A Short Story On the Importance of Money, Jobs, And Labor

A great man once told me to always lead with the good news, in other words, put your best foot forward. When I was 17 as a Senior in High School I applied to many part-time jobs and after a few calls and one amazing interview I was given a job as a cashier at the major retailer Kohl’s. Little did I know when I was sitting in my first training session, that this would be my home for a little more than a year. While I was in my training session they asked me a question that would later change my perception on many ways of my life. “We here at Kohl’s sell credit cards, Is that something you would be okay doing at all or not at all?”. Now, I know what you’re thinking, That’s a pretty basic question you could be asked at any job. You’re Right! However no one would expect that a once timid and quiet young man like myself would turn into the most extroverted credit salesman you could imagine. See, at my store we had 2 “goals” as you could call them, a Credit Goal and a Sales Goal. Each day we were expected to hit both of these targets and my job as a cashier was to sell the credit card in a basic way and also move with speed and precision to make sure i got the most customers through the line while keeping satisfaction at an all time high. Kohl’s gave me a stage, or an outlet as you might call it to spread my wings and fly. I broke free of the introverted timid shell and began enjoying talking to customers, creating solutions, and going far outside the box on selling these credit cards. I created amazing relationships with many of my managers and learned a very important lesson that i now apply to daily life, I think of each one of my dollars as employees in a business. Since at the time i was just starting to dip my toes into the ever changing stock market I was changing my entire viewpoint of the value of money. “I have 100$ in my bank account. Could I afford a 6 dollar coffee every morning?” turned into “I have 100 Employees, i can invest in their futures or I can spend hundreds on coffee i could easily make at home for a 5 dollar discount.” It sounds confusing, and its very hard to put into words, but i hope that example helped you to understand my thoughts. As a final word to you, amazing reader, I invite you to take a new look at the way you look at the payment you use in day to day life, Don’t look at it as a simple tool you earn for labor and spend on pleasure. But rather an exciting apparatus that you can use to invest in your own future and that of those all around you.