One of my favorite things to do when I'm not at work is to spread Goodwill's mission...and shop! So when I have the opportunity to do both...Yahtzee!
This weekend the wife and I were doing some holiday/personal shopping at J.Crew when I saw a guy wearing a sweater that I thought was pretty awesome! The conversation, as best as I can remember it, went a little something like this:
Me: I like your sweater! It's awesome.
Sweater guy: Thanks! I've been getting so many compliments about this sweater, I bet you can't guess where I got it?
Me: No, where? [my wife, who was standing in a few feet away, said Goodwill]
SG: Goodwill.
Me: What?! That's crazy! I work for Goodwill!
Girl SG was talking to: Really?! I'm so jealous! I bet you get the first pick at all the stuff that comes through, huh?
Me: Well I don't work in a store, I work at the main office. And the employees that work in the stores can't purchase any of the items in their store.
Girl SG was talking to: Oh. really?
Me: Nope. Never ever. They have to go shop at another store.
[Note: The conversation ended before I could explain why store employees can't shop at their own stores but I told sweater guy that his picture would be on our blog so I'll explain now.
The reason why employees aren't allowed to shop at their own store is a way that helps us dispel notions like the girl the sweater guy was talking to. If our customers think that all the Goodwill employee get all the good stuff first then they'll stop coming to our stores, which hurts our earnings, which hurts funding to our Workforce Development programs. That's what it means when you hear "we put people to work." The money that we make from our retail stores goes to fund programs that help people find employment.]
I've been working here for a year and 12 days now, and I can't remember a time when I've gone out, work-related or not, and I didn't end up talking about Goodwill in some way. Whenever I tell people that I work at Goodwill they always have some many questions and I never turn away from an opportunity to educate. So here's to you sweater guy! Thanks for being so cooperative about letting me take your picture and thank you for putting people to work.
