I Hate Retail

Dear Mom,

Worked at the Bluffton Store today. It's a funny thing, I kind of hate retail.

The reality of retail sales is that you make a huge investment of your time and funds, work like a mule to get it started, usually go into debt to finance and stock, continually wrack your brain to attract customers, open your establishment...and wait. Wait for people to decide they want what you offer, trickle in to see (or taste) what you've got, decide if they feel like paying your price, then decide whether to return. In the meantime, you worry.

The jobs I've had involving retail sales are the only ones where I watched the clock, hoping against hope it would move faster so I could go home and get something tangible accomplished.

I really enjoy the kind of work I do now, housecleaning. I get to work, the client is happy to see me. I work hard with no breaks. Sometimes I talk and visit with them while I'm working, which makes the work go faster. In many cases I become very close with my clients and provide an outlet for them; they can discuss things they don't normally talk about with friends and family. They provide the same outlet for me. By the time you've worked for them for a short while, they seem like family and you do to them, too. They pay your for your much-appreciated time and work, and treat you respectfully. Then you go home to your real life, with no worries.

The work is hard and I never have to 'exercise'. I'm healthy and fit.

I love my job.

I love you,

Lisa

Value of Time

Dear Mom,

My favorite line when referring to the value of time is; "There's no luggage rack on a hearse".

Time is all we have that's truly ours. We were born with it and we have an unspecified amount of it until we don't anymore. No amount of money can buy it, but we can lose it by doing what we hate and people can steal it by lying to us or using us. We have to maximize the time we spend doing what we like (and hopefully find a way to get paid for it.) Choosing how to spend time, and giving time to people I care about is a pleasure and a privilege.

I don't have to be slapped hard to stop giving, all it takes is the expectation that the time given is someone's by right and that makes me start backing away so that person can get on their own feet. If they follow and demand more, it's time to run away.

I hope you don't think less of me, but I give nothing to charities. Organized charities, that is, with bureaucracies, staffs and budgets. I think that the 'business' of charity is just that, business-not charity, and I will not be blackmailed into giving to people who spend a lifetime doing as they damn well please and then whining about it. Besides, most of the people who administer the "charity" do so either for a generous salary, political gain, public recognition, socializing or all of the above.

I'm in decent shape only because I live a disciplined life. I would be in a hospital bed within weeks if I didn't behave, and then they'd finish me off by feeding me wheat, corn, milk and nightshade vegetables. When I see people collecting for charity I'm tempted to ask them how much they think anyone ever rounded up for the Lisa Fund.

It's my time, I'll try to use it wisely.

I love you,

Lisa