Dehumanized

Law school in South Dakota is miserable. However, I used to be even more miserable when I lived in Sioux City, IA and commuted into the great state of South Dakota. After my first year ended, my lackluster performance and procrastination had really paid off. I was unemployed, living with a boy who spent more on Crown Royal than I spent on rent, having meaningful conversations with our cat, Tiger, and trying my best not to climb a bell tower and start picking people off.

Despite the fact that I was wearing my misery on my sleeve, my parents decided that they couldn't handle my period of unemployment so they chopped down the money tree and left me hanging with no choice but to find a job.

The job market in Sioux City, IA was beyond depressing. Jobs for law students: 0, jobs involving presses, cutting meat, and trash: 1250. Just as I was about to give up I got hired at Target. Taking this job would prove to be one of the worst decisions I have ever made (and, I'm notorious for eating donuts out of trash cans when I visit my old college). Think about that one for a minute.

So, at Target I played the role of friendly cashier. Not the best gig for me. They made me wear a name tag that said "Jamie" on it. I explained that my name was Jennifer and they looked at me like I was insane. The lady even gave me a bucket of name tags and told me that if "Jamie" wasn't to my liking I could pick something else. Um, what? I assume they have a little name tag machine or maybe a Hello My Name Is sticker? Corporations. Ugh.

During training I was alerted to the fact that 'people try to steal things by placing them under their carts'. So, Target uses the BOB system. A sad person with some dumb title like "team leader" (because we're a team, dammit!) stands in front of the check stand and watches for these stealthy thieves who stick stuff under their carts. As soon as it becomes apparent that the person isn't going to offer the merchandise up to Jamie Target, world's best cashier, Team Leader says to Jamie, "Have you seen BOB today?" Stupid untrustworthy customer thinks you're looking for the janitor or maybe that hottie who works in electronics. NOPE. We're talking about you, thief.

I lasted 4 days. Four 8 hour shifts at $6.25 per hour minus taxes leaves you just enough money to pick up a 30 rack of Busch Light on your way home. In the end I ended up moving back in with my parents. They made me fairly miserable, but at least they acknowledge me by my given name.