Stories from Macy's

Okay, so some of my coworkers and even more of my customers are interesting. Some are hysterically unique and I COULD tell stories about them. Instead I want to tell you the unexpected aspects. 

Toward the end of my 2nd week of work, I attended an onboarding class. Honestly, I probably could have taught the class after two weeks of floor duty, but I happily attended the 4-hour session. 

There were 12 of us in the class ranging from 20 to knocking at 70's door. Socioeconomically, we ran the gamut from one end to the other. Some of us had work careers longer than two of their ages combined, but we were all gratefully employed by Macy's.

One of the cohorts in our little group had Aspergers Syndrome.  This is one of the many types of Autism on the spectrum of Autism Disorder. Timothy (not his real name) had several tics including pulling on his fingers several times before he would pick up a pen. 

He was totally invested in doing everything the right way. That meant understanding the employee entrance thoroughly, so the entire class went up the amazing long and steep sets of stairs from the basement to the ground floor. We discussed where exactly to park. How much ahead of our shift we can arrive and still get in.

"For, for example, I was scheduled for 9 a.m. yesterday, but when I arrived at 7:30 a.m. the door was locked and I had to wait until 8 a.m. to be let in. How do I need to do to get in?"

"Well you were quite early, Timothy. The store opening staff arrives several hours before the store opens to get ready for our day. Once they unlock the door - usually before the store, you can get in."

"Well, well, I find that arriving early to one's appointments ensures that one isn't late. So, you are saying that if I arrive more than hour before the store opens I cannot get in because no one is here to let me in?"

These kinds of questions and attention to detail went on for the next three hours. When we arrived at the section that applied to floor personnel, Timothy tuned us out because he was in the recovery, restocking, resigning area of the store.  

Then, at the end of the class when the instructor called for questions, one of the other women in the class looked smilingly at Timothy, and said, 

"Timothy, do you have any questions? I know you do! We want to make sure you are ready for the holiday rush."

"Oh, oh no, thank you. I feel ready now. Thank you for thinking of me."

Timothy and the woman across the conference room table from him became friends, and walked out together talking about their new jobs. 

Sometimes people of faith think we have the lock on kindness, caring, and building community, but we are wrong. Our world is full of amazing, kind, caring people. I will introduce you to more throughout the holidays.