Somehow, Someway, I Ended Up in the Floral Department
Pieces of Liz is a collection of blogs curated to talk a little more about the human behind Liz Likes Flowers. This piece is about how I, unexpectedly, ended up at my first floral job.
Plan and Work
I’ve always believed that things happen for a reason. The best advice my Nonnon (also known as “grandfather” in Italian) gave me was “Plan your work and work your plan.” The more I hone in on this advice the more I believe that what we do to better our future is heavily intertwined and influenced by how our plans change and what work we put in. I’ve never believed in a God that has a plan for me.
To be honest I’ve always been somewhat jealous of people who have faith in religion because it has never been something I felt I could do. To say I am atheist does not quite feel right either because who am I to say there is nothing more powerful than humans somewhere in the universe?
The First Financial Goal
“Plan your work and work your plan.”
When I was 15 years old I had dreams of owning my first cell phone so I could make calls to my friends whenever I wanted. My lovely Mum’s response was “If you want a cell phone you’re gonna have to pay for it yourself.” She was a single mother raising three children so maybe I argued a little bit but resistance was futile. If I wanted it, I needed to fund it myself.
In October 2007 I landed a job offer at the nicest supermarket in town! When I found out that the work permit office was at the town high school I almost abandoned the job endeavor. I had an irrational fear of walking in the town high school because I didn’t feel like I belonged there as I was a student at the local vocational school.
I don’t remember how but I convinced my Mum to submit my application for me. I sat in the car for what felt like an hour staring at the door, waiting. Through my teenage eyes, this felt like an eternity. There was a splendid amount of happiness that washed over me as she walked out of the building with a big smile on her face, waving the piece of paper over her head.
Huzzah! A Job!
I worked as a bagger / cashier for three months. Everyone who worked in the front end wanted newbies to succeed so there was always someone to answer questions if I had any. I loathed memorizing the produce codes and counting money because I’m very dyslexic.
Overall, it was not the worst job to have at 15. One day at the end of my shift the front end manager asked if I wanted to cross-train and work in another department. I immediately said “Yes!” before I even knew what department had an opening. The next week I started working in the floral department.
The manager’s name was Lucia (Lucy for short) and her second was named Annamaria. They were the kindest people I had ever met and I was much taller than both of them. I always had to hunch over if I wanted to hug them. They taught me everything they knew about customer service, merchandising displays, using the fancy barcode label maker, floral care, and (the best part!) floral design.
Customer First, Always
The first priority was always the customer. The best lesson I still hold to this day is that it is OK that the customer doesn’t know anything but if you honestly tell them what can be done, stay within their budget, then follow through (to the best of your ability) everything will be fine. After my crash course in customer service I learned how to condition/take care of many kinds of flowers, process plant deliveries, operate the hydrogen tank, and what it takes to maintain the tools/hygiene of the floral department.
Learning About Flowers
Monthly inventory (and department cleanings) was my favorite time of the month. I was in charge of cleaning the coveted refrigerated glass display case because I was the only one who could lift up a vase and clean the entire shelf, simultaneously, without a stool. We also counted everything in the department and inspected flowers that were old and out of date...which meant I got to practice! Eventually I started making arrangements with fresh flowers for the glass case, learning how to make bouquets, corsages, gift baskets, build displays for sale items, make bows, assemble balloon bouquets, decorate wreaths, and take special orders for all kinds of events.
I started closing the department when I was confident enough to handle the evening tasks and help customers by myself. I spent most of the slow bits of my shifts flipping through hard good product catalogues, wedding magazines, pricing sheets, and trying to figure out the barcode maker (because there were so many buttons I wanted needed to press). I was in awe that I could be paid to take care of such pretty things.
Eight Years Went by Quickly
I worked at this supermarket for the rest of high school and on my semester breaks from college, in total, around eight years. I didn’t stay in the floral department the entire time. I don’t remember if I asked to be trained in other departments or if other managers asked Lucy to send me to help other departments during our slower times of the year. I was trained in multiple departments (fish, deli, kitchen, bakery, home delivery, and cheese shop) by the time I left. I really enjoyed the variety of my tasks but floral was always my home department.
Looking back now it wasn’t a glamorous job. A lot of tasks involved cleaning old and disgusting things. I would even work overnight shifts from 9pm–5am to deep clean the fish or cheese cold case. Oddly enough I liked the night shifts. I played whatever music I wanted and no customers were around to bother me. If I knew the person opening the bakery I would even get sweet treats to enjoy on my drive home. I would like to think that all the department managers appreciated my strong work ethic and positive attitude for someone so young.
Was it Work, or a Plan?
I wish I had asked the front end manager why he transferred me out of his department in the first place. I found out my store closed in 2017 so I’ll never know the truth. Maybe I’ll be happy theorizing about it for the rest of my days. I genuinely think that I would have eventually found my way to flowers had I not been sent to the floral department all those years ago.
Whatever the reason was, I’m forever thankful he did because it set me down the path of flowers that’s still an exceptional part of my life today.
