Working Experience Part 2: Sales Assistant
We (Amirul and I) really had the best of time last year as we traveled to Turkey and performed umrah in January. Later in April Amirul flew to Wellington for a week to spend time with me. Whereas in June, we discovered the beauty of Koh Phi Phi together for six days. Alhamdulillah, praise be to ALLAH, we were blessed for all those opportunities you've bestowed us (in shaa ALLAH I will write all those stories later). So this year, here I am now, striving and pushing myself to find good stuff to do since I have all the time in the world! Writing on this new blog of mine is one of it.
Alright, let's get straight to the topic.
In the previous post, I wrote about the experience of being a cookie maker. Though I had to go through all the back aches, I totally enjoyed the job and knew how good I was in everything I did while working with Mak Cik Zida.
Right after SPM, I joined a social service work organized by Global Peace Mission Malaysia (GPM) in Indonesia. It was such a spectacular experience, which I will write about it in the future post. Three weeks spent in a few regions in Indonesia, and as soon as I got back to Malaysia, I searched for jobs that I could do before I registered to any tertiary educational institution.
I would like to thank Mak for driving me here and there until I got a job. I looked for vacancies at private clinics, convenience store, bookshop, fast-food restaurants, pharmacies, supermarkets, you name it!
There was one incident that I won't forget for ever. I had to go through an interview at a private clinic right after I filled in the vacancy form. It was a walk-in interview. The interviewer was the owner of the clinic. The fact that I am very unfamiliar with the dos and don'ts during a job interview made me deserved being scold by the doctor. Well what actually happened? Okay so the doctor asked, "Bla...bla bla bla...?" And you know what? Most of the times I answered him, "Uh huh, yep, uh huh"... Which was sooo unmannerly and immature! Pardon and forgive me doctor, I was only turning 18 that year. He didn't really scold me actually, it was just the way he 'educate' me was a bit harsh. Nonetheless, I knew that if it wasn't for him, I might still do the same thing again. Hence, thank you mister doctor for giving me that important, impactful and meaningful 'coaching'.
Now to cut it short, I finally got a job at a convenience store, 7 Eleven Ampang Point after I have gone through an interview session with the branch manager (which was not formal at all, yay!!).
Also, in the first week of working, you will feel extremely tired because all the sales assistant) had to practice standing for eight hours. So my leg got shocked and stressed after the first week ended. Entering the second week, my legs got used to it and it was not as tiring as before. I was later taught by friends on how to relax my legs; which is to arrange and tidy up stuff on the lower racks which you need to sit on the floor to do it. So I did that as a strategy to get some rest from standing too long. Hehehe.
Ampang Point area is somewhat 'international'. You could meet Koreans, Arabs, the Mat Salehs, the Filipinos, Africans, and the list continues. Why is this so? Well, this branch is located not too far from the International School Kuala Lumpur and Mutiara International Grammar School, located in Jalan Kolam Ayer Lama, Ampang. On top of that, the house of foreign ambassadors are located at Jalan Ampang Hilir which is also not too far from the 7 Eleven where I work at.
Now, the good thing about being in this 'international' circle was that I got to practice my English. I greeted them, asked questions like; where they work at, where are they originally from, how long have they lived in Malaysia, how old are they, bla bla bla. I also offered help, and answered questions from them too! My English was not that good anyway, but I just spoke the language and ignored my grammar mistakes and whatsoever. If I kept silent and avoided them, then I missed the chance to practice the language and would never know the level of my proficiency in English. I love language, I do. Especially when I realized that English and Bahasa Melayu were the subjects that I always got the highest score in class during my final two years of high school. But that was all almost on paper only, there were not many opportunities to investigate my ability in terms of speaking in English. Hence, being in the 'international' circle was the best time to test my ability in speaking in English. Trust me, it was fun!
I still remember a Mat Saleh girl (a regular) entered the store, and I greeted her, "Welcome!". She went in and looked for something to buy....Then suddenly I heard, "Opocot mak kau," came out of her mouth. I was shocked! I laughed, and she laughed too! Hahahahaha. Then I knew that she is very fluent in Bahasa. So whenever she came, I would have a small chat with her, and use both languages. When she cut her hair, I said, "Nice hair", and she replied, "Terima kasih". Haha. The situation was quite weird because I spoke in her mother tongue, while she spoke in my native language. Whatever it was, I loved the experience. It was priceless.
Another situation with Mat Saleh was with two guys. As usual I would greet them by happily and loudly said, "Welcome". For your information, many customers were surprised to be greeted like that at a convenience store. They said, "Ai, kat 7 Eleven pun ada welcome?" and looked at me. I gave them the biggest smile :D. One time, there was a Malay uncle who requested me to greet with "Assalamualaikum" to the Muslims. Certainly uncle! So I used "Welcome" and "Assalamualaikum" interchangeably throughout the two months and a half I worked there. Okay back to the Mat Saleh guys. They went straight to the fridge and took out two bottles (glass) of V-Soy, and asked me, "Kak, yang ni ada opener tak?" I was stunned, and replied, "Oh...ada ada". Later when they paid and got out, I said to myself, "Cis, tau cakap BM rupanya!" Hahaha.
With the Filipinos, I would say "Mabuhay" which means 'welcome', and "Salamat" which means 'thank you'. How would I know that they were Filipinos? Well I could tell from listening to their conversation. Thanks to all the Filipino series that I watched at home such as Pangako Sayo, Sanay Wala ng Wakas, and so on.
There was a Korean uncle who was a regular. He worked at KPJ Ampang Puteri (opposite to the store), as a translator. He would help Korean patients who needed someone to be the mediator between themselves and the hospital authorities. In my opinion, he was not that fluent at all. Most of the times when we interacted, I could not understand him specifically in terms of pronunciation. Sometimes we had to use sign and body languages to understand each other. Nonetheless, fluency was not important here. It was the experience that counts. That uncle was very generous. He always asked me to take anything I wanted from the fridge and would pay for it. Hehehe. Alhamdulillah.
Enough about experience in terms of language. Concerning regularity, there were many customers that I already know what they wanted. Especially the ones who came to buy cigarette. Upon seeing the customer entering the store, I quickly grabbed his 'usual', and put it in front of him on the counter before he opens his mouth. Then he would smile and said, "Aik, dah tau dah?" I would just smile back at him. :)
Other experience include working for 16 hours (two shifts) at the store. How did this happen? Okay, that day my shift started from 3pm to 11pm. When it was almost time for me to clock-off, only Hasyimah was there to continue the shift. The other guy (forgot his name) did not come until it was 11.15pm. My brother and sister were waiting for me in the car, and had to come and get me in the store. At the same time there were many customers and Hasyimah could not handle everything alone. She asked me to stay and helped her. My brother could not wait for me anymore. I understood and agreed that they went back first and so I told them that I would call later.
The guy didn't show up. I continued working with Hasyimah until 7am. If I'm not mistaken, my next shift should started at 7am. Now do you think I should stay? Nahhhh..... I clock-off at 7am, and confidently made my way home. I sent a message to the manager. He understood and later text me my next shift. The next shift was at 11pm. Alhamdulillah, the manager gave me plenty of time to rest. Phewww....
Working night shift has given me the opportunity to explore and experience the other things that I never encounter before. For example, dealing with the drunkards. Myself and other sales assistants had to deal with the ugly smell came from them, and worst, we had to remove the alcohol drink's cap for them. I once almost cried and totally unwilling to do it to the extent other customer helped me to do it. As time passed by, when I no longer the most junior working there, I would escape from this kind of customer and hid in the staff room. I mean, when the drunkards came, I quickly pressed a button so other staff in the staff room would come out and help me out. Usually I will call the guys to handle the drunkards. Sorry guys.
Remember I said about Ampang Point area being 'international'? Well, there are lots of celebrities around too! I met a number of celebrities of the local entertainment industry while working as a sales assistant at the store. For instance, Fahrin Ahmad, Beego, Baizura Kahar, Fouziah Gous, Sarah Raisuddin, Zarina AF, Andy Flop Poppy, Linda Onn (one of her My Mum's Chicken Rice restaurants is just nearby), and others that I might already forgotten. In 2007, 'selfie' was not yet even existed. If it already was back then, then I might have had a 'selfie' with them. :D :D
Right, in shaa ALLAH this post is coming to an end. To conclude, whoever you are out there, especially the school leavers who have no idea what to do before enrolling into the university, I highly recommend you to apply a part-time job at somewhere like 7 Eleven. Take into account the location of the workplace (the more international, the better), does not sell alcohol, 24/7 operation hour, access to prayer room (I performed solah at KPJ Ampang Puteri's prayer room). Also take into account the cost for you to get to the workplace so you don't have to spend too much money and time to commute. In my case, I chose to walk although it took me about 30 minutes to get to workplace from house. I call it 'exercise'. Hehehe. Of course, if my shift ended at 11pm, I would call someone to fetch me. Duh, who would want to walk alone at night for 30 minutes? I don't.
Hopefully this post is somewhat beneficial to you, dear readers. In shaa ALLAH more parts are coming up for this topic. Stay tuned.
Love,
Nusaybah.
Now, the good thing about being in this 'international' circle was that I got to practice my English. I greeted them, asked questions like; where they work at, where are they originally from, how long have they lived in Malaysia, how old are they, bla bla bla. I also offered help, and answered questions from them too! My English was not that good anyway, but I just spoke the language and ignored my grammar mistakes and whatsoever. If I kept silent and avoided them, then I missed the chance to practice the language and would never know the level of my proficiency in English. I love language, I do. Especially when I realized that English and Bahasa Melayu were the subjects that I always got the highest score in class during my final two years of high school. But that was all almost on paper only, there were not many opportunities to investigate my ability in terms of speaking in English. Hence, being in the 'international' circle was the best time to test my ability in speaking in English. Trust me, it was fun!
I still remember a Mat Saleh girl (a regular) entered the store, and I greeted her, "Welcome!". She went in and looked for something to buy....Then suddenly I heard, "Opocot mak kau," came out of her mouth. I was shocked! I laughed, and she laughed too! Hahahahaha. Then I knew that she is very fluent in Bahasa. So whenever she came, I would have a small chat with her, and use both languages. When she cut her hair, I said, "Nice hair", and she replied, "Terima kasih". Haha. The situation was quite weird because I spoke in her mother tongue, while she spoke in my native language. Whatever it was, I loved the experience. It was priceless.
Another situation with Mat Saleh was with two guys. As usual I would greet them by happily and loudly said, "Welcome". For your information, many customers were surprised to be greeted like that at a convenience store. They said, "Ai, kat 7 Eleven pun ada welcome?" and looked at me. I gave them the biggest smile :D. One time, there was a Malay uncle who requested me to greet with "Assalamualaikum" to the Muslims. Certainly uncle! So I used "Welcome" and "Assalamualaikum" interchangeably throughout the two months and a half I worked there. Okay back to the Mat Saleh guys. They went straight to the fridge and took out two bottles (glass) of V-Soy, and asked me, "Kak, yang ni ada opener tak?" I was stunned, and replied, "Oh...ada ada". Later when they paid and got out, I said to myself, "Cis, tau cakap BM rupanya!" Hahaha.
With the Filipinos, I would say "Mabuhay" which means 'welcome', and "Salamat" which means 'thank you'. How would I know that they were Filipinos? Well I could tell from listening to their conversation. Thanks to all the Filipino series that I watched at home such as Pangako Sayo, Sanay Wala ng Wakas, and so on.
There was a Korean uncle who was a regular. He worked at KPJ Ampang Puteri (opposite to the store), as a translator. He would help Korean patients who needed someone to be the mediator between themselves and the hospital authorities. In my opinion, he was not that fluent at all. Most of the times when we interacted, I could not understand him specifically in terms of pronunciation. Sometimes we had to use sign and body languages to understand each other. Nonetheless, fluency was not important here. It was the experience that counts. That uncle was very generous. He always asked me to take anything I wanted from the fridge and would pay for it. Hehehe. Alhamdulillah.
Enough about experience in terms of language. Concerning regularity, there were many customers that I already know what they wanted. Especially the ones who came to buy cigarette. Upon seeing the customer entering the store, I quickly grabbed his 'usual', and put it in front of him on the counter before he opens his mouth. Then he would smile and said, "Aik, dah tau dah?" I would just smile back at him. :)
Other experience include working for 16 hours (two shifts) at the store. How did this happen? Okay, that day my shift started from 3pm to 11pm. When it was almost time for me to clock-off, only Hasyimah was there to continue the shift. The other guy (forgot his name) did not come until it was 11.15pm. My brother and sister were waiting for me in the car, and had to come and get me in the store. At the same time there were many customers and Hasyimah could not handle everything alone. She asked me to stay and helped her. My brother could not wait for me anymore. I understood and agreed that they went back first and so I told them that I would call later.
The guy didn't show up. I continued working with Hasyimah until 7am. If I'm not mistaken, my next shift should started at 7am. Now do you think I should stay? Nahhhh..... I clock-off at 7am, and confidently made my way home. I sent a message to the manager. He understood and later text me my next shift. The next shift was at 11pm. Alhamdulillah, the manager gave me plenty of time to rest. Phewww....
Working night shift has given me the opportunity to explore and experience the other things that I never encounter before. For example, dealing with the drunkards. Myself and other sales assistants had to deal with the ugly smell came from them, and worst, we had to remove the alcohol drink's cap for them. I once almost cried and totally unwilling to do it to the extent other customer helped me to do it. As time passed by, when I no longer the most junior working there, I would escape from this kind of customer and hid in the staff room. I mean, when the drunkards came, I quickly pressed a button so other staff in the staff room would come out and help me out. Usually I will call the guys to handle the drunkards. Sorry guys.
Remember I said about Ampang Point area being 'international'? Well, there are lots of celebrities around too! I met a number of celebrities of the local entertainment industry while working as a sales assistant at the store. For instance, Fahrin Ahmad, Beego, Baizura Kahar, Fouziah Gous, Sarah Raisuddin, Zarina AF, Andy Flop Poppy, Linda Onn (one of her My Mum's Chicken Rice restaurants is just nearby), and others that I might already forgotten. In 2007, 'selfie' was not yet even existed. If it already was back then, then I might have had a 'selfie' with them. :D :D
Right, in shaa ALLAH this post is coming to an end. To conclude, whoever you are out there, especially the school leavers who have no idea what to do before enrolling into the university, I highly recommend you to apply a part-time job at somewhere like 7 Eleven. Take into account the location of the workplace (the more international, the better), does not sell alcohol, 24/7 operation hour, access to prayer room (I performed solah at KPJ Ampang Puteri's prayer room). Also take into account the cost for you to get to the workplace so you don't have to spend too much money and time to commute. In my case, I chose to walk although it took me about 30 minutes to get to workplace from house. I call it 'exercise'. Hehehe. Of course, if my shift ended at 11pm, I would call someone to fetch me. Duh, who would want to walk alone at night for 30 minutes? I don't.
Hopefully this post is somewhat beneficial to you, dear readers. In shaa ALLAH more parts are coming up for this topic. Stay tuned.
Love,
Nusaybah.
Sebah,
ReplyDeleteThank You for sharing this.
I had many great experiences at 7-11 Desa Pandan too, i.e. learned about 'Mabuhay' & Salamat too (from Filipino maids), some Koreans ( a very young grandson and a grandfather - yes, their English were lousy), managed to brushed up on my basic Arabic too ( made acquaintance with a very pious Muslim from Habshah who is doing Masters at IIUM).
Not so great experience? The most were getting robbed thrice. 'Nuff said!
Mr Lah. Common experience in terms of language exposure. High five! Alhamdulillah, never been robbed. Think because police officers always come patrolling at night. Phew...
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