02.08.10 - 8:20 am

merchandise manager.

WHAT I IMAGINED: $18 to $20 per hour. loading boxes of beer or wine onto work trucks or vans. taking it to stores and retail outlets and then unloading it. setting up displays. talking with store managers and encouraging them to take on new flavors of beer, bottles of wine from a new winery. driving back to a warehouse to place orders with your two to three employees who arrange orders and find out how much the stores on our route need to refill. merchandise manager. you manage. you do. it pays well and you drive a lot, but good things are accomplished.

WHAT THE REALITY IS: $10.50 per hour. you drive your own car to your vendors. they pay you while you drive in between locations, but not there and back. i would have worked the hollywood district. tigard to north east portland, north east portland to tigard: unpaid. you organize back rooms and neatly stack overstock in retail stores. you are the bottom rung on a tall ladder, and the people above remind you of this. you work directly with the salesmen who treat you like shit. your hours vary. you are lifting and organizing product your entire shift.

ten fifty an hour? no. what is the lowest wage i would work for? thirteen an hour. sorry, thats beyond the means we are able to pay for this position. it doesnt sound like this is the position that fits that fits your needs. no, it doesnt. ill keep checking your website.

well, shit. that could have been awesome, if only like i imagined.