Monday, April 27, 2009

What am I doing

Self doubt is a very normal human response even when all is well. It takes little to put us all into thumb sucking stupors of dread and doubt. In retail, especially a specialized market that depends on people getting off their couches, on an airplane and out on to the street near my store, one bad day can have me wondering why I quit my union job to throw my future to the whims of the buying public. There are days when I truly believe I will never make another dollar as I watch a parade of customers walk right by my door with the competitors bags swinging in the breeze. It is a fragile business that requires constant attention. I must know what I am doing, 13 years in this location and there is always food on the table ( much better food in the high season ) but I still never believe the tourists will come back. In April we begin to see some life on the street but it only takes one bad day, like today, before I am nose first in the classifieds looking for the gravy train of civil service employment. But just in the nick of time some hapless goof from Ohio, struck on this beautiful place, lays down his visa on a pricey original painting and I am a god again. Just in case, please don't hire me if I do get foolish enough to think I could survive in a cubicle. I'll take fragile autonomy for wage slavery any day.

3 comments:

  1. I have a small gift store in the Midwest. I definitely know what you mean. Unfortunately - I live and die by that cash register. I am trying to do better, but some days I just think "what in the world am I doing".

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  2. I know exactly how you feel and so many small things are disheartening, not just a bad business day. We had some small theft today and some hassles with people who share the building; still, an independent life outside the box is worth the risk of failure. Keep up the fight. Cheers

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  3. Birdman
    Self doubt should not be in your vocabulary>Your creativity is evident in what you make yourself to sell and what you order in to sell.Tourist season is upon us.Keep your spirits up and keep writing.
    Surreybird

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