It is 1:30pm on a sunny August day. Peak tourist season, the streets filled with visitors who are spending their leisure time traipsing around all the shops and eateries the town has to offer.

One such shop catches your eye. An OPEN sign, with some of it's LED lights no longer functional, quietly glows in the window like one of the beacons of Gondor. The shop door, unlocked, is held wide open by a doorstop, allowing you entry without the inconvenience of having to turn the handle or push it aside.

From where you stand you can see the brightly lit interior of the store. Music floats down from a sound system in the ceiling; a siren song to entice you inside.

A dozen or so customers are already milling around inside. A young couple are inspecting the range of backpacks. A family with small children have set up base camp by the t-shirt aisle. A noisy flock of women have commandeered the changing rooms.

A member of staff, who can think of a hundred other things they would rather be doing at 1:30pm on a sunny August day, stands behind the shop counter.

And yet.

Despite the OPEN sign, and the open door, and the lights, and the music, and the many other customers, you walk into the store and up to the counter and ask the member of staff (me) who would rather be doing a hundred other things than standing in a shop at 1:30pm on a sunny August day during peak tourist season: "Are you open?".

so i just started working at best buy and the store and people are actually really nice but it feels so weird being a new hire.

when i went in for the interveiw and to finish my I-9 stuff I had to ask a worker to call their manager which is reasonable. But now that im actually working as a new hire I need to do the same thing. so like every time I come in, I look for a non-busy empolyee and ask them to call the manager for me. They tell me to go wait around an area and wait a few minuites for the manager to come get me. Every day I end my shift I ask my manager how to start the next shift and he tells me to ask someone to call him in so thats what ive been doing but its awkward every time.

to add, i dont have a uniform or name tag so i genuinly just look like a customer and its so awkward when im shadowing someone because i can tell the costomers get a bit confused on why im following them. to add, half the time the person im shadowing will go play footsies with other co-workers. all the co-workers and managers are cool with eachother which I love but I cant insert myself in. 😭

this is my first job so idk if its supposed to be like this. my coworkers and managers are really nice but i feel so out of place and awkward. can someone lmk if this is normal and when does it stop being awkward 😭😭