The enthusiasm of sales

In a shocking and unprecedented move, I forgot my phone charger in Larchmont on Friday, which I discovered when I was already on the train to New Haven. So, after having lunch with Natalie a Sally's Apizza (my first time -- delicious but no better than Pepe's, which has personal nostalgia value), and after walking Natalie back to campus, I stopped into a TMobile store off of the town green to get another one.

The people in the store -- a young fellow of African descent and a young woman of European -- were very nice. Because they had the cord part of what I needed for purchase but not the little box thing that plugs into the wall, the young woman went and found one they had sitting around and just gave it to me.

But then the guy asks me: "So are you a TMobile customer?" and I sheepishly admitted I was not, he lit up. He was 150% ready to pitch me on plans. I needed to make a train and didn't have time to talk to him (admittedly, I slightly exaggerated how soon my train was due), but I admired his spirit, because this guy was doing his job. And yes, I'm sure he would have gotten a nice commission had he been able to convert me, and it would only have been right. Honestly, this is the kind of kid you want to hire.

Which brings me to my main point, which I am pretty sure I have made before but I'll say it again: one of the great tragedies of the shift to e-commerce is the disappearance of retail jobs which encourage person-to-person contact and -- in the best cases -- offer some sort of variable compensation. Particularly for people with less privilege and wealth, retail and front of house food service jobs are ways to interact with other people, develop people skills and confidence, and progress in the world. Of course it isn't easy, there are no magic carpets, but they are important nonetheless, because they are great levelers, places where people from different social strata are brought together and made somewhat equal through the magic of that commercial copula, the retail transaction.

That kid really should go far, so long as he plays it straight, works hard, and is fortunate enough to have someone pay attention. I would have tipped them had their supervisor not come out.

When the credit card prompter asked if I would like to donate to the charity of TMobile's choice, which was something education-related, I was like "oh hell yes."