#oneaday Day 14: The Longest Week of the Year

It's the last working week before Christmas. Which, in my experience, tends to be the most interminably long and tedious working week of the year.

It's a period of time where everyone is winding down ahead of the holiday season, most of the projects that desperately need to be done by the end of the year have probably already been done, and, frankly, there isn't all that much point in most of us being here.

Still, I guess on the positive side of things it means that, now that everything that needs to be done is pretty much done for the moment, it is a relatively stress-free period, which is nice. It's extremely nice in particular to not be working retail over the festive period, which I have done on a number of occasions in the past, both for GAME and for Apple.

Both of those proved to actually be rather interesting experiences. Sure, there were times when they were hellishly busy — starting around Black Friday (which we apparently do in the UK now despite not doing Thanksgiving), then dropping off a bit before the real holiday rush started in December — but they were the sort of "challenge" that was actually quite enjoyable in a perverse sort of way.

I liked my time at both Apple and GAME. Apple was over 10 years ago at this point (how time flies) and my memories of it are unfortunately slightly coloured by the workplace bullying I and several friends suffered towards the end of our time there, but as a working environment, it was actually quite pleasant for the most part. Apple emphasised interacting with customers like a normal human being, answering their questions and offering them advice that was appropriate to their needs, rather than that which would bring us the most revenue. And customers really appreciated that.

GAME, meanwhile, was a relatively "relaxed" affair. There were still corporate requirements to try and push strategy guides, loyalty card memberships and warranties, of course, but the atmosphere in the store where I worked was thoroughly pleasant. It was a good crowd of people — albeit a slightly different crowd of people on each holiday season I temped there — and, once again, customers appreciated having people on hand who knew what they were talking about.

The only part I disliked about retail was dealing with returns and trade-ins. While both Apple and GAME like to make out they have a pretty clear policy on such things, in practice it was often anything but. And saying "no" to people is unpleasant and difficult, particularly if they are dissatisfied with some aspect of the product they have bought or the service they received.

Trade-ins were only an issue at GAME, since Apple didn't do such things, but they were a pain because they required hardware testing, checks against the database of registered stolen goods and all manner of other gubbins. In particular, trading in mobile phones always felt particularly sleazy; you'd get people coming in the store with brand new iPhones, still wrapped in the box, wanting to get cash for them — and it was hard not to feel a bit suspicious about that sort of thing. Perhaps I'm just not mercenary enough, but I always take the groundbreaking approach that you get a new phone, you use it. I guess an "upgrade" from your provider and then keeping your old phone is one way to get some quick cash though.

Regardless of the fact I actually quite enjoyed my time in retail, I am very much glad that I'm not doing it any more. If only for the fact that I actually have the luxury of being able to book some holiday and have a blissful few days off between Christmas and the new year… I'm looking forward to that brief period of peace and relaxation, I can tell you now!