My Work Uniform
Take a careful look at this picture:
Which one of these men is an employee of Bunnings hardware stores?
If you picked the guy on the left then you’re wrong, but you’re certainly not alone.
Without a word of a lie, about once a week for the last few months I’ve been approached by people in various stores thinking that I’m an employee. It’s happened in Bunnings, Myer, and Officeworks. I’ll be walking along looking for something and somebody will walk up to me and say, “Excuse me, can you tell me where to find the door knobs?” or “Can you you help me with the computer mice?”
The tough part for me is that I used to work in Bunnings (while I was at uni) and I know my way around hardware stores, and obviously I know my computer stuff too, so more often than not I can actually help them with their problem. I’ve been tempted to, but I don’t want to encourage more people to ask me for help.
I’m not yet sure if I should be annoyed that people mistake me for an employee, or flattered that they find me approachable or think that I look knowledgeable.
Is there something I should change about my work attire? Should I practice my confused look for when I’m walking around stores?
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March 13th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Well, you can always take the psychopath approach and realise that all these people asking you for help are idiots, and the problem lies with them and not you.
Seriously though, at Bunnings, Officeworks and Myer they all wear name badges, it can’t be that hard
March 26th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
[...] As I got older I began to appreciate a lot of the things that he had done for me, in particular all the manual skills I’d learnt with him. We built a house together in Donnybrook while I was in high school, and I didn’t realise until 10 years later what a valuable experience that was. I’m very proud of what I can build with my hands, and I get a strong sense of identity from those abilities. I spent a lot of time with him in hardware stores as a kid, and as a result I find them comforting places, somewhere that I feel in control. [...]