Yay. Our daughter got a summer job!
When she was home for spring break, her mother suggested to her that she ought to apply for jobs for the summer. This mildly bugged the Daughter because she was already thinking about doing this.
Apparently, a lot of this process is now done online. She may have started the process slightly early, but it’s better than the opposite, when her search last year was too late to secure employment at all.
She was able to get a job at a clothing store in a local mall where she has shopped in the past. This was, as you might imagine, both a benefit and a curse. It was beneficial because she was familiar with the merchandise. The problem is that she had to restrain herself from buying a whole wardrobe with her employee discount.
I understand this tendency. When I worked at FantaCo in the 1980s, I was more likely to pick up more comic book issues and books than I would have if I were buying at retail.
Our daughter likes her job. She gives us the blow-by-blow of her day, both the occasionally annoying customer and her success in selling the product. Because she is the only non-manager employee who is over 18, she was able to pick up additional hours that the high schoolers working there could not.
New attitude
The job has totally changed her perspective. Before, when she and I, or she and her mother, would go into a store and needed to ask a question, she always wanted her parent to ask. Now, at work, she enjoys being the one answering questions, in part because she appreciates the break from refolding clothes that customers tried on but did not purchase.
More interestingly, she’s been nagging her bestie, K to get a job over the summer. I told my daughter I would hire K to work on some projects, but that idea was rejected. “She needs to work with people she doesn’t know!”
She likes ringing in sales, something she had never done before, and learning what to look for regarding potential shoplifters.
Style
My daughter has always had a strong sense of style. I discovered this even more on Father’s Day. The three of us and my MIL were going to Catskill to meet my BIL, his wife and one of their daughters. My daughter overslept and didn’t have to put on makeup.
My daughter and I sat in the back seat while she explained her cosmetic choices. The colors on her face match her daily wardrobe in very subtle ways. She explained the use of concealer and the other items in her packet. It was far more interesting to me than I would have imagined.
Last year, my daughter had a summer job through the city of Albany’s Summer Youth Employment Program. It was her first actual job. She had taxes and Social Security taken out of her paycheck.