Lessons I learned from selling used jockstraps

It was a hot, lazy summer afternoon when I received a phone call from my close friend Shayla – calling to ask if I wanted a job. Being sixteen and in need of money, I hurriedly got dressed and headed down to start my career as a saleswoman for Play It Again Sports. Shayla, however, had failed to mention that her boss did not know anything about hiring a new employee and he was a little shocked when he entered the store to an unknown girl selling sporting goods to customers. Luckily for me, he was an easy-going sort of guy and let me stay.

This is the story of my first job and my first experiences in retail. I learned quickly that you had to know everything about every sport (which I did not), so I also learned quickly how to sound like I did. One particular incident stands out in my mind, I was trying to close a sale on a particular pair of rollerblades. The brand was actually called “Rollerblade”, so I (not actually aware that this was incorrect) told the customer that they were the original makers of rollerblades. My co-workers found this hilarious; but, I did get the sale – so I guess it wasn’t so ridiculous.

The clientele who would come in to the store were not always the most savory characters and often added to the entertainment. When you work in a store that buys used jock straps, you have to be prepared to expect anything. It was a great place to hone my negotiating skills and these skills have done me well in other aspects of my life.

This was the best first job I could have had in my opinion. I was friends with everyone who worked there and we would very often play games to pass the time. We would put on all the hockey gear we could and wrestle, (hoping no customers would come in), or run around trying to hit each other with tennis balls. It was extremely entertaining and sometimes dangerous work. It also allowed me the opportunity to really improve my putting, which now comes in handy on the golf course. Of course we did do work and were quite good at what we did, but never forgot that we weren’t dealing with life or death.

I like to think back to how carefree those days of my life were, and going to work was never dull. I think it is really important to think of your colleagues as friends as well as co-workers, otherwise the experience is just not the same. The other hugely important lesson I learned from this whole experience is that it is often the people you know that will get you ahead. If I hadn’t been friends with Shayla, who knows what my first job would have been…dare I say maybe McDonald’s?