Carla Gypsygirl's Blurty

Farewell again, YODS!

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I left Ye Olde Department Store yesterday, for real. I am no longer a sales assistant. My supervisor took my swipe card, discount card and name badge, just in case I would sneak into YODS and start working for them again without their permission. My mum and sister keep saying that it's the end of an era. I had a lot of fun during my time at YODS, but I am glad that it is over. I have been really slack during my last week at YODS...turning up late, talking too much, general bludging.

I wasn't sad at all to leave. I felt a soaring sense of euphoria, and I was probably both overly cheerful and overly rude to customers on my last day. My friends kept saying to me, "Don't cry, don't cry...this is for the best." But I wasn't sad! So when they presented me with a gigantic bunch of flowers, I felt really embarrassed and guilty. I mean, I was all, "Screw YODS...all of this materialism and these customers suck so much!" Anyway, I felt so guilty and bad for NOT being sad to leave, that I really DID begin to feel sad that I wasn't more caring! Then everyone kept telling me not to cry again, and people I didn't like were hugging me, and I walked out feeling all emotional and weird. I was going to go straight to Geoff's place after work, but instead, I had to take a special trip home to dump off the flowers and the contents of my locker. Once I got home, I wished that I had just handed out the flowers to people around the city. That big bunch of fluoro blooms just makes me feel bad when I look at it. Leaving places is always a very mixed and bittersweet experience. I am usually very sentimental and sensitive, but yesterday, I just wanted to leave and not have to see certain people ever again.

Every time I have left a retail job, I always promise myself that I will never work in retail again. I feel like working at YODS really changed me, and mostly in a negative way. It's really unhealthy to be around so many rich, materialistic customers. I became a snob...I would scoff at anyone who carried an Oroton bag (because Oroton is SUCH a wannabe luxury label), and yet, I can't even afford an Oroton bag myself. I would want to buy new things all the time, too. I felt like people were constantly judging me on my looks, clothes and weight, and yet, I was also judging others at the same time.

There are lots of things I am looking forward to, now that I am free of Ye Olde Department Store. Most of the things I am looking forward to are basic, weird things. I am excited about not having to be perfectly groomed all the time. Now, I can go to the toilet whenever I like, and I can eat while I am working. I don't have to be nice and smiley to people who are rude to me, and I won't need to keep telling Asian tourists that I can't understand them unless they speak English. It still hasn't quite sunk in that I will never, ever have to go back to work at YODS again. I still have my little "work purse" set aside...a small cosmetics bag that I carried my locker key, lip gloss, swipe card, tissues etc in. On my last day, Inga kept telling me how there was a big sale starting on Saturday, and she didn't know who was going to work in our department now that I had left. I don't know what she expected me to do- there was no way that I was going to stay at YODS.

The main thing I am looking forward to is being able to get on with my life. I feel like I am about to grow up for real.