Spin the Wheel, Win a Smile

I feel like I got transported back to high school again, working in retail at the shopping mall. I mean, I know I like to be young at heart, but this may be taking it a little bit too far.

I’ve been working in promotions for JC Penney’s Arcadia location every Sunday for the past month.  It’s not a tough gig. I pass out flyers, smile at customers and get them to play the Spin the Wheel game where they can win free gift cards.  $5, $10, $20, the gift cards aren’t much (I can barely buy lunch with $5) but whoooooa you’d be wrong if you think people won’t wait 15, 20, 30 minutes in line for just a chance to win one of those gift cards.  And sometimes, it’s not even the prize itself. It’s the chance to touch the wheel and spin it, just to see where it would go.

Working on the mall has…rejuvenated me, surprisingly. All day long, I get to observe the type of people who stroll the shopping center on a lazy Sunday morning.  I get to see a general humanity and familial love that has been missing through my early twenties going from a college co-ed whose lives revolved around people her own age, to working in corporate cultures. (My own family don’t count because we’re weird and unique in our own inexplicable ways). There are grandpas in wheelchairs holding their tiny grandsons in their laps. There are loving mothers grasping their mentally disabled children by the hand. There are pregnant teens. There are tons of overexcited, overeager little kids. I love little kids!

I think just watching all this life and love unfolding at this little department store in this huge mall makes me remember certain things.  One of them being that I feel most fulfilled when I’m making people happy, making them smile. That’s why I thoroughly enjoyed my slave labor job as an AMC usher. That’s why I couldn’t stand working at a cushy, Beverly Hills desk job for a boss whose day-to-day routine consisted of scare tactics and power plays. That’s why when my dad calls me “funny,” I take it as a compliment rather than an insult (I think he means it as an insult rather than a compliment, though).  That’s why I work in entertainment.

Okay, this picture is not the best example but you should see some of the reactions we get when people land on red! There are squeals, screams, slaps, hugs, giggles, claps. This little guy just looks a little dazed. But it’s kind of awesome to know that you’re helping to make somebody’s life a little more joyous for a couple of minutes on their weekend shopping jaunt.  Their joy makes me joyous.

What’s the best unexpected burst of happiness that you’ve received today?

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posted by Janice | Comment: 4 | Uncategorized

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