My shirt was neatly tucked in, hair comb, and I looked like I was ready to do something other than going to school. I felt important, getting to go to work and shadow a manager. The most experience I have had in the past in a low-level working, being told what to do by those in, charge, but today was different. I arrived at the store about fifteen minutes early, and the manager was already in and working. No time to waste, time to get the day started. We hit the ground running, and started counting the cash drawers in preparation for the day.
The manager told me there was a truck on the way, so we needed to wear many different hats that day. Half-an-hour before we opened the doors, the phone was ringing. The manager answered the phone and the morning associate had just called off. He was worried because we only had one other employee on the schedule and with a truck, we needed another person. He picked up the phone and made several phone calls to find someone to come in. The doors opened, and we were running back and forth unloading the truck, taking inventory, helping customers, and making sure the employees were doing their job.

The most unusual experience we had was catching a woman who was stealing product by putting it in her purse. The manager watched her from a distance, called the police, and waited till she left the store to approach her. By that time the police were there, and they arrested her for stealing. My personal career choice is business management. I was able to see how challenging the actual role can be. I loved how busy the day was, and that we seemed that we were doing something different all day. I also saw that I have so much more to learn if I wanted to be a good manager in the future.