Enjoy the Little Things

Picture this: you have been working at a dead-end retail job for the past 3 years. But you were just thankful to have this job after your life fell into shambles. Even with a wife and a newborn, you had to reset your life after having the biggest financial troubles you have ever had to deal with. You spent the past few years working your tail off climbing up the store ladder so that your family’s life can get back on track. You are now the Shoes manager at the store, but since you had to work hard to get where you are now, you had to sacrifice less time with your family. Look at the picture: you are my manager Nick.

Then there is me; I have worked at the store for about 8 months at this point. I have not taken off days other than my days off since I started working, and with the Holidays slowly creeping up, I could feel my mind and body quivering. It was getting to the point where my mind was hectic, I felt tired at the most random times, and my body was aching from time to time. I needed a break or something to ease my mind to rejuvenate. Fortunately, at the end of October, my mom and Aunt Kim were getting tickets to a Colts game for my cousin Brayden for his birthday present. They invited me to come with them, and of course, I said yes! Unfortunately, they got the tickets a little too late for me to ask off that Sunday the game was played.

The only way was for me to switch a shift with one of my co-workers. The week leading up to the Sunday of the game, I went up my fellow co-workers if one of them would be willing switch with me. Bad news for me was that either they were already working Sunday, or they have Sundays off because of religious reasons.

Enter my manager. Nick is well-mannered with a kind heart, but also very stern. I never asked him anything like this before. I would be essentially leaving the store a man down during one of busiest times during the year. Honestly, I thought he would say no. I walked up to him at his computer, and I could already see it. His eyes were red and shadows underneath his eyes. It felt like he was just hypnotized to his computer. This was a man who needed to go home and rest. I took a deep breathe, walked up, and asked. He looked at me, took a deep breathe, and look down with a smirk. My ears rang when he said “Go ahead and have a great time. I got you covered.” I was in shock, but I did not want to ask questions, so I ran off before he changed his mind.

Sunday came and I went to the game, and my cousin and I had a great time at the game. My mind felt so much better, I was ready for the holiday bloodbath. I went into work the following Monday. I work with a specific group people day in and day out. They asked, “Where in the world were you yesterday?” I told them I had the day off to go to the Colts game. They chuckled, “Okay, but since we were super busy yesterday, upper management made Nick not only work your shift, but also his shift.” I was stunned; he has already put his soul and his life into this store, and he made this sacrifice for me. I know it does not seem much, people work these double shifts all the time, but it was big for me. Firstly, he sacrifices his time away from his wife and newborn baby. Honestly, when they said he worked a double shift, it made me tear up just thinking about how shellfish I was putting him in that position. However, going to the game was important for me because I pretty much worked nonstop myself since I started working, and I was one hectic holiday retail day away from crying uncontrollably. It gave me the juice to power through Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Christmas. I will always be grateful of that sacrifice Nick made gave me.

When I saw Nick the very next day, I thanked him for not only the sacrifice, but if he needed anything from me, let me know. He said “No sweat, my man. Sometimes you need time to enjoy your life occasionally. That is what has kept me going, and hopefully you as well.” You know what, he is right. Ever since, every now and then I take a break from work, to let my mind settle and enjoy all those little things that keep me going.