I arrive home, go to my room, and immediately start unloading the contents of my bag and start putting them where they belong. My mind goes back to July 2009. Seventeen-year-old me and how excited I was to finally find a job and start making my own money. A job that I would have for the following 11 years until Covid forced us to shut down for good. So many years down the drain in just an instant. Luckily there’s a bright side to everything. Nothing can hold a candle to the experience I’ve gained that will benefit me for the rest of my life.

Inside of the bag is mostly books that I purchased because it was Associate Appreciation Weekend at my job. I’m still not sure which book I’ll start first, but I’m leaning towards The Song of Achilles. 

It is my second week and I’m already realizing that my feet don’t hurst as much as they did my first couple of days. I always said that I would never go back to retail, but do bookstores really count? I actually find work enjoyable and inspiring this time around. Chatting about books all day far surpasses folding T-Shirts and retrieving sneakers from the stockroom for customers. Not to mention, the clientele is just different. You’re way less likely to deal with a customer’s attitude when you tell them you’re out of stock in a particular book as opposed to a size in shoe they’re looking for. 

If the last couple years have taught me anything, it is to appreciate the small things that are often taken for granted. Things like punching those 4 digits in and seeing the words “Punch Accepted.”