Filthy Rich

I now understand what that means. Filthy Rich. Let me enlighten you with a story:

When we first opened our Nike store up in Scottsdale, I felt kind of bad because our managers told us that our main job is to talk customers up to buying more, More, MORE! In my mind, it sort of felt dishonest for some reason. But that quickly changed. Today, a young girl came in with her fit-your-closet-in-it Prada bag. She looked READY to shop. She said she was looking for a jacket because it was raining outside and she was getting her hair done in 2 hours. So, I show her the most pricey jackets we have. One was $160, one was $360, and the last one was $420. Guess which one she chose? $420 in 3 minutes. But just wait. I say to her, "Oh, I love that jacket. And the best thing is, we have so many shirts that would go great with it!" As I'm catching all the shirts she picks up to try on, I say, "This shirt has leggings that are meant to go with it. Would you like to try those on as well?" Get the picture? I don't think she said no to me once. I got clear down to 2 pairs of running shoes. And everything in between. I take her mountain of stuff to the cashier, and he rings her up. Her total? Almost $800. !!!! And do you know what she says!? And I quote:

"Wow, thats it? Maybe I should get more stuff.... I already spent double that over at TJMax..."

Oh, my gosh! Isn't that just... disgusting??? So there you go.

Disgusting, filthy rich.

Lucky. haha

Nike

My first couple of days on the job! I'm having SO much fun! All of the people I work with are so fun and happy and talkative and goofy. It makes long hours of redundant tasks go by a lot faster.

Day 1: I got to be part of the "Stocking Team". Meaning, I saw a bazillion pairs of orange Nike Boxes with very expensive shoes in them. I was the person on the ladder teetering on my toes to get the last box on the very top of the piles.

Day 2: We broke out all the T-shirts. Two bazillion of those. Times 2 story building. Lots of hanging and sizing and re-hanging because there are certain hangers, styles, colors, blah blah blah. Pcheeewww! (fingers shaped like gun against my temple)

Day 3 (today): I have to say today was the funnest so far. Me and my friend Brett got to be the "Visual Floor Assistants". Which means, we got to do all the display shoes. :) We went to the back, got every size 9 left shoe of every style, put display stickers on the boxes, re-laced them, put the shoe shaper things in them, and we got to arrange them on the walls to make them look legit. Just so you know, 15 golf shoes falling off the wall on top of you does not feel good. The Tiger Woods shoes came after me like I was his mistress or something...

P.S. One of my cool Visual Coaches told us that for our staff dress, we get to go around the day before opening and choose which clothes. Because staff dress has to be something they are selling in the store. :) Also, the shoes I have to choose from (not those colors):

Women's Air Max 2010

Nike Shox NZ

I have a legit job. And I'm happy with everything right now. :)

Superheroes

Today, I got to hang out with Co-Aqua-boy,

Iron Man,

and Spiderman who doesn't really look like Spiderman. But it doesn't matter, because that face is just adorable. :)

Switzerland day

Yesterday, Wednesday September 8th, 2010, a day which will live in my mind as the worst day ever. It started out good though!

I was excited and nervous to go to my first Nike training day! I was excited that I get to work with one of my friends! I was excited that I actually had a schedule! However...

My car randomly died on my way to meet my friend Ali so we could carpool. Just driving along and it suddenly just shut off. I coasted onto some random street by McDowell and 44th. And there it sat until after our training. Luckily, that stupid car decided to die only a couple streets away from her house so it wasn't a big deal for her to come pick me up. Anyways...

We get to the training and it is actually at the Mariott on Scottsdale Rd. and the 101. We did all the paperwork, got introduced to our Managers, who are awesome people, and some of the people we get to work with. Funny thing, we are sales associates, but our job title is Nike Athlete. :) I'm pretty sure I'm going to see all kinds of Phoenix Suns and Cardinals while I'm working. :D But!... we can't ask for anyone's autograph or picture or we could get fired. :S We also got to order our uniforms, which consist of: brand new shoes (that are HOT pink and white ....), yoga pants and 2 pairs of running shorts, 2 black shirts, and a jacket. ALL FREE!!! I'm pretty sure they are spending about $400 on each employee... It's so LEGIT!!! I'm so excited! Back to reality...

At 4, when we were done with training, Ali took me back to my car. We were silly girls trying to jump start my car. We thought we were doing something wrong because my flipping car wouldn't start, but that's just my car. So my Dad says to take the battery to the Checker Auto close by and see if it's charged. My battery was brand new, but I was hoping my Pops was right. So we have to call Larry to come help because he has tools and Checker won't loan them out... Fast Foreward to 8:00 pm and Jeanie and Larry are still with me towing my car to the mechanic's house so he can replace the fuel pump and filter. Which he says will take about 3 hours. I say we will come back tomorrow (today) around 5:15. So...

To thank my friends, I tell Larry to take us to a really good REAL Mexican food place. He was practically a Mexican for his job this summer, so he knows real Mexican food... The place we went had DELICIOUS watermelon drinks, strawberry drinks, and mango drinks. The food was really good as well. Torta's and quesadillas and chicharones... it was heaven for my Mexican food loving taste buds!

So, lets tally. Positive has 3, negative has 3 ( I consider not being able to get autographs or pictures a BIG negative). So it all cancels each other out... which leaves me to wonder, what kind of day did I have? Neutral day? Cancelled-out day? I like Switzerland day. Only the name. I hope I don't have one ever again.

Once upon a time, I had these friends named Larry and Chad. They were kind of upset one day because they came home to discover goldfish in their sinks and the contents of their closets switched to opposite rooms. Enlisting the help of me and some of our other friends, they plotted and schemed to carry out what we like to call, Operation: Fish Food.

The Break-in

The Switch

The Hack (Changing passwords)

The Dye in the Kitchen sink and Shower heads

The Jello :)

And Ultimately....

We ate their Otter Pops.

I believe that a couple of days later, the victims called and asked for a truce. Apparently, they didn't think they would ever be able to top that. And they knew that if they did, the return would be 10 times worse. Just like this time.

Skimboarding

These pictures are kind of old. They were taken in like, April, but we do this stuff all the time. My friend Matt (green shorts) is all about "doing" something fun. No "hanging out". So what does he do? He makes a skim boarding lane. Out of PVC pipe and a tarp. Just fill it up with water, and there you go! We started that afternoon in his front yard....

But then we migrated to the Tri Stake Center around the corner where they were irrigating the grass.

Below is Dallin if you can't tell. His hair is different. :)

And there is Matt. The brains and pro.

It was a fun day.

Nike

This past month has been not fun. Looking for jobs is not fun. Waiting to hear about hiring place is not fun. However! I have a friend who told me a week ago about a new Nike store that opened in North Scottsdale, and that they were hiring all kinds of people on account of, its brand new, 2 story Nike-land. I applied online and got a call a couple days later. We had to be at the Mariott hotel on Scottsdale road and the 101. Waaaay up there... So, I ask my good friend Larry to drive me in his very nice truck that has very nice Air Conditioning, because apparently, people have that in their cars. I promised him Yogurtland after. He said ok in 2 seconds. :) So, I get to the hotel, and there are two guys waiting there already. I'm thinking, "Shoot. I'm going to be here for a while. Sorry Larry". But no. One guy comes out and says "All of you can follow me". We ALL go into a conference room with the long tables and comfy seats and we sit on one side across from the 3 interviewers. They ask us all questions and we answer them in order. It was a first time experience I have to say. I just remember that one of the interviewers was a black man named Dulyle (Doo-lyle) like Kyle but with an L. Anyway. I felt good about the interview. It went smooth and I threw a couple of jokes in as well. I guess I am good at talking when I'm under pressure...? Haha! Two days later (today), I get a call that says "Hi, we would like to hire you to come work at the Nike store!" And I said, "OK!" and hung up. Just kidding! It was longer than that but it all comes down to I got hired to work at Nike! :) Also, if you have never been to Yogurtland, I strongly recommend it. It is a very yummy place... haha

Swoosh!