arrived here shortly after a string of interactions with several Karens, entitled middle-aged women who treat others like scum. But there was one woman in particular that really drove this belief home.
To set the scene it was a warm April afternoon and the store was teeming with people. We had four checkstands running when it’s usually one or two. The woman approached the checkstand, her cart filled to the brim with items. She called down “double bag for the ice cream only.” I asked the checker, “She said double bag for the ice cream only, right?”
“Yeah that’s what she said.”
About three fourths of the way through the process she asked me why I hadn’t put the rest of the groceries in double bags. I told her, “Ma’am you only asked for the ice cream to be double bagged.”
“No, I said I wanted everything double bagged.”
“Actually ma’am,” Vanessa interrupted, “you did say you only wanted the ice cream double bagged.”
“Well now I’m saying I want everything double bagged. The bags always break because she makes them too heavy.”
“Well, we’ve been going through a lot of different types of bags recently due to COVID” I offered, “they aren’t as strong as the regular ones, that might be why they’re breaking.”
“No, I know it’s not the bags, it’s you. You’re the worst bagger here.”
Turning to Vanessa she continued to berate me as though I wasn’t standing next to her.
“Honestly, why hasn’t she been fired? How many other people’s bags has she broken? Do you know how hard it is to have to explain to the customer that their seventy dollar wine has broken. As a result of what? Faulty bags? No, I know it’s her, can we get the manager over here so that she can be fired now?”
As she continued complaining I choked back tears. It’s not that I haven’t been yelled at before, I have been,it’s usually not super personal. We all have bad days, I get that, but don’t take it out on me. I’m just trying to do my job.
For all the hurt this woman caused me, I can’t bring myself to be mad at her because that would be assuming her burden. I won’t do that anymore.
This doesn’t mean that I have a dearth of empathy, it doesn’t mean I won’t help you with your problem, I will. Ask any friend of mine and they’ll tell you. And if I can’t help I’ll point you towards someone who will. It’s not part of my job description to carry your pain.