The building was packed with people. Everyone was in a frenzy in buying stuff, as if the things were free. This is the first time i was at the scene of any grand sales event, and i must say that the buying power of Singaporeans simply amazed me.
Yesterday morning, 贝 and i went for a short practice at the driving range. Then i headed to Singapore via the Causeway at around 11pm. There was a traffic jam at the Causeway and it took me an hour to reach my uncle's flat in Woodlands. I took a quick bath and left for the company at around 12.30pm.
I had checked out the road map to the company on the previous night and reached the destination within half an hour. As the management had told us not to park in our own premise, i parked my car at the competitor's parking lot. It took me quite a while to get a parking space as there were lots of people at the competitor too. I was rather worried that they would see me parking there as i was wearing my company T-shirt, so i walked really fast and sheepishly to our store when i got down from the car.
I signed up to help out as a packer at the cashier for the afternoon shift, which was from 2pm to 6pm, but we gotta be at the office at 1.30pm for a briefing before the shift. When i got to the office floor, the HR personnel just told me to report to the cashier counter and didn't brief me on anything at all. Since i haven't eaten yet and saw the free lunch provided by the company, i just took my share before starting the work. That turned out to be a correct decision because the work that followed required lots of energy.
Uh huh, the queue at the cashier counter was so long that we couldn't see the end of the line until we closed at 11pm. No kidding, i didn't leave after the end of second shift. I stayed through the third shift until the store closed because there were simply too many customers and not enough staff to cope with the crowd. I just didn't have the heart to leave when i saw everyone was so busy and help was needed.
It was sure an experience for me. I stood for 8 hours, packing things, tying up things, running around, smiling, mollifying unhappy customers (due to the long wait)... Seriously, i've never worked so hard (physically) before in my entire working life. I woke up with my body aching all over today, even until now. Ok, i know it's kinda useless of me to be feeling so tired for just working for a day on the retail floor, and i do realize how fortunate i am to be living in such comfort for so long.
I think now i can appreciate the work of the people on the retail floor even more and i totally respect their hard work. The cashier whom i was helping had worked all the three shifts without resting (not even eating). Towards the end of the day, she was feeling ill at her gastric but she still continued working with a smile on her face. After the store closed, she still gotta stay behind to clear up the things, whereas i just left as i was really bushed already.
As i was driving off, i wondered how many hours more before the retail staff could finally call it a day. They still gotta prepare the store for the next day, as the sales was still going on today. Even the Directors and Managers had to work two full days on the retail floor coordinating the event instead of just sat in the office. It just felt good seeing that everyone in the company was working towards the same goal, right from the top to the bottom. I was glad that i was part of this history.
I still have more to relate about the event, but i gotta rest now. Will continue tomorrow.
Labels: work
