There are days when I do not get so bitter about working at a department store. Granted, these days are rare. And numbered, since I will be embarking on a more idealist-friendly quest to teach art history at a local university branch and wiggle my way back into the non-profit sector. These are the kinds of things that I find more substantial and beneficial to society than soliciting credit card applications.
Don't get me wrong. A lot of great people work in department stores. The kind of people who make anything and everything a fun experience, make you feel welcome, and have a knack for socializing (that's key to customer service, and the reason I sometimes get frustrated with it). I wanted to rant about somebody who is not one of these fun people, then Sunday happened, and I once again saw the bright side. Even when comparing notes on dealing with less-than-cooperative customers, the fun people really lighten the retail burden. Even when I have not suckered any poor souls into an application, they treat me as one of them and even tell a customer "We're lucky to have her." Now, of course I know that no manager would share their real opinions about an employee to a customer, but I enjoyed the moment (so don't take that from me!)
Now I am trying to squeeze in thinking time for lecture-planning between working hours...I had the hardest time turning my brain off Tuesday night in preparation for a super-early morning. Then, of course, once the monotonous under-employment commenced, I felt acutely less energized and enthusiastic about the future. But I have a few good ideas for alternative learning modes. One is sending the students to local churches to compare what they find with the Italian Baroque. (I have yet to visit some of these churches myself to even determine if there is anything for them to analyze.) And I want to assign some sort of internet activity to engage them long-distance in some of the heavy-hitters of the museum world: the Prado, Musee d'Orsay, even the Vatican.
Before I set anything in stone, though, I need to figure out how to cram four centuries into nine lectures. Yes, Veterans Day will be cheating me out of my ten-week quarter. Compared to nasty shoppers, though, this is a good problem.
I'm trying to take the advice of a museum blog on this site, as well as fulfill that idealist nagging inside of me, to branch out beyond the sorts of jobs you find on an employment website. I'm trying to live spherically, as the phrase from Under the Tuscan Sun goes. I have grand plans to infiltrate a local gallery, perhaps, and volunteer. I'd also love to blog about my non-profit work coming up, but I'm unsure whether that is ethical, considering I also use this thing to rant politically, sometimes. We'll see about that soon. We'll see if I can be the sort of inspiring and "different" teacher that I have in my mind's eye. Wish me luck.
