The Retail Diaries
By Patricia Racine
July 2025
I always said that once I was done working at Katie’s I would write a book about my years there because, to be honest, I have some pretty entertaining stories to share. When you are running a small town store you are essentially the information center of the town, and if you don’t know something you know exactly whom to call to find out. And while it was fun for awhile when I ended my tenure, I brought myself back to my core social group. I left the majority of internet groups that I was in solely to promote the business. This was drastic and feral of me I know, but honestly, it was needed as I was burned out from all the local nonsense. Now that the one-year anniversary of freedom is upon me, I can start to write about small town retail life without the negative feelings I had last year.
First off, working in retail is not for everyone, but everyone should do it for at least a year of their life; it will make you a better customer, and person. I know that people think that retail jobs are low-level careers, but they are so very wrong; every person in the world goes shopping for something and without us there would be nowhere for them to get their goods. For ten thousand years there have been retail businesses providing everything from basic needs to luxury items for people, so it is a noble profession. There is also a misconception that it is an easy job. Yes, oh so easy being bright, chipper and polite all day to everyone while accepting and stocking orders, answering phones, fielding inane questions and requests, dealing with employees and keeping the register perfect. I always offered to trade jobs for a day with anyone so they could see what I went through. But for some reason no one ever took me up on it.
The part that really got to me was being “on” all day long. It is exhausting and eventually takes a toll on you. After being at work on long summer days I would go home and just sit in my house with no TV on, just sitting in the quietness of my safe space decompressing from the non-stop day. It was expected of me to be super friendly and interested in everyone at all times, whether I was sick, in pain, tired or just having an off day. At the end I was feeling all these things regularly and it was getting harder to fake it. Sorry about that, but like I said, walk a mile in my shoes. Now when I see people they always remark on how relaxed and happy I look. Yes, I am happy with absolutely no regrets.
And even though I am still in the retail field it is SO different. My new customers are not looking for anything from me except to educate them about cheese and farming in general. I can talk about that all day because it turns out I love both. I actually really enjoy working in retail; it is what I know, what I’m good at and in my current position, satisfies my need to learn new things every day. Guess all I needed was a change of scenery to enjoy retail again. I currently spend five days a week looking at some of the most beautiful scenery in Berkshire County.
