Family Shopping

Besides being the humble writer of this column and dabbling in other forms of freelance writing, I also have worked a large portion of my life in retail.

Like any other job, retail has its ups and downs and its gives and takes. Working both in retail management and in the thankless trenches that lay behind counters and registers across the world, retail can either be a real drag or a dream job depending on where you are at and who you work with or under.

By far my favorite experiences in the field came when I worked for two different small families in too different convenience stores. One that I work part time for currently, and one that I worked at for many years ago in my twenties.

Recently, the sad news that one of the former owners of the first family owned and operated stores I worked for, Karen Whitehead, had passed. Losing someone who played a role in your life always makes you reflect, and for me it made me reflect on just how lucky I was to work alongside two very different families that had one thing in common.

They had a heart and a soul, even in the soulless world of business.

In both stores I can recall many times that someone might be short for their milk or their bread or forgot a wallet going out the door to work and could not pay for their morning coffee or pack of cigarettes. The regular customers were always told that it was all right, they could take the items and pay us back when they could.

Try that at a chain grocery or convenience store and see how that goes, even if you are a big part of their customer base.

Another thing that is better about a family owned business or shop is that as your are working for an individual owner, any rule is bendable if need be.

For example: I might yet again be heading West, young man, but I will be going past Texas and into the desert. Because of circumstances beyond my control, this move has recently moved forward on the calender and I may have to leave in a hurry if I want to have things as I want them.

With a corporation, there would be strict time tables of notice and a procedure. The son of the store owner at the family owned establishment I work for today said it will be no problem, as his father would tell me to follow my heart and my soul and not worry about me not covering my last six days of work for my two week notice.

Shamefully, more and more small stores and family owned businesses are either forced to close or are bought up by the hungry corporations who will come in and make the former friendly places cold, sterile and totally devoid of anything that made working for a family great.

This edition of Fish Out of Water is dedicated to Karen Whitehead, a former boss and good friend. My thoughts and prayers also go out to her husband Phil and all of their children, especially Adrianna, Brittany and Karianne, who used to work with me, and in the process we have shared some wonderful times I will always treasure.

Rest in Peace Karen, we all miss you and the world went a little dimmer when you passed.